Curtiss-Wright Corporation

Guggenheim initiated coverage of Curtiss-Wright Corporation with a Buy rating and a $786 price target, representing 41% upside potential at the time of its September 15 update, citing rising global defense spending and elevated power generation demand as a compelling one-two punch. The call rests on businesses Curtiss-Wright already operates: Aerospace & Defense market sales rose 6% year over year in the second quarter on higher naval defense revenue and stronger electromechanical actuation sales, while commercial market sales rose 5%, with Power & Process growth driven mainly by commercial nuclear solutions. Total company orders increased 8% to $1.1 billion in the quarter, with record demand for defense electronics, and backlog ended at $4.5 billion, 10% higher than at the end of 2025. In July the company announced an $80 million multi-year expansion of its Cheswick, Pennsylvania operations serving naval defense and commercial nuclear customers. For the quarter, sales rose 5% to $924 million, adjusted diluted EPS increased 15% to $3.72, and adjusted operating margin improved 110 basis points to 19.4%, prompting management to raise its full-year outlook to 2026 adjusted sales growth of 8% to 9% and adjusted diluted EPS of $15.10 to $15.40, growth of 14% to 16%.

Curtiss-Wright has raised its 2026 adjusted sales and earnings guidance following stronger margin performance and secured approximately US$40 million in new U.S. Army air defense contracts. Despite these positive developments, the stock has fallen 24.27% over the past month and 22.70% over the past three months, though longer-term returns remain strong at 17.84% over one year and 408.59% over five years. The most-followed analyst narrative values the company at $786.29 per share, implying it is 27.9% undervalued against the last close of $566.75, while an alternative discounted cash flow model suggests a fair value of $492.52, indicating potential overvaluation. Management's confidence is supported by record backlog growth of 12% year-to-date to $3.8 billion, a book-to-bill ratio of 1.2x in aerospace and defense, and expectations of 9-10% sales growth, 16-19% EPS growth, and over 100 basis points of margin expansion in 2025. Investors must weigh risks such as potential delays in large defense and nuclear projects and budget shifts toward software-focused solutions.

Curtiss-Wright announced Monday that it received approximately $40 million in contracts from Leidos to support production of the U.S. Army's Indirect Fire Protection Capability Increment 2 system. The company will supply electromechanical actuators and rugged mission computers for mobile guard-based air defense systems, which are designed to counter cruise missiles, rockets, and unmanned aircraft systems. The work will be performed across Curtiss-Wright's Aerospace & Industrial and Defense Electronics segments and is expected to support Indo-Pacific operations and the defense of Guam.

Curtiss-Wright raised its full-year guidance after second quarter sales climbed 5% year-over-year to $924 million, with operating income up 12% and free cash flow jumping 37% to $160 million. Second quarter bookings rose 8%, giving a book-to-bill above 1.1x, and year-to-date orders are up 12% against 9% sales growth. Defense Electronics led with orders up nearly 50% year-over-year in the quarter, while Aerospace & Industrial sales rose 12% and operating income grew 25%. Management expects an AP1000 reactor order before year-end, supported by a conditional $17.5 billion Department of Energy loan commitment for up to 10 new Westinghouse AP1000 reactors. However, third quarter guidance calls for flat sequential operating income and margin, with Defense Electronics sales flat and R&D spending rising, while General Industrial sales growth is guided at just 1% to 3%.

Curtiss-Wright reported second quarter 2026 results that exceeded expectations, raised full year earnings guidance, and outlined a multiyear US$80 million expansion of its Chesapeake, Virginia facility. The company's share price is up 22.18% year to date, with a 1-year total shareholder return of 43.71%, despite a 6.96% 1-month pullback. Curtiss-Wright now trades near US$699, and the most followed narrative pegs fair value around $814.83 per share, implying the stock is 14.2% undervalued. The global nuclear resurgence underpins significant optionality for its nuclear segment, with CEO-outlined opportunities to quadruple commercial nuclear revenues to $1.5 billion by mid-next decade. However, the current P/E of 47.7x sits above the US Aerospace & Defense average of 39.9x and well above a fair ratio of 27.4x, pointing to meaningful valuation risk if sentiment cools.

Curtiss-Wright Corp. reported a second-quarter profit of $151.17 million, or $4.07 per share, up from $121.06 million, or $3.19 per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, adjusted earnings were $3.72 per share. Revenue rose 5.4% to $924.01 million from $876.58 million. The company issued full-year earnings guidance of $15.10 to $15.40 per share and revenue guidance of $3.768 billion to $3.813 billion.

Global military spending hit a record $2.9 trillion in 2025, and three defense contractors—General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, and Curtiss-Wright—are highlighted for their strong balance sheets and growth momentum. General Dynamics finished its most recent quarter with about $3.7 billion in cash, net debt fell to roughly $4.4 billion, and its total order backlog hit a record near $131 billion, with Marine Systems revenue up 21%. Northrop Grumman holds a record backlog of roughly $96 billion, generated free cash flow of about $3.3 billion in 2025, and is investing about $2.5 billion to expand B-21 bomber production while projecting full-year free cash flow of roughly $3.1 billion to $3.5 billion. Curtiss-Wright carries roughly $958 million in total debt against about $371 million in cash, converts more than 105% of earnings into free cash flow, and saw new orders climb 16% to a backlog of about $4.3 billion, with roughly 90% expected to convert to revenue within three years.

GE Aerospace has returned 16.6% year-to-date, significantly outperforming the broader Aerospace sector's average gain of 2.4%. The company holds a Zacks Rank of 2, or Buy, with the consensus full-year earnings estimate rising 0.6% over the past three months. Within the Aerospace - Defense industry, which has lost 0.6% this year, GE's performance stands out. Another sector outperformer, Curtiss-Wright, has surged 36.9% year-to-date and also carries a Zacks Rank of 2, with its current-year EPS estimate up 1% over three months.

Space Exploration Technologies reported a net loss of $4.28 billion in the first quarter of 2026, shortly after raising $86 billion in its IPO and borrowing an additional $25 billion in bonds to refinance debt from absorbing X and xAI. The xAI division generated $818 million in revenue against $2.47 billion in operating losses in the same quarter, and some analysts project SpaceX will carry $400 billion in net debt by 2031. In contrast, four profitable aerospace companies were highlighted as alternatives: RTX posted $22.1 billion in first-quarter sales with Raytheon's operating profit up 24%, Heico reported record net income up 49% on sales of $1.375 billion, Curtiss-Wright saw sales rise 13% to $914 million with operating income up 23%, and Hexcel's sales grew 9.9% to $501.5 million with adjusted earnings per share of $0.59 beating estimates by 14%.

Hardman Johnston Global Advisors named Curtiss-Wright Corporation as one of the best contributors to its Large Cap Equity Strategy in the first quarter of 2026. The strategy returned 0.68% gross and 0.57% net, outperforming the S&P 500 Total Return Index which fell 4.33%. Curtiss-Wright, along with Vertiv Holdings and Advanced Energy Industries, benefited from customer order growth that added to already strong backlogs in aerospace and nuclear power. The firm remains confident in Curtiss-Wright's essential role for customers and its solid growth prospects. Curtiss-Wright shares closed at $757.76 on July 1, 2026, with a one-month return of 3.25% and a 52-week gain of 57.98%, giving it a market capitalization of $28 billion.

Hardman Johnston Global Advisors highlighted Vertiv Holdings as a top contributor in its Large Cap Equity Strategy for the first quarter of 2026, citing continued customer order growth that added to already strong backlogs in computing infrastructure. The strategy returned 0.68% gross and 0.57% net during the period, outperforming the S&P 500 Total Return Index which fell 4.33%. Vertiv, a critical infrastructure solutions provider for data centers, closed at $311.42 per share on July 1, 2026, with a market capitalization of $119.61 billion, and its shares gained 143.60% over the past 52 weeks. The firm noted that Vertiv, along with Advanced Energy Industries and Curtiss Wright, benefited from robust backlogs, and expressed confidence in their essential role for customers and solid growth prospects. At the end of the first quarter, 96 hedge fund portfolios held Vertiv, down from 112 in the previous quarter.

On 27 June 2026, FTSE Russell reclassified Curtiss-Wright Corporation, removing it from several value and dynamic benchmarks and adding it to multiple growth-focused Russell indexes, including the Russell 1000 Growth and Russell Midcap Growth benchmarks. This shift reflects a market tilt toward a growth-oriented profile for the company, which may influence which institutional investors hold the stock and how they size their positions. The reclassification does not materially change the near-term picture, where execution on major defense and nuclear contracts remains the key catalyst and any slowdown in government or industrial spending the central risk. Curtiss-Wright recently expanded its revolving credit facility to US$1.0 billion, replacing a US$750 million line, providing more flexibility to fund acquisitions and internal growth. The company's narrative projects US$4.0 billion revenue and US$593.3 million earnings by 2028, requiring 6.8% yearly revenue growth and roughly a US$142 million earnings increase from US$451.4 million today.

Curtiss-Wright Corporation has delivered a share price return exceeding 500% over the past five years, placing it among the eight aerospace and defense stocks with the largest five-year gains. Wall Street holds a Moderate Buy rating on the stock with an average upside potential of 7% as of the June 29 close, and William Blair analyst Louie DiPalma reiterated a Buy rating on June 4. The company recently secured a new credit agreement that increases its revolving credit facility to $1 billion and expands the accordion feature to $500 million, maturing in May 2031 for general corporate purposes including acquisitions. First-quarter sales rose 13% year-over-year to $914 million, operating income grew 23% to $160 million with a 17.5% margin, and diluted earnings per share improved to $3.46 from $2.68, while new orders climbed 16% to $1.2 billion and backlog reached $4.3 billion, prompting management to raise full-year guidance.

Curtiss-Wright has returned about 38.4% since the start of the calendar year, significantly outperforming the Aerospace group's average gain of 2.9%. The company holds a Zacks Rank of 2, or Buy, and its full-year earnings estimate has moved 0.9% higher over the past three months. Within the Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry, which has gained an average of 10.9% year-to-date, Curtiss-Wright is also performing better. Another stock in the same industry, Outdoor Holding Company, has returned 36.8% year-to-date and carries a Zacks Rank of 1, or Strong Buy, with its current-year EPS estimate up 80% over the past three months.

Curtiss-Wright Corporation is highlighted as a strong investment option in the aerospace sector, backed by robust growth projections and a solid financial position. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings per share is $15.16, indicating year-over-year growth of 14.6%, while 2026 sales are estimated at $3.77 billion, up 7.9% year-over-year. The company's long-term earnings growth rate is pegged at 14.2%, and it delivered an average earnings surprise of 3.81% over the last four quarters. Curtiss-Wright's total debt-to-capital ratio of 26.68% is better than the industry average of 41.35%, and its current ratio of 1.52 signals ample liquidity. The company is poised to benefit from the global shift toward cleaner energy, particularly through its role in supplying reactor coolant pumps for new AP1000 nuclear reactors, with potential for 20 to 25 reactors in Central and Eastern Europe. Strong defense and aerospace demand, driven by higher U.S. submarine funding and rising commercial aerospace production, further supports its outlook. Shares of Curtiss-Wright have gained 67.9% in the past year, significantly outperforming the industry's 22.8% growth.

The 15 aerospace stocks tracked by StockStory reported a very strong first quarter, with aggregate revenues beating analysts' consensus estimates by 1.9%. AAR led with revenues of $845.1 million, up 25.3% year on year and exceeding expectations by 4.1%, while Rocket Lab delivered the fastest revenue growth among its peers at $200.3 million, a 63.5% increase that beat estimates by 4.9%. Woodward reported $1.09 billion in revenues, up 23.4% and surpassing expectations by 8.5%, and Curtiss-Wright posted $913.7 million, up 13.4% and beating by 5.1%. AerSale was the weakest performer, with revenues of $70.61 million falling short of analysts' expectations by 18.9%. Next quarter's revenue guidance for the group came in 0.7% below estimates, but aerospace stocks have performed well, with share prices up 13.2% on average since the latest earnings results.

Since SpaceX began trading, its shares have risen more than 30%, but the debut has split the space trade rather than sparking a broad rally. Old-line aerospace and defense names have broadly caught a bid, with GE Aerospace, Howmet Aerospace, Honeywell, Parker-Hannifin, Eaton, and TransDigm all up roughly 5% to 9%, while Boeing, RTX, Airbus, Wabtec, and Curtiss-Wright are also higher. In contrast, smaller public space stocks have fallen sharply: Rocket Lab is down about 5%, AST SpaceMobile, EchoStar, Viasat, Redwire, Planet Labs, and Satellogic are down roughly 10% to 16%, and Virgin Galactic, Sidus Space, and Intuitive Machines have dropped more than 20%. Before the IPO, these newer names were among the few ways to trade the space theme, but SpaceX’s debut has turned into a sorting machine, forcing them to prove they can win attention on their own.