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 91 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: B, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: B.

Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) has a Due Diligence Score of 48, which is 16 points higher than the defense industry average of 32.

SWBI passed 17 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Smith & Wesson Brands has seen its stock return 81.25% over the past year, overperforming other defense stocks by 71 percentage points.

Smith & Wesson Brands has an average 1 year price target of $16.50, an upside of 13.79% from Smith & Wesson Brands's current stock price of $14.50.

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.

Astronics (NASDAQ:ATRO) is the #2 top defense stock out of 91 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: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Astronics (NASDAQ:ATRO) has a Due Diligence Score of 41, which is 9 points higher than the defense industry average of 32.

ATRO passed 14 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Astronics has seen its stock return 87.99% over the past year, overperforming other defense stocks by 78 percentage points.

Astronics has an average 1 year price target of $103.50, an upside of 58.89% from Astronics's current stock price of $65.14.

Astronics stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Astronics, 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.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) is the #3 top defense stock out of 91 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 Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) has a Due Diligence Score of 50, which is 18 points higher than the defense industry average of 32.

LMT passed 18 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Lockheed Martin has seen its stock return 35.48% over the past year, overperforming other defense stocks by 26 percentage points.

Lockheed Martin has an average 1 year price target of $622.44, an upside of 9.35% from Lockheed Martin's current stock price of $569.20.

Lockheed Martin stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 9 analysts covering Lockheed Martin, 22.22% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 66.67% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 11.11% 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 3.59%, which is 3 percentage points higher than the defense industry average of 0.97%. 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 123.8% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) has an annual dividend yield of 2.4%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the defense industry average of 0.97%. 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 50.1% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) has an annual dividend yield of 1.76%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the defense industry average of 0.97%. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Northrop Grumman's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio of 29.8% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Defense stocks were down -4.45% in the last day, and up 0.24% over the last week. York Space Systems was the among the top losers in the aerospace & defense industry, dropping -15.67% yesterday.

York Space Systems shares are trading lower after Raymond James downgraded the stock from Outperform to Market Perform.

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 43, which is 26 points higher than the defense industry average of 17. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Textron's stock has gained 9.61% in the past year. It has performed in line with other stocks in the defense industry.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) is the second 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.

Huntington Ingalls Industries has a valuation score of 29, which is 12 points higher than the defense industry average of 17. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Huntington Ingalls Industries's stock has gained 7.5% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the defense industry by -2 percentage points.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) 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.

Lockheed Martin has a valuation score of 14, which is -3 points higher than the defense industry average of 17. It passed 1 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates LMT a Valuation Rating of "B".

Lockheed Martin's stock has gained 35.48% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the defense industry by 26 percentage points.

60.81% of defense stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect defense stocks to rise by 22.8% over the next year.

9.41% of defense stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 16.47% of defense stocks are rated B (Buy), 44.71% are rated C (Hold), 17.65% are rated D (Sell), and 11.76% are rated F (Strong Sell).