DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO) shares just closed out another volatile month.

Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) drone defence company ended July trading for $1.70 apiece. On 6 August, those same shares closed the day at $2.28 each, putting the share price up 34.1% in just four trading days.

But most of those impressive gains evaporated over the remainder of the month, with DroneShield shares closing on 31 August trading for $1.77 apiece.

Despite the volatility, that still represents a 4.1% gain in August, handily outpacing the 1.1% one-month gain posted by the ASX 200.

Here’s what’s been catching investor interest.

What’s been moving DroneShield shares?

DroneShield shares closed flat on 10 August, despite the company announcing the launch of its RfRecon product.

Management noted that the portable radio frequency (RF) sensing and intelligence device allows operators to quickly identify, locate, and assess RF activity in active operational environments.

DroneShield CEO Angus Bean noted:

The electromagnetic spectrum has become one of the most important sources of operational intelligence on the modern battlefield, but collecting data is no longer enough. The teams that gain the greatest advantage will be those that can rapidly understand what they are seeing and confidently act on it.

ASX 200 defence stock falls on half-year results

DroneShield shares tumbled 11% on 26 August following the release of the company’s half-year results.

On the positive side, DroneShield achieved an all-time high first-half revenue of $125.8 million, up 74% year on year. And recurring revenue was up an impressive 229% to $11.5 million.

But the ASX 200 drone defence stock came under selling pressure with a half-year underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) loss of $12.4 million. That’s down from $8 million in positive EBITDA in H1 2025.

The loss was driven by rising costs and deteriorating margins, with DroneShield reporting a gross margin of around 53%, down from 58%.

The company has been investing in its next stage of growth, aiming to expand its production capacity, product development, and management capability to support larger global operations.

Management noted:

At a corporate and executive level, there has been a deliberate expansion in DroneShield’s organisational functions and capabilities to provide deeper experience and broader support across the Company in advance of the next phase of growth.

On the bottom line, DroneShield shares took a big hit on the day, with the company revealing a statutory net loss after tax of $32.2 million, down from a $2.1 million profit reported for the first half of 2025.

The post What on earth happened with DroneShield shares in August? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended DroneShield. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares are down 0.3% to 9,052.1 points on Tuesday.

Among the 11 market sectors, energy is in the lead, up 1.7%, while consumer discretionary is the laggard, down 2.5%.

Let’s check out some new ratings on ASX shares today.

Mesoblast Ltd (ASX: MSB)

The Mesoblast share price is $2.30, down 2.8% today and up 14% over 12 months. 

Bell Potter has a buy rating on this ASX healthcare share following its FY26 results.

Analyst John Hester said: 

(All US$m) Revenues $120.2m and loss at the EBIT line -$49.9m were in line with our forecast. Ryoncil sales of $115m were at the mid-point of the guidance range.

Operating expenses $153m were dominated by R&D expense ($97m), driven by the investment in label expansion for Ryoncil and the ongoing Phase 3 trial for Rexlemestrocel in chronic lower back (CLBP).

Loss at NPAT $57.4m with net cash burn for the year -$43.8m inclusive of just -$13m in 2H26.

MSB has a long pipeline and label expansions for Ryoncil alone which we expect will come to market on a 3 to 5 year time horizon.

Pivotal moments in the short term include the interim readout on adult GvHD and the pending submission of the BLA for Rexlemestrocel in HF.

Challenger Ltd (ASX: CGF)

The Challenger share price is steady at $9.45 today, and up 14% over 12 months. 

Jonathan Tacadena from MPC Markets has a hold rating on this ASX 200 financial share. 

Tacadena said (courtesy The Bull): 

Australia’s largest annuities provider delivered a strong result in full year 2026. Statutory net profit after tax of $506 million was up 163 per cent. Annuity sales of $6.2 billion were up 19 per cent. It delivered a normalised return on equity of 11.6 per cent.

The full year ordinary dividend of 31.5 cents, fully franked, was up 7 per cent. The share buy-back was upsized to $450 million.

The shares have performed strongly since March. Hold for the buy-back and yield, and perhaps consider adding on any weakness.

APA Group Ltd (ASX: APA)

The APA share price is $10.82, down 0.6% today and up 22% over 12 months. 

Morgans has a sell rating on this ASX 200 utilities share. 

Analyst Damien Nguyen said: 

This energy infrastructure business provides investors with stable, regulated cash flows and a defensive earnings profile.

Total revenue was down 6.3 per cent in full year 2026, but profit after tax was up 81.4 per cent.

Balance sheet leverage is significant, in our view, and funding costs can be a challenging headwind.

The market is concerned about the shift away from gas may create uncertainty about future demand in the longer term.

Although APA is pursuing energy transition opportunities, we believe these are unlikely to materially improve earnings in the near term.

We believe investors can find better risk-adjusted opportunities elsewhere.

The post Buy, hold, sell: Challenger, APA Group, Mesoblast shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Apa Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Challenger. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) notched a record closing high on 6 August and ended the month up 1.1%, but these five ASX 200 shares went the other direction.

Below, we look at five large-cap ASX companies that investors would have done well to avoid in August.

Centuria Capital Group (ASX: CNI)

Centuria Capital shares tumbled 17% in the month just past, closing out August trading at $1.22 apiece.

The real estate funds manager reported its FY 2026 results on 27 August.

The company reported operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $182.5 million and a 12.9% year-on-year increase in operating net profit after tax (NPAT) to $113.8 million.

But amid sticky inflation and potential further interest rate hikes, the ASX 200 share just closed out a month to forget.

Charter Hall Group (ASX: CHC)

Charter Hall shares were also best avoided in August.

Shares in the Aussie property investment and funds manager fell 17.2% over the month to close at $19.32 each.

Charter Hall released its FY 2026 results on 21 August.

Shares closed down 6.3% on the day, despite the company reporting operating earnings of $488.1 million. Operating earnings per security (OEPS) post-tax of 103.2 cents were up 26.8% from FY 2025.

But Charter Hall could also face headwinds if the Aussie property market struggles with higher interest rates for longer.

JB Hi-Fi Ltd (ASX: JBH)

The third ASX 200 share that had a month to forget is electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi.

JB Hi-Fi shares closed on 31 August trading for $66.90 each, down 18.3% for the month.

JB Hi-Fi shares plunged 12.3% on 17 August after the company reported its FY 2026 results.

On the positive side of the ledger, JB Hi-Fi achieved record revenue of $11.06 billion, up 4.8% year on year. And on the bottom line, the company reported a net profit after tax (NPAT) of $489.9 million, up 6%.

But investors were pressuring JB Hi-Fi shares amid concerns that FY 2027 could be a tougher year. Indeed, the company reported a 1.4% decline in comparable sales growth for JB Hi-Fi Australia for July.

Life360 Inc (ASX: 360)

Life360 shares also got walloped in August, falling 21% to end the month trading for $20.25 each.

Shares in the location-sharing software developer crashed by 19.4% on 11 August after the company released its second-quarter (Q2 2026) results.

Positively, Life360 achieved a 38% year-on-year increase in revenue to US$159 million. And adjusted EBITDA of US$31.1 million were up 53%.

However, the company’s second-quarter net income of US$5.1 million was down 17.8% from Q2 2025, while Life360’s net income margin (NIM) fell to 3%, down from 6% a year earlier.

Generation Development Group Ltd (ASX: GDG)

The fifth ASX 200 share to get heavily sold down in August is diversified financial services business Generation Development.

Generation Development shares tumbled 22.6% to close out the month trading for $3.18 apiece.

Shares closed down 15.4% on 27 August following the release of the company’s FY 2026 results.

On the plus side, the company achieved a 23% year-on-year increase in revenue to $178.7 million, with funds under management (FUM) rising 37% to $46.5 billion.

And Generation development reported underlying NPAT of $40.7 million, up 21% from FY 2025.

However, statutory NPAT fell 10% year on year to $31.9 million. And costs increased faster than revenue, with the company reporting a 26% increase in its operating expenses.

The post The five worst-performing ASX 200 shares in August unmasked appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Life360. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Life360. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Generation Development Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.