A small Orange County defense and technology company appears to be a beneficiary of the recent joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran.
Irvine-based Mobix Labs said it won a “significant production purchase order” to supply additional key components for the U.S. Navy’s Tomahawk cruise missiles, the same long-range weapon used in the attacks ordered by President Donald Trump against Iran.
The order sent Mobix Labs shares soaring more than 500% to as high as $1.22 each on March 3, the day of the announcement (Nasdaq: MOBX).
“We are already integrated into the Tomahawk program, and as production volumes increase, demand for our proven high-reliability filtering component increases alongside it,” Mobix Chief Executive Phil Sansone said in a statement on March 3.
“That is the advantage of being a qualified, production-ready supplier on an active U.S. defense platform where demand scales into larger orders.”
The order is among the best news for the local semiconductor company in the past two years.
After the company went public via a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company in late 2023, the shares almost immediately cratered from $10 down to about $3.50. Since then, the shares have trended downward as revenue was slow to take off, losses mounted and it had to issue shares to raise $6 million.
Shares hit an all-time low of 13 cents on Feb. 17. Mobix has received a warning that it was at risk of losing its Nasdaq listing as the share price wavered below $1 each. The company said it has until April 27 to come into share price compliance.
Backers of Mobix Labs, a provider of 5G millimeter-wave, defense, and aerospace components, include prominent OC tech entrepreneurs like James ‘Jimmy P’ Peterson, who also serves as board chair. In 2019, he sold his Aliso Viejo-based chipmaker, Microsemi Corp., to Arizona-based chip rival Microchip Technology Inc. for $10.3 billion.
Tomahawk Core Role in Defense
The struggling company said its filtering component “helps keep critical electronics stable under harsh conditions—where consistent performance is required.”
The components also work in “other high-performance applications.”
The Tomahawk cruise missile is a core, long-range strike weapon in the U.S. military arsenal, typically launched from U.S. Navy surface ships and submarines. It is considered the backbone of U.S. military strike capabilities.
“Tomahawk cruise missiles are designed to fly at extremely low altitudes at high subsonic speeds and are piloted over an evasive route by several mission-tailored guidance systems,” according to the U.S. Navy.
The first operational use was in Operation Desert Storm in 1991, with immense success. Since January 1991, more than 2,300 Tomahawks have been fired in combat operations, the Navy says on its NAVAIR website.
The missiles are manufactured by an RTX Corp. unit.
Since the war began, the military has been firing deadly Tomahawk missiles into Iran, while warplanes continue to obliterate various sites in the Middle Eastern nation. Some news reports are saying the military’s stockpile is being depleted and Tomahawk missile production is increasing to meet demand.
While Mobix Labs didn’t specifically name the U.S. attacks on Iran that started Feb. 28, the company noted, “Recent public reporting has referenced Tomahawk missiles in active military operations, underscoring the platform’s continued operational relevance.”
Shares Retreat After Surge
Shares last week bounced from $1.22 on March 3 to 82 cents the following day. They climbed to $1.18 at press time.
Mobix, founded in 2020, describes itself as delivering “disruptive next-generation wireless and connected solutions” for a broad range of applications in markets including 5G infrastructure, automotive, consumer electronics, e-mobility, healthcare, infrastructure and defense.
Mobix, which calls itself a “fabless semiconductor company,” has struggled to boost sales and show a profit.
For the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, it reported sales of $9.9 million, up 54% from fiscal 2024, the company said.
Executive Chairman Peterson in early 2024 predicted the company would be profitable by the end of that year; however, the company reported a 2025 operating loss from operations of $8.5 million to $8.6 million, down from a comparable $16 million loss in fiscal 2024.
Mobix Labs said this month it is also pursuing a targeted acquisition strategy to expand its presence across defense, military and aerospace markets.
