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General Dynamics (GD) Wins $258M Deal for M10 Booker Vehicle

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General Dynamics Corp.’s (GD - Free Report) business unit, Land Systems, clinched a modification contract to conduct low-rate initial production of M10 Booker combat vehicle. The award has been offered by the U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, MI.

Valued at $257.6 million, the contract is projected to be completed by Oct 18, 2025. Work related to this deal will be carried out in Sterling Heights, MI; Anniston, AL; and Lima, OH.

What’s Favoring General Dynamics?

Military tanks are the primary offensive weapons in land combat missions. An efficient armored military tank enables the army to carry out any mission by direct fire. The recent clash between Ukraine and Russia has accelerated the pace of upgrading the defense landscape with technologically advanced arms and ammunitions. This, in turn, has led to increased investments in military tanks.

It is imperative to mention here that the increased focus on technologically advanced combat vehicles is likely to benefit General Dynamics as its Land System business unit is a prime contractor of land combat vehicles like M10 Booker. This is a highly lethal, survivable and mobile direct-fire combat vehicle, featuring an enhanced thermal viewer, a large-caliber cannon, a lightweight hull and turret, and a modern diesel engine, transmission and suspension system.

General Dynamics’ expertise and in-depth experience in building and supporting combat vehicles, coupled with a customer-first focus and a seasoned supply-chain network, have helped it in winning multiple contracts from the U.S. Army and its allies. The latest contract win is a bright example of that, which, in turn, should boost GD’s revenue generation prospects.

Growth Prospects

The changing dynamics of the military landscape and the rising geopolitical tension make it mandatory for a country to continuously evolve and strengthen its defense structure. Military tanks form an integral part of military missions, arming them in their land warfare affairs.

Per a report from Markets and Markets firm, the global armored vehicle market is projected to witness a CAGR of 3.1% during 2022-2027. Such abounding growth trends indicate ample growth opportunities for General Dynamics as it enjoys a lucrative position in the armored vehicle market.

A few other defense primes that can also reap the benefits of the expanding aforementioned market are BAE Systems (BAESY - Free Report) , Northrop Grumman (NOC - Free Report) and Raytheon Technologies (RTX - Free Report) .

BAE System’s Challenger 2 is a heavily armored and highly mobile combat vehicle, designed for use in the direct fire zone. Its primary role is to destroy or neutralize the armor. It also has the ability to engage both hard and soft targets, and can operate across a spectrum of high-intensity conflicts, counter insurgencies and peacekeeping roles.

BAESY’s long-term earnings growth rate is 13.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s 2023 sales implies an improvement of 24.8% from the 2022 reported figure.

Northrop Grumman is the world’s top producer of medium-caliber live and training ammunition and gun systems, with more than 5 million units built in the last five years. It specializes in innovating low-cost, highly reliable precise weapons and ammunition for artillery and mortar systems, medium-caliber weapon platforms, battle tanks and individual soldiers.

Northrop Grumman has a long-term earnings growth rate of 3.8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NOC’s 2023 sales implies an improvement of 4.7% from the previous year’s reported number.

Raytheon is currently teaming up with American Rheinmetall Vehicles to meet the U.S. Army’s current requirement for a true, next-generation Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle, namely the Lynx Infantry Fighting Vehicle. This is a next-generation, tracked, armored fighting vehicle designed to address the critical challenges of the future battlefield.

Raytheon’s long-term earnings growth rate is 8.3%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RTX’s 2023 sales indicates growth of 8.3% from that registered in 2022.

Price Performance

Shares of General Dynamics have lost 3.3% in the past 12 months compared with the industry’s decline of 1%.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Rank

General Dynamics currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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