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Defense Stock Roundup: Fresh US-China Tariffs Kick In, TXT, LMT & BA Win Big

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U.S. defense stocks received a generous flow of funds from the Pentagon in the last five trading sessions. As a result, major indices in the Aerospace-Defense industry ended in the green. However, trade rift between the United States and China continues to bother the global stock market as a fresh round of tariffs were imposed on goods worth $16 billion from each country at the end of last week.

Consequently, defense stocks did not gain to the extent they should have. Evidently, the S&P 500 Aerospace & Defense (Industry) index as well as the Dow Jones U.S. Aerospace & Defense index inched up 0.3% in the past five trading sessions.

Among last week’s highlights, defense majors like Textron Inc. (TXT - Free Report) , Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT - Free Report) , The Boeing Company (BA - Free Report) and Rockwell Collins, Inc. secured a number of notable orders from the Department of Defense’s daily funding session.

Recap of Past Week’s Important Stories

1. Textron’s business segment, Bell, won a $510-million modification contract for manufacturing and delivering 29 units of AH-1Z new aircraft of the 15th Lot, to support the Marine Corps H-1 upgrade program. The contract was awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD.

Per the terms of the agreement, the contract entails the company to provide long lead material and components for an additional seven Lot 16 aircraft. Work related to the deal is expected to get completed by February 2021 (read more: Textron Wins $510M Navy Deal for Building AH-1Z Aircraft).

2. Lockheed Martin clinched a $356.3-million hybrid deal for modernizing the Close Combat Tactical Trainer (CCTT) Manned Module. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Contracting Command, Orlando, FL.

Work related to the deal is expected to be completed by Aug 20, 2028 (read more: Lockheed Martin Wins $356M Deal for Modernizing CCTT Module).

3. Boeing secured a contract to delivery spare parts for the F/A-18 aircraft. Valued at $217 million, the deal was awarded by the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, PA. Work related to it will be carried out in Missouri and is expected to get completed by Dec 30, 2022(read more: Boeing Secures $217M Deal for F/A 18 Aircraft's Spare Parts).

This apart, the company won another contract worth $152.56 million to support the F/A-18E/F aircraft. Work related to the deal is scheduled to be over by December 2021. It was awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland.

Per the terms of the agreement, the company will conduct designing, developing, integrating and testing of the Infrared Search and Track System (IRST) Block II, Phase II engineering change. These efforts will be carried out to replace the IRST Block I system.

Majority of the work will be executed in Orlando, FL (read more: Boeing Wins $152M Deal to Build IRST Block II for F/A-18 Jets).

4. Rockwell Collins’ Government Systems business division recently clinched a $288.5-million modification contract for the manufacture and delivery of the AN/ARC-210 radio equipment systems. The deal will cater to the U.S. Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Foreign Military Sales customers. 

The contract was awarded by the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, MD. Work related to it is expected to get completed in September 2021 (read more: Rockwell Collins Wins $289M Integrated Radio Equipment Deal).

Performance

Over the last five trading sessions, defense biggies put up a mixed show. Textron gained the most, with its share price increase of 1.5% while Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Raytheon’s suffered a loss.

The industry's performance over the last six months has been mostly a positive one, except Boeing and Lockheed Martin. L3 Technologies gained the most, with its share price increasing more than 6%.

The following table shows the price movement of the major defense players over the past five trading days and during the last six months.

CompanyLast WeekLast 6 Months
LMT-0.90%-10.43%
BA-0.37%-4.18%
GD-1.17%4.16%
RTN-0.17%2.66%
NOC0.18%3.51%
COL-1.08%2.20%
TXT1.45%1.84%
LLL0.13%6.27%

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