Elbit among global defense giants seeing surge in orders

Israeli defense electronics company Elbit Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: ESLT; TASE:ESLT) is among 15 of the world’s largest manufacturers of military equipment and systems benefitting from a boom in global orders due to mounting geopolitical tensions, the UK’s “Financial Times” reports.

An analysis by the “Financial Times” of the 15 defense groups found that total orders at the 15 defense companies in the first half of 2023 amounted to $764 billion, almost equal to the $777.6 billion for all of 2022. This huge jump followed a substantial rise of 10% in orders in 2022. The sharp jump in the first half of 2023 is attributed to countries increasing their defense budgets due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and concerns about China and East Asia.

Elbit reported an order backlog of $16.6 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2023 (before the Israel-Hamas war), up from $14.7 billion at the end of the corresponding quarter of 2022.

Total global military expenditure increased by 3.7% in real terms in 2022 to a new record $2.24 trillion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The 15 defense groups analyzed by the “Financial Times” include the largest US contractors Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman, Europe’s Airbus, the UK’s BAE Systems and Rolls Royce, France’s Thales and Dassault, Germany’s Rheinmetall, Italy’s Leonardo, Sweden’s Saab, South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace, and India’s Hindustan Electronics.

Refinitiv found that defense group shares have performed well since 2022 with Elbit Systems share price up 45%. Elbit Systems share price fell 0.74% on Nasdaq yesterday to $212.90, giving a market cap of $9.464 billion.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on December 28, 2023.

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