Not all guns are jammed: LMT struggles but these 10 defense leaders are on the move

[Jet fighters flying over the clouds.]
bfk92

Shares of Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/LMT]) plunged 8% on Tuesday after the defense giant posted disappointing second-quarter results, highlighting a rough patch for one of the sector’s biggest players.

While Lockheed Martin is now down 12.8% year-to-date following its latest earnings [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4469862-lockheed-martin-sinks-after-surprise-program-losses-slash-q2-earnings] print, the broader sector tells a different story—several major defense names are outperforming the broader market averages, driven by resilient demand, robust backlogs, and rising global defense budgets.

Investors looking for opportunity amid the volatility may want to take note. Below is a curated list from Seeking Alpha spotlighting the top 10 publicly traded U.S. aerospace and defense stocks with market capitalizations over $10B. The list is ranked by their year-to-date performance.

No. 1: Rocket Lab Corporation (RKLB [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/RKLB]), +85.2% YTD.

No. 2: AeroVironment (AVAV [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/AVAV]), +76.8% YTD.

No. 3: Howmet Aerospace (HWM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/HWM]), +71.7% YTD.

No. 4: ATI Inc (ATI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ATI]), +68.6% YTD.

No. 5: General Electric Company (GE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/GE]), +57.6% YTD.

No. 6: Woodward, Inc (WWD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/WWD]), +52.7% YTD.

No. 7: Leonardo DRS (DRS [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DRS]), +44.8% YTD.

No. 8: Curtiss-Wright Corporation (CW [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CW]), +35.2% YTD.

No. 9: HEICO Corporation (HEI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/HEI]) +34.2% YTD.

No. 10: RTX Corporation (RTX [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/RTX]), +30.9% YTD.

AEROSPACE AND DEFENSE ETFS: (BATS:ITA [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ITA]), (NYSEARCA:PPA [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/PPA]), (NYSEARCA:XAR [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XAR]), (NYSEARCA:SHLD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SHLD]), (NYSEARCA:DFEN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DFEN]), (NYSEARCA:MISL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MISL]), (NASDAQ:NATO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NATO]), and (NYSEARCA:WAR [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/WAR]).

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