Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTJoel SouthSat, July 4, 2026 at 3:00 PM GMT+2 5 min readQuick ReadRTX logged its eighth straight quarterly beat with a 17% Q1 EPS surprise, while ten NOC directors bought stock amid a 12% year-to-date pullback.LMT's record $194 billion backlog and a fresh $4.8 billion PAC-3 contract support its bull case despite a Q1 EPS miss tied to an F-16 charge.Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and RTX didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.Defense stocks are the rare corner of the market where geopolitical anxiety, fiscal generosity and multi-year revenue visibility all converge at once. With the Fiscal Year 2027 investment request by the Department of War totaling $756.8 billion, and President Trump declaring that "our Military Budget for the year 2027 should not be $1 Trillion Dollars, but rather $1.5 Trillion Dollars," the demand backdrop heading into July is as durable as it gets. Goldman Sachs frames it similarly, arguing that economic security will be a prominent theme in 2026, with NATO defense commitments and reindustrialization creating substantial opportunities for active managers.24/7 Wall St.Three names anchor that thesis. Each has a tool-verified data point supporting the "resilient" label, each has a clear bull case for July, and each carries a real risk worth pricing in.Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) trades at $545.70 as of July 2, up nearly 8% over the past month. The stock is up around 10% over the trailing year, but some recent weakness has created a more interesting entry. Forward P/E sits at 17, with a dividend yield of 3% and a Wall Street average target of $624.11.Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and RTX didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.The bull case is built on backlog and program lock-in. Lockheed ended 2025 with a record $194 billion backlog, representing more than 2.5 years of sales, and management reaffirmed FY2026 guidance of $77.5 to $80.0 billion in sales and diluted EPS of $29.35 to $30.25. Critically, the Department of War signed multi-year framework agreements to scale Patriot, THAAD, and PrSM production by three to four times current rates, and Lockheed just landed a $4.8 billion PAC-3 missile production contract. CEO Jim Taiclet said the year's start "reinforces our confidence in Lockheed Martin's continued operational and financial growth in the year ahead."Risk: Q1 2026 EPS of $6.44 missed the $6.70 estimate, dragged by a $125 million F-16 unfavorable profit adjustment. Fixed-price contract execution remains the perennial caveat.Terms and Privacy PolicyEU DSA contactPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore Info