The best defense stocks right now, ranked.
We score 86 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.
| Ticker | Company | Mkt cap | Rank | 1w rank Δ | Revisions | Value | Momentum | Quality | Accruals | Issuance | Growth | Volatility | Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. Aerospace & Defense | $637.6M | 100.0 | 0.0 | 92.7 | 98.1 | 91.8 | 74.8 | 99.0 | 93.3 | 86.3 | 87.7 | 50.9 | |
Moog, Inc. Aerospace & Defense | $14.0B | 97.1 | +0.1 | 88.4 | 79.0 | 93.4 | 92.4 | 41.1 | 83.4 | 85.0 | 80.6 | 12.9 | |
RTX Corp. Aerospace & Defense | $299.3B | 96.4 | −0.4 | 97.1 | 85.0 | 86.2 | 75.7 | 66.1 | 90.8 | 51.8 | 97.6 | 0.9 | |
General Dynamics Corp. Aerospace & Defense | $107.0B | 96.2 | +0.1 | 92.5 | 94.8 | 82.9 | 79.8 | 68.0 | 84.5 | 48.1 | 99.4 | 2.5 | |
Lockheed Martin Corp. Aerospace & Defense | $142.1B | 95.5 | −0.3 | 78.4 | 96.7 | 58.4 | 79.1 | 64.5 | 93.7 | 81.9 | 98.8 | 1.9 | |
Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. Aerospace & Defense | $600.6M | 95.2 | +1.6 | 38.7 | 92.5 | 57.3 | 72.1 | 88.9 | 86.9 | 87.3 | 92.6 | 51.6 | |
V2X, Inc. Aerospace & Defense | $2.6B | 94.0 | +0.2 | 83.3 | 97.7 | 82.8 | 65.0 | 59.2 | 90.1 | 43.6 | 73.2 | 33.0 | |
Hexcel Corp. Aerospace & Defense | $7.8B | 93.5 | −0.4 | 88.3 | 82.5 | 89.5 | 74.0 | 78.9 | 61.1 | 50.9 | 82.5 | 18.4 | |
Leonardo DRS, Inc. Aerospace & Defense | $12.1B | 91.3 | −0.9 | 91.4 | 79.8 | 51.4 | 89.0 | 58.4 | 88.0 | 58.0 | 83.2 | 14.3 | |
GE Aerospace Aerospace & Defense | $382.2B | 90.3 | −1.6 | 97.8 | 63.1 | 84.9 | 88.1 | 47.3 | 74.9 | 68.4 | 76.1 | 0.7 | |
SIFCO Industries, Inc. Aerospace & Defense | $124.3M | 89.6 | −3.9 | 25.0 | 63.9 | 94.2 | 88.0 | 54.0 | 85.2 | 77.9 | 69.1 | 73.3 | |
Elbit Systems Ltd. Aerospace & Defense | $36.6B | 88.1 | +3.4 | 82.9 | 74.3 | 84.4 | 78.6 | 47.3 | 78.3 | 61.8 | 88.0 | 6.9 | |
Park Aerospace Corp. Aerospace & Defense | $830.9M | 87.3 | −1.2 | 70.7 | 49.5 | 98.6 | 84.6 | 33.3 | 53.8 | 82.8 | 81.3 | 47.9 | |
Northrop Grumman Corp. Aerospace & Defense | $83.6B | 87.2 | −1.1 | 89.8 | 93.8 | 45.8 | 89.4 | 44.2 | 90.1 | 46.2 | 99.0 | 3.4 | |
L3Harris Technologies, Inc. Aerospace & Defense | $54.5B | 84.0 | +0.9 | 81.9 | 89.3 | 58.3 | 61.4 | 69.8 | 82.3 | 45.6 | 98.7 | 5.1 | |
Astronics Corp. Aerospace & Defense | $4.0B | 83.3 | +3.1 | 93.4 | 69.5 | 99.6 | 99.2 | 27.6 | 10.0 | 82.8 | 50.5 | 27.3 | |
Woodward, Inc. Aerospace & Defense | $22.2B | 82.2 | −2.4 | 82.3 | 74.7 | 75.6 | 95.4 | 30.9 | 44.5 | 83.4 | 80.8 | 9.9 | |
Curtiss-Wright Corp. Aerospace & Defense | $25.8B | 81.0 | −0.7 | 72.0 | 71.0 | 74.6 | 90.7 | 53.3 | 71.5 | 51.9 | 86.7 | 8.8 | |
Innovative Solutions & Support, Inc. Aerospace & Defense | $408.3M | 77.9 | −6.8 | 86.5 | 86.5 | 61.1 | 89.9 | 18.7 | 21.9 | 73.2 | 49.7 | 56.6 | |
Textron, Inc. Aerospace & Defense | $15.5B | 77.7 | −0.8 | 50.7 | 98.7 | 58.2 | 73.5 | 40.0 | 75.1 | 80.1 | 96.0 | 12.0 | |
Howmet Aerospace, Inc. Aerospace & Defense | $115.9B | 76.6 | −0.6 | 97.4 | 56.9 | 78.9 | 98.8 | 27.5 | 43.5 | 65.6 | 77.8 | 2.3 | |
Outdoor Holding Co. Aerospace & Defense | $260.2M | 76.5 | — | 94.7 | 41.6 | 91.1 | 28.4 | 78.1 | 77.3 | 1.0 | 67.1 | 64.7 | |
AAR Corp. Aerospace & Defense | $5.7B | 75.3 | −2.1 | 90.2 | 46.6 | 92.0 | 71.6 | 18.2 | 59.6 | 86.0 | 43.2 | 22.5 | |
Mercury Systems, Inc. Aerospace & Defense | $6.7B | 74.4 | −2.4 | 79.8 | 49.2 | 87.8 | 51.3 | 70.9 | 64.3 | 66.4 | 41.3 | 20.3 | |
Optex Systems Holdings, Inc. Aerospace & Defense | $78.9M | 74.0 | −0.2 | 75.1 | 73.6 | 45.2 | 86.8 | 20.8 | 77.7 | 20.1 | 67.0 | 77.9 |
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.
What these defense stocks look like up close.
Figures for the 25 listed names, from the same data behind their stock pages.
18 of the 24 names with analyst coverage this month carry a Buy-or-better majority.
Cheapest on trailing P/E: TXT at 16.8×, NOC at 18.6× and OPXS at 20.7×.
Highest forward dividend yields: SWBI at 3.6%, LMT at 2.3% and RGR at 2.2%.
Where we've written the stock up.
An analyst-style read on the business behind the score — published on the stock page.
This page is one list. Monday covers the whole market.
Computed off the Friday close and sent before the US open.
Market Radar reports the week’s largest rank changes across roughly 4,600 US stocks and the factor behind each one. The names above will rotate as the scores move — the Radar is how you hear what changed.
Questions people ask about defense stocks.
- What are the best defense stocks right now?
- As at 15 Aug 2026, the top-ranked defense stocks on Ticker Nerd's systematic factor model are Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (SWBI), Moog, Inc. (MOG.A), RTX Corp. (RTX). 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 15 Aug 2026: of the 24 listed names with analyst coverage this month, 18 carry a Buy-or-better majority, and every rank above is a percentile across roughly 4,600 US stocks.
The same model, other cuts.
Every list reads the one ranking — the stock screener index has the complete set.