Huntington Ingalls Secures Contract to Support Aircraft Carrier

Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. HII recently won a contract to provide engineering support for the U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-class and Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers. The work covers engineering, technical and design services, integrated logistics support, configuration and database management, modernization tasks and ship change document development. The contract was awarded by the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C.

Valued at nearly $91.9 million, the contract is expected to be completed in November 2030. The contract also includes options that, if exercised, could raise its total value to approximately $472 million.

Growth Prospects for HII

According to a report from the Mordor Intelligence firm, nations across the globe are fortifying their defense spending on military weapons and arsenals as they look to strengthen their defense capabilities. This also includes augmented spending on navy ships for enhanced sea warfare capabilities. Mordor Intelligence also forecasts that the naval vessels market will witness a compound annual growth rate of 6.46% during the 2025-2030 period.

Such increased spending tends to benefit Huntington Ingalls as its Huntington Ingalls’ Ingalls Shipbuilding segment constructs amphibious assault ships, expeditionary warfare ships, surface combatants and national security cutters for the U.S. Navy and boasts a strong portfolio of products. The company’s Newport News segment is involved in the design and construction of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines.

With more than 135 years of experience in building naval ships, Huntington Ingalls enjoys a consistent flow of orders, like the latest one, which boosts its revenue generation prospects.

Opportunities for Other Defense Stocks

Some other defense players that can gain from the expanding naval vessel market are discussed below.

Lockheed Martin LMT: Lockheed’s Rotary and Mission Systems (RMS) unit supports integrated warfare systems and sensors programs such as the AEGIS Combat System, the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and Multi-Mission Surface Combatant for the U.S. Navy and other allies.

LMT’s long-term (three-to five-year) earnings growth rate is 12.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 sales implies growth of 4.7% from the prior-year figure.

BAE Systems plc BAESY: The company commissions, designs, builds, repairs and services a wide range of complex navy ships, including aircraft carriers. Its Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers are the largest warships ever constructed in the United Kingdom.

BAESY has a long-term earnings growth rate of 14.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s 2025 sales suggests a year-over-year increase of 62.9%.

General Dynamics GD: General Dynamics’ Marine Systems segment is the leading designer and builder of nuclear-powered submarines and a leader in surface combatant and auxiliary ship design and construction for the U.S. Navy.

GD’s long-term earnings growth rate is 12.8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 sales implies growth of 8.9% from the prior-year figure.

Price Performance

In the past year, shares of HII have gained 63.7% compared with the industry’s 20.2% growth.

Zacks Rank

HII currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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