What Happened?
Shares of aerospace and defense company Huntington Ingalls (NYSE: HII) jumped 5.4% in the afternoon session after the stock's positive momentum continued as its Ingalls Shipbuilding division secured a contract from the U.S. Navy to design and build a new class of small combatant ships.
The new vessels, based on the company's proven Legend-class national security cutter design, were expected to strengthen Huntington Ingalls' long-term naval shipbuilding portfolio. This deal also supported steady workload visibility for the company's Ingalls Shipbuilding operations, which improved investor confidence. The move was also supported by a broader positive sentiment for defense-related stocks, which saw renewed buying interest amid global developments.
Is now the time to buy Huntington Ingalls? Access our full analysis report here.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Huntington Ingalls’s shares are somewhat volatile and have had 10 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 3 days ago when the stock gained 2.6% on the news that its Ingalls Shipbuilding division was selected by the U.S. Navy to design and build a new class of small surface combatant (SSC) ships.
The project involved using the successful design of the Legend-class national security cutter, a vessel previously built by the company. This indicated confidence in the company's existing and proven platforms. HII's Ingalls Shipbuilding division planned to integrate the new construction into its current production lines, building the SSC ships alongside its ongoing destroyer and amphibious ship projects. The new contract represented a significant win for the company, securing a key project with its largest customer.
Huntington Ingalls is up 89.5% since the beginning of the year, and at $355.57 per share, has set a new 52-week high. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Huntington Ingalls’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,173.
The 1999 book Gorilla Game predicted Microsoft and Apple would dominate tech before it happened. Its thesis? Identify the platform winners early. Today, enterprise software companies embedding generative AI are becoming the new gorillas. Click here for access to our special report that reveals one profitable leader already riding this wave.
