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

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 37.33% over the past year, overperforming other defense stocks by 49 percentage points.

Smith & Wesson Brands has an average 1 year price target of $16.50, an upside of 18.03% from Smith & Wesson Brands's current stock price of $13.98.

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

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 lose -6.81% over the past year, overperforming other defense stocks by 5 percentage points.

Astronics (NASDAQ:ATRO) 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 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 52, which is 18 points higher than the defense industry average of 34.

ATRO passed 17 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Astronics has seen its stock return 39.52% over the past year, overperforming other defense stocks by 51 percentage points.

Astronics has an average 1 year price target of $90.00, an upside of 40.14% from Astronics's current stock price of $64.22.

Astronics stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst 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.

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 3.72%, which is 3 percentage points higher than the defense industry average of 1.11%. 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 2.71%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the defense industry average of 1.11%. 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.

L3harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) has an annual dividend yield of 2.09%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the defense industry average of 1.11%. L3harris Technologies's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. L3harris Technologies's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

L3harris Technologies's dividend payout ratio of 49.1% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Defense stocks were up 0.65% in the last day, and down -1.44% over the last week. Archer Aviation was the among the top gainers in the aerospace & defense industry, gaining 5.08% yesterday.

Archer Aviation shares are trading higher after Barclays upgraded the stock from Equal-Weight to Overweight and raised its price target from $4.5 to $8.

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 24 points higher than the defense industry average of 19. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Textron's stock has dropped -12.38% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the defense industry by -1 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 24 points higher than the defense industry average of 19. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

V2x's stock has gained 22.43% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the defense industry by 34 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 -5 points higher than the defense industry average of 19. 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 0.36% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the defense industry by 12 percentage points.

63.38% of defense stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect defense stocks to rise by 36.15% over the next year.

7.06% of defense stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 17.65% of defense stocks are rated B (Buy), 43.53% are rated C (Hold), 21.18% are rated D (Sell), and 10.59% are rated F (Strong Sell).