CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Jul. 27, 2019	Jul. 28, 2018
Revenue:
Total revenue	$ 86,911	$ 78,043
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales	45,639	45,454
Gross margin:
Total gross margin	41,272	32,589
Operating Expenses [Abstract]
Selling, general and administrative	13,668	11,956
Research and development	8,709	6,435
Income from continuing operations	18,895	14,198
Other income:
Interest income, net	1,329	906
Other income, net	355	8,388
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	20,579	23,492
Provision for income taxes	2,133	2,567
Equity method investment loss, net of tax	(1,347)	(602)
Net income from continuing operations	17,099	20,323
Discontinued operations:
Gain on sale of business, net of tax expense of $2,577		8,843
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax		(1,850)
Net income from discontinued operations		6,993
Net income	17,099	27,316
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest	11	14
Net income attributable to AeroVironment	$ 17,110	$ 27,330
Net income per share attributable to AeroVironment-Basic
Basic, continuing (in dollars per share)	$ 0.72	$ 0.86
Basic, discontinuing (in dollars per share)		0.30
Net income per share attributable to AeroVironment - Basic (in dollars per share)	0.72	1.16
Net income per share attributable to AeroVironment-Diluted
Diluted, continuing (in dollars per share)	0.71	0.85
Diluted, discontinued (in dollars per share)		0.29
Net income per share attributable to AeroVironment - Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.71	$ 1.14
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic (in shares)	23,745,199	23,574,595
Diluted (in shares)	24,069,933	24,010,303
Product sales
Revenue:
Revenue	$ 65,839	$ 55,313
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales	30,408	29,811
Gross margin:
Total gross margin	35,431	25,502
Contract services
Revenue:
Revenue	21,072	22,730
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales	15,231	15,643
Gross margin:
Total gross margin	$ 5,841	$ 7,087