Benzinga·2026-01-08 11:04Group 1 - U.S. defense stocks experienced a rise in pre-market trading following President Trump's call for an increase in government defense spending [1][2] - Northrop Grumman Corp. saw the largest increase with a 7.82% rise, while Lockheed Martin Corp. and L3Harris Technologies also reported significant gains of 6.52% and 6.29% respectively [1] - RTX Corp. shares climbed 4.45%, despite President Trump expressing dissatisfaction with the company's performance and threatening to block contracts if improvements are not made [1][5] Group 2 - President Trump proposed a defense budget of $1.5 trillion for 2027, emphasizing the need for a robust military [2] - Trump criticized defense companies for focusing on dividends and stock buybacks instead of investing in infrastructure, which has led to delays in military equipment deliveries [4] - Raytheon, a subsidiary of RTX Corp., has been awarded significant contracts, including a $1.7 billion deal for Patriot air and missile defense systems for Spain [8] and a $26 million rocket motor deal [9] Group 3 - RTX Corp. is ranked in the 91st percentile for quality and the 88th percentile for momentum according to Benzinga's Edge Rankings, indicating strong performance metrics [9] - Over the past year, RTX stock has increased by 60.22%, although it saw a slight decline of 2.45% to close at $660.62 on Wednesday [9]