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General Dynamics Wins $496M Deal From Space Development Agency

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General Dynamics Corp.’s (GD - Free Report) business unit, General Dynamics Missions Systems, recently secured a contract worth $496.1 million to conduct design, analysis, engineering studies and technical augmentation for the Ground Management and Integration (GMI) program's integrated ground system. The contract has been awarded by the Space Development Agency (SDA).

As part of this agreement, General Dynamics will collaborate with SDA and important parties to build and supply a tranche-agnostic ground system for Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. Furthermore, the company will be managing the T2 constellation's enterprise integration.

GD’s Growth Prospects
 

Military satellite technology is quickly evolving, propelled by the rising need for improved communication, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities and increased resistance to future attacks. With increased hostility across different parts of the globe, investment in technologically advanced military satellite systems has been rapidly expanding. This has been boosting the growth prospects of the military satellite market.   

To this end, per the Mordor Intelligence firm, the military satellite market is projected to witness a CAGR of 11% during the 2024-2029 period. Such market growth expectations are likely to benefit General Dynamics, which has been a top provider of satellite ground systems for more than 30 years.

Notably, its Mobile User Objective System is the U.S. Navy's next-generation satellite communications system that provides voice and data communications to U.S. personnel anytime, anywhere. It enables warfighters on the go to communicate easily.

Such capabilities of General Dynamics reflect the critical role it plays in the military satellite market. The company expects to benefit from the market growth projection in the form of more order flows, like the latest one, in the near future.

Opportunities for GD’s Peers
 

Considering the solid growth opportunities of the military satellite market, other defense primes like Lockheed Martin (LMT - Free Report) , Airbus SE (EADSY - Free Report) and Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC - Free Report) , with a strong presence in this space, should also benefit.

Lockheed Martin uses cutting-edge technology to build capabilities that comprise layered space defense systems. The LM 400, a multi-mission satellite that can be tailored for almost any mission, is LMT’s most flexible satellite bus with capabilities to serve military, civil or commercial users.

LMT boasts a long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate of 4.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its 2024 sales indicates an improvement of 5.3% from the previous year's reported figure.

Airbus is a world leader in military satellite communication services with a broad portfolio of services, including the SATCOMBw, Syracuse 4A and 4B, Skynet 5 and many more. Airbus has been a long-term operator of the SATCOMBw secure satellite communications system for Germany’s Armed Forces.

EADSY boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 13.9%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its 2024 sales indicates an improvement of 6.9% from the previous year's reported figure.

Northrop Grumman has provided jam-resistant equipment for military communications satellites for more than 30 years. Its Anti-Jam MilSatCom offers flexible, scalable payload capabilities, as well as consistent, reliable, jam-resistant covert communications for tactical and strategic warfighters in wartime scenarios.

NOC has a long-term earnings growth rate of 8.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NOC’s 2024 sales implies growth of 5.4% from the prior-year figure.

GD Stock’s Price Movement
 

In the past six months, shares of General Dynamics have gained 8.9% compared with the industry’s 1.7% growth.

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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