The Day the War Started — March 2, 2026
On March 2, 2026 — the first trading day after Operation Epic Fury began — defense stocks moved in lockstep with the weapons systems deployed. The correlation was direct: you could identify which companies’ missiles were used in the strike by watching which stocks moved the most.
RTX Corporation (Raytheon)
NYSE: RTX · Market cap ~$285B as of March 3 2026
+4.7%
Single-day gain March 2 · All-time high $214.50 on March 3
Makes the Tomahawk cruise missile — confirmed used in opening strikes at $2M per unit
Makes the Patriot air defense system, used to intercept Iranian missiles
Stock up 110% from March 2023 to March 2026
DoD contracts: 30–40% of total revenue in 2024
Raytheon stated munitions will grow “2 to 4 times their existing production rates”
Northrop Grumman
NYSE: NOC · Record $95.7B backlog at end of Q1 2026
+6%
Single-day gain March 2 · Biggest single-day mover
Makes B-2 Spirit stealth bombers used in the strikes
Provides radar technology for E-3 Sentry AWACS surveillance aircraft
Stock up 60% from March 2023 to March 2026
Order backlog hit a record $95.7 billion — essentially pre-sold revenue through 2030+
Lockheed Martin
NYSE: LMT · World’s largest defense contractor by revenue
+3.4%
Single-day gain March 2 · All-time high, closed at $676.70
Makes F-35 Lightning II fighters used in strikes — central to the air campaign
Makes THAAD interceptors at $12.77M each — in January, signed deal to quadruple production from 96 to 400 per year
Makes PAC-3 Patriot missiles at $4M each
Stock up 37% from March 2023 to March 2026 · Up ~35% in 2026 alone
DoD contracts: 74% of total 2024 revenue
General Dynamics
NYSE: GD · Market cap ~$94.75B March 2026
Solid gains
Single-day gain March 2 · Up 57% from March 2023
Makes M1 Abrams tanks, Stryker combat vehicles, Virginia-class submarines
Produces warhead casings, guidance hardware housings, solid rocket motor materials
CEO Phebe Novakovic said in January 2026 the company is “preparing aggressively for future growth”
Up 33% year-to-date as of March 2026
The CEO Meeting — March 6, 2026
Less than one week after the war began, CEOs of RTX, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, L3Harris, and Honeywell Aerospace met with President Trump at the White House. The result: an agreement to quadruple productionof what officials called “exquisite class” weaponry — Pentagon jargon for the most advanced and expensive precision-guided munitions. The commitment signals the defense industrial base is gearing up not for months but for years of sustained production — production that will outlast the Iran war itself.
“Defense spending was already set to surge in 2026 and a protracted war with Iran will make the spending more urgent and less controversial.”
Defense sector analyst, quoted in MarketWatch, March 2026
The Numbers That Put It in Context
The iShares US Aerospace and Defense ETF — a fund that tracks the sector — has surged 14% in 2026, with the acceleration sharpest after February 28. From the first US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025 through early March 2026, it gained 35%.
The combined shareholder wealth gain for the top three contractors on a single trading day — March 2, 2026 — was in the range of $25 to $30 billion. That figure is also roughly equal to the Pentagon’s annual spend on military family housing and quality-of-life programs.
In 2024, Booz Allen Hamilton derived a staggering 98% of its revenue from Department of Defense contracts, according to the government contract tracker TenderAlpha. Lockheed Martin derived 74%. These are not companies with diversified revenue. Their profitability is structurally dependent on armed conflict.
“The greatest threat to investors in these firms? Peace. When peace talks begin during prolonged conflicts, investors in defense firms tend to sell.”
Responsible Statecraft analysis, March 2026
The analyst consensus as of March 2026 is that war-driven demand will sustain elevated revenue for the defense sector through at least 2030. One defense analyst noted that in one case, 11 Patriot missiles were reportedly used to intercept a single Iranian missile. Each Patriot missile costs $4 million. Each intercepted Iranian Shahed drone costs Iran approximately $20,000 to produce. The math of that exchange benefits exactly one set of shareholders.
Sources: Time March 19 2026 · Jacobin March 2026 · Al Jazeera March 9 2026 · GovFacts March 2 2026 · Responsible Statecraft March 2026 · House of Saud March 25 2026 · Euronews March 3 2026 · Air and Space Forces Magazine March 2026 · TenderAlpha contract data 2024. Updated March 30 2026.