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Northrop Grumman’s (NYSE:NOC) stock jumped as much as 12% on Monday morning to lead gains in aerospace and defense companies after war erupted in the Middle East. The surprise attack two days ago on Israel by fighters from Hamas, which the United States designates as terrorist group, led to intensive retaliatory strikes by the Israeli military.
Shares of other defense contractors including L3Harris (NYSE:LHX), General Dynamics (NYSE:GD), Huntington Ingalls (NYSE:HII), Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT), RTX (NYSE:RTX) also advanced, in contrast to broader declines for the Standard & Poor’s 500 (SP500) stock index.
Wall Street is evaluating the effects of the war on markets and individual stocks.
“Terrorist attacks and resulting combat have created risk other regional actors could become involved and/or Israel could retaliate against other parties,” Roman Schweizer, analyst at TD Cowen, said in a report on October 8. “Several next steps will be important to gauging the trajectory of fighting and/or cessation. We do not expect combat to end quickly and believe risk will be elevated that fighting could spread.”
The U.S. Department of Defense said it would deploy the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group, which includes one Aegis cruiser and four Aegis destroyers, to the Eastern Mediterranean to provide any needed support to Israel. More than 700 Israelis and 560 Palestinians have been killed since Saturday.
“The Ford’s strike aircraft and battle group’s missile-defense capability will be used to deter other regional actors from joining the fight and could be used to supplemental Israel Defense Forces missile-defense units,” according to TD Cowen. “[The Pentagon] has also said it is augmenting USAF F-35, F-15, F-16 and A-10 squadrons in the region. Additional munitions and equipment are being provided to Israel.”