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The best defense stocks right now, ranked.

We score 88 US-listed defense stocks, re-ranked every trading day. These 25 rank highest on the full factor model right now. Every US-listed stock Twelve Data files under Aerospace & Defense.

Every score is a percentile across the whole US universe we cover — a 92 beats 92% of it. How the model was built and blind-tested is on the methodology page; what each factor means is on the factor glossary.

Top 25
Top 25 of 88 · Ranks as at 5 Nov 2026
TickerCompanyMkt capRank1w rank ΔRevisionsValueMomentumQualityAccrualsIssuanceGrowthVolatilitySize
SWBI
Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc.
Aerospace & Defense
$772.0M
100.0
0.0
95.8
94.9
92.8
76.5
97.3
92.6
92.0
87.1
46.5
MOG.A
Moog, Inc.
Aerospace & Defense
$9.8B
97.1
−0.1
89.5
82.6
93.5
92.9
42.2
83.9
82.1
73.1
15.0
VVX
V2X, Inc.
Aerospace & Defense
$2.3B
96.2
+1.6
94.9
97.3
78.6
68.1
64.9
90.9
40.4
79.8
32.5
LMT
Lockheed Martin Corp.
Aerospace & Defense
$133.0B
95.2
−0.8
75.2
94.6
70.3
80.8
63.1
93.8
79.9
99.0
1.9
GD
General Dynamics Corp.
Aerospace & Defense
$96.4B
93.6
+0.4
95.1
92.9
73.5
81.0
62.4
86.5
43.5
99.8
2.7
RTX
RTX Corp.
Aerospace & Defense
$257.6B
93.2
−1.5
97.6
76.5
86.4
75.3
55.5
85.4
57.1
99.4
0.8
GE
GE Aerospace
Aerospace & Defense
$326.6B
91.0
−0.5
93.6
61.4
82.4
89.1
49.4
92.2
61.3
83.3
0.7
DRS
Leonardo DRS, Inc.
Aerospace & Defense
$8.8B
90.6
−1.8
95.9
84.1
45.5
91.1
52.2
87.6
59.6
74.2
16.0
PKE
Park Aerospace Corp.
Aerospace & Defense
$492.0M
88.9
−0.5
92.9
59.0
79.4
85.4
27.7
45.3
89.0
65.5
52.1
RGR
Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc.
Aerospace & Defense
$789.2M
88.7
−8.3
42.7
76.1
68.5
68.2
69.8
78.9
89.9
94.9
46.2
SIF
SIFCO Industries, Inc.
Aerospace & Defense
$104.8M
83.9
−0.3
25.0
59.2
93.8
87.3
55.3
85.6
76.2
41.1
72.4
IA
Innovative Solutions & Support, Inc.
Aerospace & Defense
$321.7M
82.7
+1.3
89.7
86.5
82.7
89.9
19.2
22.0
72.1
35.7
58.5
CODA
Coda Octopus Group, Inc.
Aerospace & Defense
$90.6M
82.4
−0.7
51.2
93.2
53.4
61.3
49.4
68.2
89.5
33.3
73.9
LHX
L3Harris Technologies, Inc.
Aerospace & Defense
$48.2B
81.8
−0.2
90.8
87.4
48.3
65.6
78.5
67.5
42.7
97.4
5.2
AIR
AAR Corp.
Aerospace & Defense
$4.2B
81.2
+1.5
94.6
61.9
69.2
76.0
24.8
69.1
87.3
44.0
25.1
NOC
Northrop Grumman Corp.
Aerospace & Defense
$75.0B
81.0
−1.4
87.7
91.6
41.9
90.8
43.9
83.5
40.1
99.4
3.7
TXT
Textron, Inc.
Aerospace & Defense
$14.8B
80.0
+7.2
62.8
98.6
54.8
73.1
42.4
78.0
72.8
95.8
11.7
CW
Curtiss-Wright Corp.
Aerospace & Defense
$16.0B
79.5
−2.2
89.8
80.0
46.1
91.5
50.8
70.0
51.3
72.8
11.1
HII
Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc.
Aerospace & Defense
$11.4B
79.5
+3.6
94.2
90.1
48.0
58.5
36.3
63.7
82.7
74.6
13.8
WWD
Woodward, Inc.
Aerospace & Defense
$18.4B
79.4
−1.6
84.3
66.7
70.9
95.6
32.1
44.5
80.3
88.0
10.2
HXL
Hexcel Corp.
Aerospace & Defense
$6.1B
76.8
−1.9
47.6
73.7
77.0
79.3
66.5
58.0
69.5
90.0
19.9
ATRO
Astronics Corp.
Aerospace & Defense
$2.3B
75.1
−5.6
77.4
78.0
82.7
99.2
28.9
10.0
82.9
45.0
32.7
HWM
Howmet Aerospace, Inc.
Aerospace & Defense
$80.5B
75.0
−2.0
98.7
54.5
62.3
99.0
29.2
44.1
74.7
75.0
3.3
MRCY
Mercury Systems, Inc.
Aerospace & Defense
$3.9B
74.0
−4.9
92.0
48.6
51.0
61.1
77.1
84.1
42.1
43.2
25.8
NPK
National Presto Industries, Inc.
Aerospace & Defense
$1.0B
72.2
−2.1
45.5
77.4
84.1
67.4
27.0
84.9
45.5
90.7
43.3

Today’s snapshot only — the list rotates as the scores move. Click any ticker for its full page: rank against every factor, analyst price targets, financials and news.

The group in numbers

What these defense stocks look like up close.

Figures for the 25 listed names, from the same data behind their stock pages.

17 of the 24 names with analyst coverage this month carry a Buy-or-better majority.

Cheapest on trailing P/E: TXT at 15.6×, HII at 16.4× and NOC at 16.6×.

Highest forward dividend yields: SWBI at 3.6%, NPK at 2.8% and PKE at 2.2%.

The Ticker Nerd Read

Where we've written the stock up.

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Market Radar

This page is one list. Monday covers the whole market.

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FAQ

Questions people ask about defense stocks.

What are the best defense stocks right now?
As at 5 Nov 2026, the top-ranked defense stocks on Ticker Nerd's systematic factor model are Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (SWBI), Moog, Inc. (MOG.A), V2X, Inc. (VVX). The full top 25 is the table on this page, re-ranked every trading day. A rank is general information, not personal advice.
How does Ticker Nerd pick the best defense stocks?
Nobody picks them. A factor model scores roughly 4,600 US stocks every trading day on families like value, momentum, quality and growth, and this page is one fixed cut of that ranking. The research process behind the model — point-in-time data from 2005, locked test windows, logged rejections — is published on the methodology page.
Are defense stocks a good investment?
That depends on the price paid and on your circumstances — this page is general information, not advice. What the data says as at 5 Nov 2026: of the 24 listed names with analyst coverage this month, 17 carry a Buy-or-better majority, and every rank above is a percentile across roughly 4,600 US stocks.
More ranked lists

The same model, other cuts.

Every list reads the one ranking — the stock screener index has the complete set.