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

Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) has a Due Diligence Score of 43, which is 10 points higher than the defense industry average of 33.

SWBI passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Smith & Wesson Brands has seen its stock return 83.49% over the past year, overperforming other defense stocks by 85 percentage points.

Smith & Wesson Brands has an average 1 year price target of $16.50, an upside of 5.3% from Smith & Wesson Brands's current stock price of $15.67.

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.

Moog (NYSE:MOG.A) 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 Moog (NYSE:MOG.A) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Moog (NYSE:MOG.A) has a Due Diligence Score of 62, which is 29 points higher than the defense industry average of 33.

MOG.A passed 24 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Moog has seen its stock return 69.21% over the past year, overperforming other defense stocks by 71 percentage points.

Moog has an average 1 year price target of $445.67, an upside of 31.27% from Moog's current stock price of $339.51.

Moog stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering Moog, 75% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 25% 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 93 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +17.17% 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: C.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) has a Due Diligence Score of 50, which is 17 points higher than the defense industry average of 33.

LMT passed 18 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Lockheed Martin has seen its stock return 30.75% over the past year, overperforming other defense stocks by 33 percentage points.

Lockheed Martin has an average 1 year price target of $662.70, an upside of 11.18% from Lockheed Martin's current stock price of $596.04.

Lockheed Martin stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 10 analysts covering Lockheed Martin, 40% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 60% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 25 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 3.32%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the defense industry average of 1.01%. 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 2.32%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the defense industry average of 1.01%. 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 2.06%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the defense industry average of 1.01%. 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 down -0.48% in the last day, and up 3.26% over the last week. Virgin Galactic Holdings was the among the top losers in the aerospace & defense industry, dropping -31.09% yesterday.

Virgin Galactic shares are trading lower after the company announced a $12.5 million debt-for-equity exchange that will issue new shares.

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 2.7% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the defense industry by 4 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 47.74% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the defense industry by 49 percentage points.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) 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.

Huntington Ingalls Industries 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.

Huntington Ingalls Industries's stock has dropped -2.06% in the past year. It has performed in line with other stocks in the defense industry.

59.42% of defense stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect defense stocks to rise by 28.02% over the next year.

2.47% of defense stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 19.75% of defense stocks are rated B (Buy), 51.85% are rated C (Hold), 14.81% are rated D (Sell), and 11.11% are rated F (Strong Sell).