7 segments · 16 companies

Aerospace & Defense

−1.8%chain · 1M

Materials and components feed engines, aircraft and defense systems; airline deliveries and defense budgets drive different orders.

The Aerospace & Defense covers 7 segments and 16 companies, 4 of them chokepoints.
Over the past month the chain's median listed company returned −1.8%, against 0.0% for the S&P 500.
The strongest segment is Defense prime contractors (+3.3%) and the weakest Airline & government customers (−8.8%), a 12.1-point spread.

The chain, stage by stage

Upstream on the left, end demand on the right. Figures are 1-month returns; the segment shows its median.

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Civil aviationDefense systems

Materials & components

Aerospace forgings & castings−7.6%

HWM−7.6%

Engines & subsystems

Aerospace components+0.3%

TDG+1.5%TXT−0.8%

Engines & maintenance−3.5%

GE−7.2%RTX+0.3%

Communications, mission systems & avionics+0.2%

LHX+3.2%HONA−2.9%

OEMs & primes

Commercial aircraft−2.8%

BA−2.8%

Defense prime contractors+3.3%

LMT+5.6%NOC+5.8%GD+0.4%HII+1.1%

Airline & defense demand

Airline & government customers−8.8%

DAL−7.4%UAL−11.8%LUV−5.2%AAL−10.1%

Which segments are leading

Median price return of the listed companies in each segment.

1M3M12M

Defense prime contractors+3.3%

Aerospace components+0.3%

Communications, mission systems & avionics+0.2%

Commercial aircraft−2.8%

Engines & maintenance−3.5%

Aerospace forgings & castings−7.6%

Airline & government customers−8.8%

S&P 5000.0%

Defense prime contractors−3.8%

Commercial aircraft−8.1%

Airline & government customers−10.3%

Engines & maintenance−11.8%

Aerospace components−12.1%

Communications, mission systems & avionics−17.3%

Aerospace forgings & castings−27.5%

S&P 500+4.7%

Engines & maintenance+9.1%

Airline & government customers+8.7%

Aerospace forgings & castings+8.3%

Defense prime contractors−0.1%

Aerospace components−9.7%

Commercial aircraft−11.3%

Communications, mission systems & avionics−16.4%

S&P 500+15.8%

Chokepoints

Concentrated, hard-to-replace links that can cap the whole chain.

Aerospace forgings & castings · Few qualified suppliers; qualification takes years

Engine blades and structures need superalloy castings and forgings; few suppliers are qualified and qualification is long, a key limit on engine ramps.

Engines & maintenance · Narrowbody engines come mainly from CFM (GE JV) and Pratt & Whitney (RTX)

New aircraft deliveries are limited by engine output; engines depend on a few suppliers of special castings, forgings and materials, so ramps are slow.

Commercial aircraft · A Boeing–Airbus duopoly

Only Boeing and Airbus build large jetliners, with years of backlog; FAA caps 737 MAX monthly output, so airline capacity growth waits on deliveries.

Defense prime contractors · Two main US makers (Northrop Grumman and L3Harris’s Aerojet)

Missiles and munitions depend on solid rocket motors; the US has two main makers, and new capacity needs plants and long qualification, pacing munitions output.

Key numbers

Boeing commercial airplane backlog6,200+Boeing · 2Q26 results

Sources

Howmet · Aerospace businesses 2026-10-07（查阅）
GE Aerospace · 2025 annual report 2026-02
FAA · Boeing 737 MAX production expansion halted 2024-01-24
GAO-18-45 · Solid rocket motor industrial base 2017-10-26
Boeing · 2Q26 results 2026-07-28

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