Recent weeks have witnessed a rising trend among Congress members and other prominent US politicians. They have been strategically investing in military-related stocks, with a keen focus on sectors encompassing defense, energy, and cybersecurity.
Interestingly, this trend emerged prior to the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, rather than in its aftermath.
Of particular interest is the heightened attention these lawmakers have shown towards the defense stocks, likely driven by the anticipation of significant stock surges during times of geopolitical turmoil.
Congress members’ favorite 5 defense stocks
Put simply, the most traded defense stocks by the US Congress are the companies that make the most money.
According to data retrieved on November 9, the top five defense companies by 2022 revenue are Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), RTX Corp (NYSE: RTX), Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC), Boeing (NYSE: BA), and General Dynamics (NYSE: GD).
Last year, Lockheed secured $63.3 billion, RTX raked in $39.6 billion, and Northrop $32.4 billion. Boeing and General Dynamics generated $30.8 billion and $30.4 billion.
Notably, 30 Congress members have bought LMT, 17 invested in RTX, 13 bought NOC, and 23 acquired GD, per the information shared by alternative trading data platform Quiver Quantitative on November 6.
42 Congress members bought Boeing’s shares, although that figure is likely higher because Boeing is primarily a planemaker rather than a defense-oriented business. It is important to note that Boeing’s revenue mentioned earlier was generated by its defense segment.
Despite growing revenues, most prominent military-related stocks have seen a combined decrease in their market capitalization this year. According to data gathered and analyzed by Finbold, during the period from January 1, 2023, to October 11, 2023, these stocks witnessed a total decline of $98.08 billion.
Other highly traded defense stocks by US Congress
Quiver Quantitative listed six more companies that generate meaningful revenue from their defense operations, and are also high on the list of Congress.
That said, 11 members of Congress invested in the shares of the defense contractor L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX), and 5 bought Booz Allen Hamilton’s (NYSE: BAH) stock, the same as with Leidos Holdings (NYSE: LDOS).
62 and 35 representatives of the Congress invested in the US conglomerates General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON), respectively. Both conglomerates manage defense business units, among many others.
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Source: https://finbold.com/these-defense-stocks-are-most-traded-by-us-congress/