Latest news with #defense
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Here's Why It is Worth Investing in Kennametal Stock Now
Kennametal Inc. KMT is poised to gain from the solid momentum in its end markets, strong product portfolio, product innovations and a sound capital-deployment strategy. The company remains focused on investing in growth opportunities and strengthening its long-term market Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company has a market capitalization of $1.8 billion. In the past month, the stock has risen 8.1% compared with the industry's 4.9% growth. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Let's delve into the factors that make this company investment-worthy at the Strength: The company is witnessing several positive trends that hold promise for its long-term growth. This includes an increase in U.S. and international defense spending volumes and digitalization. Also, improved supply chain and increasing original equipment manufacturer build rates in the aerospace market in EMEA bode well. For fiscal 2025, the company expects revenues from aerospace & defense markets to increase on a year-over-year Product Portfolio: Kennametal is poised to benefit from its well-diversified portfolio and investments in product development. Some notable products introduced by the company are TopSwiss Inserts, HARVI TE Duo-Lock, KSEM ST Line, Through Coolant ER Collets, FV Geometry Inserts and Chip Fan it remains focused on strategic partnerships and investing in manufacturing facilities to boost growth. For instance, in May 2025, Kennametal invested in Toolpath Labs, an emerging leader in AI-powered computer-aided manufacturing software. The collaboration will enable KMT to expand its suite of digital capabilities and offerings for its manufacturing customers Policies: KMT is committed to rewarding shareholders through dividend payouts and share repurchases. In the first nine months of fiscal 2025, the company distributed dividends totaling $46.6 million to its shareholders and bought back shares for $55.1 2024, the company completed the initial share repurchase program, which was announced in July 2021. Also, in February 2024, its board of directors authorized another repurchase program worth $200 million, which is valid for three Revisions: In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KMT's fiscal 2025 (ending June 2025) earnings has increased 24%. Also, the same for fiscal 2026 (ending June 2026) has been revised upward 7.8%. Other top-ranked companies from the same space are discussed below:Howmet Aerospace HWM currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 8.8%. In the past 60 days, the consensus estimate for Howmet's 2025 earnings has increased 6.5%.AptarGroup, Inc. ATR presently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. ATR delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 7.3%. In the past 60 days, the consensus estimate for AptarGroup's 2025 earnings has increased 5.7%.Federal Signal Corporation FSS currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. FSS delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 6.4%. In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Federal Signal's 2025 earnings has increased 1.6%. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report AptarGroup, Inc. (ATR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Kennametal Inc. (KMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Federal Signal Corporation (FSS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Howmet Aerospace Inc. (HWM) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
ABC News
6 hours ago
- ABC News
Humanoid robots: China's race to build the future
Photo shows Ukraine Drone Strike: Screengrab shows a small drone hovering above a truck's trailer with a plume of smoke in the background. Has Video Duration: 1 minute 41 seconds . 1 m 41 s
Russia Today
7 hours ago
- Business
- Russia Today
European NATO states wary of buying US arms
European NATO members have expressed growing unease about increasing their reliance on US weapons amid a sweeping rearmament push, Bloomberg has reported on Friday. During a summit in The Hague this week, NATO states committed to raising military spending to 5% of GDP by 2035 to counter what they described as a 'long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security' – a claim that Moscow has repeatedly denied. Concerns have reportedly emerged about deepening dependence on the American defense industry, particularly under the leadership of President Donald Trump. According to Bloomberg, leaders fear they could be exposed to greater risks, especially in light of Trump's efforts to improve ties with Russia and past threats to annex allied territory. Boosting reliance on US arms has become 'an increasingly hard sell at home,' the outlet noted. French President Emmanuel Macron has long championed the idea of securing greater defense autonomy for European NATO states, urging the development of a self-sufficient military industrial base. Canada, a key NATO ally, is reportedly reconsidering its involvement in the US-led F-35 fighter jet program and may switch to Swedish alternatives. 'We should no longer send three-quarters of our defense capital spending to America,' Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stated earlier this month. Copenhagen has also displayed some resistance, telling Washington that American arms deals have become 'politically difficult' given Trump's suggestion that the US annex Greenland, which is currently controlled by Denmark, Bloomberg reported. Unease in the alliance has also been stoked by Trump's move to cut intelligence sharing with Ukraine earlier this year. According to unnamed officials cited by Bloomberg, this decision 'alarmed allies,' as it raised concerns over how much control the US might wield over weapons exports in the event of a crisis. Nevertheless, a lack of viable domestic alternatives continues to bind European nations to US suppliers, according to the outlet. Decades of underinvestment have left Europe's defense manufacturing capacity underdeveloped. As a result, countries will likely keep buying American equipment to meet rearmament targets, particularly as stockpiles have been depleted by shipments of military aid to Ukraine. Moscow has condemned the EU's militarization trend and arms transfers to Kiev, characterizing the conflict as a NATO proxy war. President Vladimir Putin has dismissed NATO's concerns of Russian aggression as 'nonsense,' instead blaming the alliance's expansion and 'aggressive behavior' for escalating tensions.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Finland Ministry of Defense selects ICEYE for Space-Based Intelligence and Surveillance Capabilities
ICEYE will provide SAR satellites to the Finnish Defense Forces. HELSINKI, June 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- ICEYE, the European leader in new defense technology and the global leader in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite operations, and the Finnish Ministry of Defense have signed a Letter of Intent that enables the Finnish Defense Forces to acquire ICEYE SAR satellites. The cooperation aims to enhance the Defense Forces' intelligence and surveillance capabilities from space. The agreement outlines a preliminary delivery plan and timeline. It also encompasses the technical solutions and systems needed to establish an autonomous national capability for space-based surveillance. Data from these satellites will support real-time situational awareness for Finland's national leadership and relevant authorities. "We are proud to contribute to strengthening Finland's national security. Timely and reliable Earth observation data from space is a strategic asset that supports a wide range of decisions. With this capability, Finland will be well positioned to become a global leader in the field, and our collaboration with the Finnish Defense Forces is something our team deeply values. It also creates a vital environment for advancing capabilities that support the defense readiness of other NATO allies," says Pekka Laurila, Co-founder and CSO at ICEYE. "As space becomes increasingly critical, Finland is now taking a unique step forward in national defense. By acquiring our own satellites, we are strengthening our independent space-based intelligence and surveillance capabilities, and at the same time, we are supporting the domestic high-tech defense industry and creating new opportunities to deepen cooperation with allies and partners," says Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen. This cooperation offers the Finnish defense administration a rapid path to developing intelligence and surveillance capabilities and it plays a significant role in the overall development of the Defense Forces' space-based capabilities. ICEYE owns and operates the world's largest SAR satellite constellation, providing unlimited global access and the highest revisit frequency on the market. ICEYE SAR satellites provide 25 cm ground resolution, enabling accurate object detection and situational awareness in all weather and light conditions. To date, ICEYE has launched 54 SAR satellites into orbit for ICEYE's and its customers' use. About ICEYE ICEYE delivers unparalleled persistent monitoring capabilities to detect and respond to changes in any location on Earth, faster and more accurately than ever before. Owning the world's largest synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite constellation, ICEYE provides objective, near real-time insights, ensuring that customers have unmatched access to actionable data, day or night, even in challenging environmental conditions. As a trusted partner to governments and commercial industries, ICEYE delivers intelligence in sectors such as defense and intelligence, insurance, natural catastrophe response and recovery, security, maritime monitoring, and finance, enabling decision-making that contributes to community resilience and sustainable development. ICEYE operates internationally with offices in Finland, Poland, Spain, the UK, Australia, Japan, the UAE, Greece, and the US. We have close to 900 employees, inspired by the shared vision of improving life on Earth by becoming the global source of truth in Earth Observation. Media contact: press@ Visit and follow ICEYE on LinkedIn and X for the latest updates and insights. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE ICEYE Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Why defense ETFs and gold miner ETFs are seeing big inflows
Defense stocks have cooled off since their recent surge, but defense-related exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are still seeing inflows as NATO leaders commit 5% of their annual budgets to defense spending. Cinthia Murphy, VettaFi investment strategist, joins Market Catalysts to explain how these flows signal defense as both a tech and industrial play. She also takes a look at gold miner ETFs and explains why they're among the market's top performers this year. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Catalysts here. NATO leaders committed 5% of their annual budgets to defense spending at their annual summit this week. And while defense stocks have cooled since the recent spike, ETF flows suggest the defense rally still has some room to run and could even be an alternative way to play the tech trade. I want to bring in Cynthia Murphy, VettaFi investment strategist for this week's ETF report sponsored by Invesco QQQ. Great to have you here in studio with us. So, let's just begin why are we seeing some of these inflows and to what extent is it analogous to events that we've seen in the past where there is a ramp up in some of the defense prioritization among investors? You know, when it comes to thematic investing, defense has been one of the biggest themes so far this year. Outside of protection, things that we're going to talk in a minute about. And, you know, the news keeps supporting this as a good area of the market to be in. So, defense stocks are primarily industrial plays, but a lot of them have more and more tech stocks because defense today is both an industrial infrastructure effort. It's also a technology effort, an AI effort. And when you think about drones and all the new technology you're using, uh, for, for combat. And this week we had the NATO news where they're really upping their budget for defense spending. They went from 2% of GDP commitment to 5% GDP commitment. And not only that, but these countries have to actually show on an annual basis their plan. How are they going to allocate that budget? How are they're spending that money on actual defense, uh, you know, equipment and, and strategy? So it's a, it's a theme that just keeps on giving. I mean, some of these stocks, Rheinmetall, which is one of the biggest defense stocks, is a German company, is up over 250% in the last year. It's, uh, these are really, really strong performers and investors are buying the ETFs that, that tap into that space. Well, and Simeon, Cynthia mentioned a great point in that the battlefield is very different right now, because especially with some of the foreign actors that might try in times of conflict to tap into things like energy grids or natural resources, that also takes the mindset to what needs to be done within cyber security, what is already being done and where investors could also be thinking of that as a annexed defensive play. Yeah, I, I think maybe one of the questions is how insulated are these companies from the broader economy. Let's take the NATO, the NATO uptick and spending. Let's make kind of a bare case that they can't quite run deficits. We know they said they're going to run bigger deficits. They have in the past, but they can't do it like the US does. So let's suppose they keep their commitment, but it takes a nick out of their broader GDP growth. Are the defense names and the cyber security names narrow enough to benefit without the downside of perhaps a little touch of weakness in other parts of the European economy? I, I think it remains to be seen, but if you think about, I mean, we're talking arms dealers, we're talking about, you know, technology, uh, airplanes, like in the US would be like Lockheed Martin, Northman Grumman. I mean, they're, they're different companies that are, you know, kind of swimming above that pond because that market is so strong right now. And, and I think the specially strong plays here are Europe based plays more than the US because it has really been that effort there. So when you look at funds that invest primarily in Europe defense, like EUAD, that fund is up 65% so far this year. Uh, when you look at say SHLD, a shield, which has 50% US, 50% global, uh, that fund is up maybe 50%. So really they play really the European companies because they are committed to investing in these businesses and, and making it happen. You know, one of the other areas that you flagged to us as well, gold miners, still one of the year's best performing ETFs. What, what is the outlook for the second half of the year, given that we'd already seen some of the highs that were just mind-blowing that we were able to get to and, and how much of those flows could still see momentum from here? Yeah, it's, I mean, Simeon, we've been in this business long enough to know that gold miners ebb and flow. It's like almost every five years they have their moment in the sun and then nothing happens. And then they bust. Uh, this year, they're performing, outperforming gold two to one basically, 60% to 30%. Uh, all the conversation, I mean, JP Morgan just came out and pegged the price of gold at 4,000 by mid next year, uh, which is another big leg up from where it is today. And if you look at Q1 earnings, I think that's the big, a big catalyst here is Q1 earnings show these companies beating their, their earnings by big amounts. Like Newmont, I think beat earnings per share by more than 30%. So they are really resilient and they're doing well and, and folks are buying them. And they don't always do what gold does. Yeah. Yeah. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
