A generous flow of contracts from the Pentagon usually keeps the U.S. defense stocks buoyant. Last week was no exception. As a result, major indices of the aerospace and defense industry ended in the green during the trailing five trading sessions. Both the S&P 500 Aerospace & Defense (Industry) and the Dow Jones U.S. Aerospace & Defense indices rose 2.1% in the aforementioned period.
Among last week’s highlights, defense majors namely The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) , Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. (NYSE:HII) , Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT) and General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE:GD) secured big deals from the Department of Defense’s daily funding session.
Recap of the Last Week’s Important Stories
1. Boeing secured a modification contract worth $4 billion pertaining to its F/A-18 fleet of jets. The deal was awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD.
The contract is expected to be completed by April 2024. Per the terms of the deal, the aerospace giant will conduct full-rate production and delivery of 78 F/A-18 aircraft. Majority of the work will be executed in El Segundo, CA (read more: Boeing Wins $4B Deal for Delivery of F/A-18 Jets to U.S. Navy).
2. Huntington Ingalls clinched a $1.47-billion modification contract for the construction of Landing Platform Dock (LPD) 30 - the 14th amphibious transport dock of the San Antonio (LPD 17) class. The contract was awarded by the Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC.
Majority of the work related to this deal will be performed in Pascagoula, MS, and is scheduled to be over by February 2025 (read more: Huntington Ingalls Secures $1.47B Deal to Construct LPD 30).
3. Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control (MFC) business segment won a contract worth $1.1 billion for full-rate production of Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS). Work related to the deal is scheduled to be completed by Aug 31, 2021.
The contract, awarded by the U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, AL., will cater to Poland, Bahrain and Romania (read more: Lockheed Martin Secures $1.1B Deal for GMLRS Production).
4. General Dynamics’ business subsidiary, National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. (NASSCO), secured a $465.2-million contract related to CVN aircraft carrier. The deal was awarded by the Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC.
Per the terms of the deal, the company will provide repair, maintenance and modernization services, including non-nuclear boundary control efforts, to support the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (read more: General Dynamics' NASSCO Wins $465M Deal for CVN Carrier).
Performance
Over the last five trading sessions, the defense biggies put up a solid show. Boeing gained the most with a 5.3% rise in its share price, followed by General Dynamics.
However, the industry's performance over the last six months has been mostly disappointing, except Boeing. Textron (NYSE:TXT) has been the biggest loser, with a 29% decline in its share price.
The following table shows the price movement of the major defense players over the past five trading days and during the last six months.
| Company | Last Week | Last 6 Months |
| LMT | 2.05% | -13.24% |
| BA | 5.32% | 2.56% |
| GD | 2.07% | -17.31% |
| RTN | 1.16% | -11.89% |
| NOC | 0.46% | -15.50% |
| TXT | 1.38% | -29.12% |
| LLL | 0.52% | -2.94% |
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