Defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin and RTX always dump the day peace headlines land, because the conflict buildup was the trade. Explanations about how Patriot and THAAD performed, as @HyperTechInvest suggests, are what people tell themselves afterward. x.com 

CPI Aerostructures is among the few small shops left to feed missile replenishment, and its qualified tooling is a moat the Pentagon lacks years to re-source. It is single-source to Raytheon on missile wing assemblies, with first deliveries due later this year. A $533M backlog against $74M of TTM revenue, growing 16% at 23% gross margin, is seven years of work at 1.4x EV/sales. The risk is $27M of net debt, $1M of cash and negative free cash flow; a slipping ramp hits the balance sheet first. … Show more

RTX's roughly $51 billion in recent multi-year missile deals and expanding backlog support a bullish setup. Backlog reached $289 billion last quarter, up 22% year over year, and management raised full-year sales, EPS and free cash flow guidance. The trigger is $193.90, with chart targets of $197.35, $200.41 and $202.67. x.com 

Legacy defense primes such as Lockheed Martin, RTX and Northrop Grumman are losing work as counter-drone contracts go to newer software-defined systems. The US deployment of Anduril's counter-drone system for homeland defense shows a company that did not exist a decade ago doing what legacy air-defense primes used to own outright. The trade is that reallocation inside flat-to-modest budgets, not the budget number itself. x.com 

Lockheed Martin is a defensive core holding with near-monopoly defense franchises and steady cash flow. The F-35, over 25% of revenue, is the only fifth-generation fighter deployed at scale in the West, and FY2026-27 budgets raise F-35 funding 62% and more than double PAC-3 and THAAD procurement. Backlog is $186.4B, 2.4x annual revenue, new Army and Navy contracts landed May 28, and over 60% of free cash flow goes to dividends and buybacks. x.com 

RTX benefits from Pratt & Whitney's recovering jet-engine business alongside rising global defense budgets. In Q3 FY26, sales rose 11%, operating profit 32% with margins expanding, and net income to common 35%; basic EPS rose from $1.43 to $1.91. Grade A: RTX sits in the sweet spot as the world rearms and flies more. x.com 

Legacy defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing and RTX face new competition that is coming to eat their lunch. @damianplayer notes Anduril built a new Apache-launched drone weapon in six months that flies 286 miles and, in one version, hits as hard as a Hellfire missile, when defense projects used to take 20 years. An Anduril IPO is more exciting than SpaceX's. x.com 

Drone stocks fell in 2026 even as backlogs hit records: Ukraine turned aircraft into ammunition, and the Pentagon's 2027 request holds nearly $75B for drones and counter-drone. AeroVironment's reordered loitering munitions and Kratos's jet drones are highest conviction. Counter-drone names Ondas, Axon, Motorola Solutions, Safe Pro, DroneShield and Rheinmetall gain as threats grow, Unusual Machines from Chinese-parts bans. Primes bury drone exposure; pure plays may not convert backlog. x.com  … Show more

RTX pairs solid fundamentals with near-term share pressure, backed by sustained defense demand, a cash-rich aftermarket and a fading GTF engine problem. Geopolitical tension drives demand for air defense, radars and munitions as procurement shifts to long-term replenishment. Delayed Boeing and Airbus deliveries keep older fleets flying, lifting high-margin repair work at Collins and Pratt & Whitney. GTF remediation is on track, with aircraft on ground down about 15% and repair output up 23%. … Show more

When wars drag on, the sensors and components inside weapons platforms make the money, which favors nLIGHT, LightPath and RFHIC. On March 3, after US and Israeli strikes on Iran, KOSPI crashed 7.24% while sensor makers such as RFHIC rallied alongside platform names. RF power amplifiers inside radars such as Cheongung-II's are the bottleneck, and RFHIC signed a KRW 50.6 billion amplifier contract with Raytheon Canada. The same InP, GaAs and GaN wafers go into lasers, radars and IR sensors. x.com  … Show more