Best defense stocks by NexusTrade rating

Ratings and dated fundamentals

Inspect the highest-rated company

How is this ranking built?

Every industry list applies the same steps at its own cutoff: industry membership, the latest AI report rating on or before the cutoff, a report age limit, dated market data, then a sort by rating with ties ordered by ticker. The animation steps through them with one real example, the live cybersecurity list refreshed on October 13, 2026.

A live list's cutoff is its refresh time. A past year's list uses December 31 of the year before, and the current year's list uses the time it was generated. A Top N page shows the first N rows of its year's list and exists only when that list has at least N companies.

What best means in this list

This list was refreshed on 2026-11-07 using existing company reports. The report date in each row is the date of the underlying analysis; refreshing the list does not create a new company report.

Best means the highest stored NexusTrade report ratings within this selection. Ratings use the product's 1-to-5 scale. The list sorts by rating from high to low, with ticker order breaking equal-rating ties. A rating summarizes a report; it does not predict a stock's return.

Companies belong to the Defense classification, based on company products and revenue. Classifications can overlap, so a company may appear in several industry lists.

What the leading companies do

The first 5 companies below lead the ratings in this snapshot; equal ratings are ordered by ticker. Their company profiles describe different businesses even when they share the Defense selection.

These are company descriptions, not estimates of revenue from this theme. Industry membership does not identify a pure-play business or establish how much sales depend on it. Open the company profile and examine segment disclosures before treating an overlapping classification as equivalent exposure.

1. Ametek, Inc. (AME): 4 / 5

   AMETEK, Inc. manufactures and sells electronic instruments (EIG) and electromechanical (EMG) devices in the United States and internationally. The company's EIG segment offers advanced instruments for the process, aerospace, power, and industrial markets; process and analytical instruments for the oil and gas, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, automation, and food and beverage industries; instruments to the laboratory equipment, ultra-precision manufacturing, medical, and test and measurement markets; power quality monitoring and metering devices, uninterruptible power supplies, programmable power and electromagnetic compatibility test equipment, and gas turbines sensors; dashboard instruments for heavy trucks and other vehicles; instrumentation and controls for the food and beverage industries; and aircraft and engine sensors, power supplies, embedded computing, monitoring, fuel and fluid measurement, and data acquisition systems for aerospace and defense industry. Its EMG segment offers engineered medical components and devices, automation solutions, thermal management systems, specialty metals, and electrical interconnects; single-use and consumable surgical instruments, implantable components, and drug delivery systems; engineered electrical connectors and electronics packaging to protect sensitive electronic devices; precision motion control products for data storage, medical devices, business equipment, and automation; high-purity powdered metals, strips and foils, specialty clad metals, and metal matrix composites; motor-blower systems and heat exchangers for thermal management, military and commercial aircraft, and military ground vehicles; and motors for commercial appliances, food and beverage machines, hydraulic pumps, and industrial blowers, as well as operates a network of aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul facilities. AMETEK, Inc. was incorporated in 1930 and is headquartered in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.

2. Amphenol Corporation (APH): 4 / 5

   Amphenol Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets electrical, electronic, and fiber optic connectors in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Harsh Environment Solutions, Communications Solutions, and Interconnect and Sensor Systems. The company offers connectors and connector systems, including harsh environment data, power, high-speed, fiber optic, and radio frequency interconnect products; busbars and power distribution systems; and power interconnect products. It also provides value-add products, such as backplane interconnect systems, cable assemblies and harnesses, and cable management products; and other products comprising flexible and rigid printed circuit boards, hinges, other mechanical, and production related products. In addition, the company offers consumer device, network infrastructure, and other antennas; coaxial, power, and specialty cables; and sensors and sensor-based products. Amphenol Corporation sells its products through its sales force, independent representatives, and a network of electronics distributors to original equipment manufacturers, electronic manufacturing services companies, original design manufacturers, and service providers in the automotive, broadband communication, commercial aerospace, industrial, information technology and data communication, military, mobile device, and mobile network markets. The company was founded in 1932 and is headquartered in Wallingford, Connecticut.

3. Garmin Ltd (GRMN): 4 / 5

   Garmin Ltd. designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes a range of wireless devices worldwide. The company offers running and multi-sport watches; cycling products; smartwatch devices; scales and monitors; Garmin Connect and Garmin Connect Mobile, which are web and mobile platforms where users can track and analyze their fitness, activities and workouts, and wellness data; and Connect IQ, enables third parties to create applications that run on Garmin devices. It also provides adventure watches; outdoor handhelds and satellite communicators; golf devices; consumer automotive; dog devices; InReach and Gramin response communication device; and Dive devices. In addition, the company designs, manufactures, and markets various aircraft avionics solutions, including integrated flight decks, electronic flight displays and instrumentation, navigation and communication products, automatic flight control systems and safety-enhancing technologies, audio control systems, engine indication systems, traffic awareness and avoidance solutions, ADS-B and transponders, weather information and avoidance solutions, datalink and connectivity solutions, and portable GPS navigators and wearables, as well as service products to the aviation market. Further, it offers chartplotters and multi-function displays, cartography products, fishfinders, sonar products, autopilot systems, radars, compliant instrument displays and sensors, VHF communication radios, handhelds and wearable devices, sailing products, audio products, digital switching products, trolling motors, and lighting products; and domain controllers and infotainment units, as well as software, map database, cameras, wearables, and automotive solutions. The company sells its products through independent retailers, dealers, distributors, installation and repair shops, and original equipment manufacturers, as well as online webshop. Garmin Ltd. was founded in 1989 and is based in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.

4. ITT Inc. (ITT): 4 / 5

   ITT Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells engineered critical components and customized technology solutions for the transportation, industrial, and energy markets. The Motion Technologies segment manufactures brake pads, shock absorbers, energy absorption components, and damping technologies primarily for the transportation industry, including passenger cars, trucks, light and heavy-duty commercial and military vehicles, buses, and trains. This segment sells its products under the ITT Friction Technologies, KONI, Axtone, Novitek, and GALT. brand names. The Industrial Process segment provides industrial pumps, valves, plant optimization, and remote monitoring systems and services; and aftermarket solutions, such as replacement parts and services. It serves various customers in energy, chemical and petrochemical, pharmaceutical, general industrial, marine, mining, pulp and paper, food and beverage, power generation, and biopharmaceutical industries. This segment sells its products under the Goulds Pumps, Bornemann, Engineered Valves, Hamworthy Pumps, PRO Services, C'treat, i-ALERT, Svanehøj, Rheinhütte Pumpen, and Habonim brand names. The Connect & Control Technologies segment offers engineered connectors and specialized products for critical applications supporting various markets, including aerospace and defence, industrial, transportation, medical, and energy under the Cannon, VEAM, BIW Connector Systems, Aerospace Controls, Enidine, Compact Automation, Neo-Dyn Process Controls, Conoflow, kSARIA, and Micro-Mode brand names. It operates in North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and South America. The company was incorporated in 1920 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.

5. Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (TDY): 4 / 5

   Teledyne Technologies Incorporated provides enabling technologies for industrial growth markets in the United States, Europe, Asia, and internationally. Its Digital Imaging segment provides visible spectrum sensors and digital cameras; and infrared, ultraviolet, visible, and X-ray spectra products, as well as micro electromechanical systems and semiconductors, including analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters. This segment offers cooled and uncooled infrared or thermal products, including sensors, camera cores, and camera systems; high-resolution, low-dose X-ray sensors, high-power microwave, and high-energy X-ray subsystems; and instruments for the measurement of physical properties and maritime products, as well as develops and manufactures multi-spectrum electro-optic/infrared imaging systems and associated products, such as lasers, optics, and radars, CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive detectors), and unmanned air and ground systems. The company's Instrumentation segment offers monitoring, control, and electronic test and measurement equipment; and power and communications connectivity devices for distributed instrumentation systems and sensor networks. The company's Aerospace and Defense Electronics segment provides electronic components and subsystems, data acquisition and communications components and equipment, harsh environment interconnects, general aviation batteries, and other components; and onboard avionics systems and ground-based applications, aircraft data and connectivity solutions, hardware systems, and software applications. Its Engineered Systems segment offers systems engineering and integration, technology development, and manufacturing solutions for defense, space, environmental, and energy applications; and designs and manufactures electrochemical energy systems and electronics for military applications. The company was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California.

Valuation and company size within this selection

These summaries use the 199 displayed companies. Each company retains its own market observation date in the ratings table above. Medians are unweighted; they are not a sector index valuation.

Positive P/E and price-to-book values are summarized separately. Missing, zero and negative values are excluded from those medians, with the included count shown. A lower multiple alone does not establish better value: profitability, growth, debt and business mix can differ.

Other business classifications in the list

A company can appear in several product and revenue classifications. These overlapping memberships help identify different business mixes to investigate; they are not verified revenue shares or mutually exclusive subindustries.

Dates and coverage

Report dates range from 2025-12-31 to 2026-10-14. Market observations range from 2026-11-05 to 2026-11-06. These dates may differ across companies. Daily closes are not synchronized live quotes.

The selection includes 1 companies without a report, 0 with invalid latest rating metadata, 0 with older reports, 3 with missing required fundamentals and 0 with out-of-date market observations. Missing companies receive no substitute score.

How the ranking is built

The ranking uses the latest stored report at or before the refresh cutoff for each active eligible company. The report date, fiscal year/period and producing model remain visible. The latest invalid score is excluded; an older favorable score does not replace it. Publication policy stock-ratings-v1 accepts report ages up to 550 days and market observations up to 10 calendar days, with a positive close and market capitalization. Optional missing ratios remain not reported.

Report ages can differ substantially, particularly between annual and quarterly reports. Different producing models may also use different judgments. Read the date, fiscal period and model before comparing scores. Private report analysis and account data are not published here.

A refresh reads existing reports and market data. It does not rerun a model or create a new analysis. Compare business fundamentals and your own research constraints alongside the score before making a decision.