Bell-Boeing Secures Contract to Support V-22 Jet Program

Bell-Boeing, a joint venture (JV) between The Boeing Company BA and Bell Helicopter — a unit of Textron Inc. TXT — recently secured a contract involving the V-22 aircraft. The Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, PA, has awarded the deal.

Details of the Deal

Valued at $27 million, the contract is expected to be completed by Mar 30, 2025. Per the terms of the deal, Bell-Boeing will provide platform engineering technical support for the V-22 aircraft.

The contract will serve the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force. Work related to this deal will be executed in Texas and Pennsylvania.

Growing Jet Demand & V-22 Jets

A rapid increase in terror attacks has compelled nations across the globe to strengthen their arsenal and increase their defense budget. With the United States being the largest exporter of defense equipment across the world, there is a steady flow of contracts for its combat-proven weaponry from both Pentagon and its foreign allies. With military jets and helicopters constituting a major portion of a nation’s armaments, there is a steady flow of contracts for these.

To this end, it is imperative to mention that Bell-Boeing’s primary product, V-22 Osprey, is the world’s first successful military tiltrotor to take to the air and the largest active production line for tiltrotors. This family of multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft comes with both vertical as well as short takeoff and landing capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a conventional helicopter with the long-range, high-speed cruise performance of a turboprop aircraft.

As of June 2023, more than 475 V-22s have been ordered to accomplish combat and humanitarian missions worldwide. This surely reflects the solid demand that this family of tiltrotors enjoys in the military aviation space. The latest deal win is another bright example of that.

Growth Prospects

As increased spending for defense arms and ammunition procurement is witnessed worldwide, the prospects of military aircraft, including tiltrotors, have enhanced manifold. In this context, the Mordor Intelligence firm projects the global military aviation market to register a CAGR of 7.37% during the 2023-2028 period. This will surely benefit major U.S. combat aircraft manufacturers like Textron, Boeing, Lockheed Martin LMT and Northrop Grumman NOC, with North America dominating this market space.

Lockheed is one of the pioneers in the combat aircraft space, with its product portfolio constituting some of the most advanced military aircraft like F-35, C-130, F-16, F-22 and a few more. Of these, F-35 is the company’s largest program.

LMT boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 8.6%. The company delivered an average earnings surprise of 4.35% in the last four quarters.

On the other hand, Northrop is a renowned manufacturer of autonomous and manned aircraft like MQ-4C Triton and Global Hawk. These jets are used for battle management, strike and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

Northrop boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 2.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NOC’s 2023 sales indicates an improvement of 6.6% from the 2022 reported figure.

Price Movement & Zacks Rank

Textron’s shares have risen 10.6% in the past year against the industry’s 12.8% decline. Boeing’s shares have rallied 25.9% in the past year.

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Textron currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), while Boeing has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

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