Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Jan. 25, 2020	Jan. 26, 2019	Jan. 25, 2020	Jan. 26, 2019
Revenue:
Total revenue	$ 61,891	$ 75,322	$ 232,073	$ 226,344
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales	38,395	44,930	132,139	134,964
Gross margin:
Total gross margin	23,496	30,392	99,934	91,380
Selling, general and administrative	13,223	14,464	43,146	40,066
Research and development	11,381	8,087	30,948	22,631
(Loss) income from continuing operations	(1,108)	7,841	25,840	28,683
Other income:
Interest income, net	1,122	1,272	3,717	3,246
Other income, net	120	962	632	10,641
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	134	10,075	30,189	42,570
(Benefit from) provision for income taxes	(38)	946	3,203	4,724
Equity method investment loss, net of tax	(1,200)	(717)	(3,410)	(2,071)
Net income from continuing operations	(1,028)	8,412	23,576	35,775
Discontinued operations:
Gain on sale of business, net of tax expense of $2,463				8,452
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax		(62)		(2,511)
Net (loss) income from discontinued operations		(62)		5,941
Net (loss) income	(1,028)	8,350	23,576	41,716
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest	20	19	27	40
Net (loss) income attributable to AeroVironment	$ (1,008)	$ 8,369	$ 23,603	$ 41,756
Net (loss) income per share attributable to AeroVironment-Basic
Basic, continuing (in dollars per share)	$ (0.04)	$ 0.35	$ 0.99	$ 1.52
Basic, discontinuing (in dollars per share)				0.25
Net (loss) income per share attributable to AeroVironment-Basic (in dollars per share)	(0.04)	0.35	0.99	1.77
Net (loss) income per share attributable to AeroVironment-Diluted
Diluted, continuing (in dollars per share)	(0.04)	0.35	0.98	1.49
Diluted, discontinued (in dollars per share)				0.25
Net (loss) income per share attributable to AeroVironment-Diluted	$ (0.04)	$ 0.35	$ 0.98	$ 1.74
Weighted-average shares outstanding:
Basic (in shares)	23,821,145	23,687,672	23,790,788	23,643,866
Diluted (in shares)	23,821,145	24,081,819	24,076,195	24,064,008
Product sales
Revenue:
Revenue	$ 36,432	$ 50,024	$ 159,657	$ 152,393
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales	21,034	26,780	82,244	83,158
Gross margin:
Total gross margin	15,398	23,244	77,413	69,235
Contract services
Revenue:
Revenue	25,459	25,298	72,416	73,951
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales	17,361	18,150	49,895	51,806
Gross margin:
Total gross margin	$ 8,098	$ 7,148	$ 22,521	$ 22,145