Sectors & IndustriesIndustrialsAerospace & Defense

Best Defense Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top defense stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +28.50% per year, and are the best defense stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best defense stocks to buy right now are:

Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) is the #1 top defense stock out of 93 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +28.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) has a Due Diligence Score of 43, which is 9 points higher than the defense industry average of 34.

SWBI passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Smith & Wesson Brands has seen its stock return 42.69% over the past year, overperforming other defense stocks by 48 percentage points.

Smith & Wesson Brands has an average 1 year price target of $16.50, an upside of 25.28% from Smith & Wesson Brands's current stock price of $13.17.

Smith & Wesson Brands stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst covering Smith & Wesson Brands, 100% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Sturm Ruger & Co (NYSE:RGR) is the #2 top defense stock out of 93 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +28.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Sturm Ruger & Co (NYSE:RGR) is: Value: C, Growth: A, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Sturm Ruger & Co (NYSE:RGR) has a Due Diligence Score of 42, which is 8 points higher than the defense industry average of 34.

RGR passed 16 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Sturm Ruger & Co has seen its stock return 9.2% over the past year, overperforming other defense stocks by 14 percentage points.

Astronics (NASDAQ:ATRO) is the #3 top defense stock out of 93 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +28.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Astronics (NASDAQ:ATRO) is: Value: C, Growth: A, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Astronics (NASDAQ:ATRO) has a Due Diligence Score of 54, which is 20 points higher than the defense industry average of 34.

ATRO passed 18 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Astronics has seen its stock return 24.97% over the past year, overperforming other defense stocks by 30 percentage points.

Astronics has an average 1 year price target of $90.00, an upside of 47.76% from Astronics's current stock price of $60.91.

Astronics stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Astronics, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 50% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 24 defense stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 defense stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) has an annual dividend yield of 3.95%, which is 3 percentage points higher than the defense industry average of 1.03%. Smith & Wesson Brands's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Smith & Wesson Brands's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Smith & Wesson Brands's dividend payout ratio of 94.5% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) has an annual dividend yield of 2.16%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the defense industry average of 1.03%. Lockheed Martin's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Lockheed Martin's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Lockheed Martin's dividend payout ratio of 48.8% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Park Aerospace (NYSE:PKE) has an annual dividend yield of 1.91%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the defense industry average of 1.03%. Park Aerospace's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% two times in the last 10 years. Park Aerospace's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Park Aerospace's dividend payout ratio of 69.4% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Defense stocks were up 0.83% in the last day, and up 3.36% over the last week. Beta Technologies was the among the top gainers in the aerospace & defense industry, gaining 16% yesterday.

Beta Technologies shares are trading higher after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 financial results and raised its fY26 sales guidance above estimates.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued defense stocks right now are:

Textron (NYSE:TXT) is the most undervalued defense stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Textron has a valuation score of 29, which is 11 points higher than the defense industry average of 18. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Textron's stock has gained 9.71% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the defense industry by 15 percentage points.

V2x (NYSE:VVX) is the second most undervalued defense stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

V2x has a valuation score of 43, which is 25 points higher than the defense industry average of 18. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

V2x's stock has gained 38.37% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the defense industry by 43 percentage points.

Optex Systems Holdings (NASDAQ:OPXS) is the third most undervalued defense stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Optex Systems Holdings has a valuation score of 57, which is 39 points higher than the defense industry average of 18. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Optex Systems Holdings's stock has dropped -46.05% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the defense industry by -41 percentage points.

57.97% of defense stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect defense stocks to rise by 25.92% over the next year.

5.95% of defense stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 16.67% of defense stocks are rated B (Buy), 47.62% are rated C (Hold), 21.43% are rated D (Sell), and 8.33% are rated F (Strong Sell).