Defense stocks from contract award to revenue
A defense contractor can announce a multiyear award and earn the revenue in stages as work progresses. To compare defense stocks, start with the program the company serves, then find out what the customer committed to buy and how the company records that work.
By BeliefState · Reviewed
Find what each defense company sells
A prime contractor may be responsible for a whole aircraft or ship. A supplier can sell engines, sensors, or communications equipment into multiple programs. Use the relevant segment when a company also sells to commercial customers.
Scroll across to see every column.
| Business role | Company examples | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Aircraft and missiles | Lockheed Martin (LMT), Northrop Grumman (NOC) | Track the program, production cadence, and later sustainment work separately. Lockheed reports PAC-3 in Missiles and Fire Control, while Northrop’s aeronautics disclosures include aircraft such as the F-35 and B-21. |
| Ships and combat vehicles | General Dynamics (GD) | Look at Marine Systems for submarine programs and Combat Systems for land vehicles. Compare the orders and revenue in those segments separately from General Dynamics’ business aviation operations. |
| Engines, sensors, and communications | RTX (RTX), L3Harris (LHX) | Check how much of the business comes from military programs. In its third quarter 2026 results, RTX split its $340 billion total backlog into $176 billion commercial and $164 billion defense. |
| Uncrewed systems | Kratos (KTOS), Red Cat (RCAT) | Look for the step between a bid, an order, and a delivery. In May 2026, Red Cat disclosed a $9.5 million Army purchase order for drones through its Teal subsidiary. |
Trace the PAC-3 award into backlog and revenue
In July 2026, Lockheed Martin announced a seven-year contract modification for PAC-3 interceptors worth up to $53.86 billion. Including an earlier award for the first year, Lockheed put the combined contract value at $58.62 billion.
In the quarter ended September 27, Lockheed attributed $52.5 billion of its backlog to the multiyear PAC-3 award. The company expected to recognize about 23% of its entire backlog as revenue over the next 12 months. Keep the company-wide estimate separate from the award when you build a program-level timeline.
Lockheed generally records contract revenue as work progresses, using costs incurred to measure progress. For a particular program, find the accounting policy and any program disclosures that connect the award to sales in the period you are analyzing.
Check how much work has funding
At September 27, 2026, Kratos reported $2.067 billion of funded backlog and $582.9 million of unfunded backlog. It separately disclosed a $15.5 billion bid and proposal pipeline. A bid measures an opportunity, while backlog measures work under contracts the company counts under its reporting rules.
Pick one program and save the award date, the funded amount if disclosed, and the next filing where you expect to see progress. Then look up the ticker to compare what investors are watching and how their views change as the company reports.