OUST
New side hustle: drone defense
Ouster just gave the market a reason to hit the buy button. The lidar maker announced a strategic partnership with ARGUS Interception GmbH to fold its digital lidar into ARGUS' A1-Falke counter-drone interception platform, aimed at protecting critical infrastructure and public spaces without going kinetic. In other words: fewer missiles, more precision. Very sci-fi, very investor-bait.
Why the stock popped
The news matters because it shows Ouster's sensors are moving from "cool tech demo" territory into an actual defense/security use case. The company said ARGUS will also evaluate Ouster's Rev8 platform for next-gen interception capabilities, which gives the story a nice little sequel hook.
The NVIDIA cameo
Ouster also got a tailwind from a separate milestone: its Rev8 operating system family achieved sensor qualification for NVIDIA's DRIVE Hyperion platform. That's not the main event here, but it helps reinforce the idea that Ouster is trying to become the picks-and-shovels company for a bunch of high-tech systems, not just self-driving dreams.
Big picture
Shares jumped 16.77% to $43.24 and hit a fresh 52-week high, which is what happens when Wall Street decides your tech has a second life outside its original story. If Ouster can keep stacking these partnerships, the market may start treating it less like a speculative lidar name and more like a real platform play.