How Investors Are Reacting To RTX (RTX) Patriot And PhantomStrike Wins Amid Record U.S. Defense Budget

• In recent days, Raytheon, an RTX business, secured multiple defense contracts, including a US$168.1 million Patriot-related award for Romania and a U.S. Air Force deal to equip the X-62A test aircraft with its compact PhantomStrike radar, against the backdrop of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act authorizing US$901.00 billion in U.S. military spending.
• These contract wins, paired with a long-term policy commitment to high defense budgets, underline RTX’s role as a core supplier in advanced missile defense and radar systems for both U.S. and allied armed forces.
• We’ll now examine how this fresh wave of Patriot and PhantomStrike contracts may influence RTX’s investment narrative and future earnings mix.

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RTX Investment Narrative Recap

To own RTX, you need to believe that sustained defense spending and its entrenched position in missile defense and aerospace will support durable cash flows, despite tariff, engine reliability and budget risks. The latest Patriot and PhantomStrike awards reinforce its role in high-priority programs, but do not fundamentally change the near term earnings catalyst, which remains execution on existing contracts, nor the biggest risk, which is potential shifts in how governments allocate defense budgets.

The PhantomStrike radar award for the X-62A VISTA aircraft looks especially relevant here. It highlights RTX’s push into more compact, cost efficient radars that could broaden its addressable market if similar systems are adopted across allied fleets. For investors, this sits alongside Patriot contract growth as a key contributor to RTX’s evolving earnings mix, but it also raises questions about how future defense dollars might be split between traditional hardware and newer, more software heavy solutions.

Yet even as RTX wins high profile contracts, investors should be aware of the risk that defense budgets could be reprioritized away from...

Read the full narrative on RTX (it's free!)

RTX's narrative projects $97.7 billion revenue and $8.9 billion earnings by 2028. This requires 5.3% yearly revenue growth and about a $2.8 billion earnings increase from $6.1 billion today.

Uncover how RTX's forecasts yield a $194.65 fair value, a 7% upside to its current price.

Exploring Other Perspectives

Seven RTX fair value estimates from the Simply Wall St Community span roughly US$131.80 to US$194.65, showing how far apart individual views can be. Set against RTX’s reliance on large government hardware programs, this spread underlines why it can help to compare several independent perspectives before forming a view on the company’s prospects.

Explore 7 other fair value estimates on RTX - why the stock might be worth as much as 7% more than the current price!

Build Your Own RTX Narrative

Disagree with existing narratives? Create your own in under 3 minutes - extraordinary investment returns rarely come from following the herd.

• A great starting point for your RTX research is our analysis highlighting 3 key rewards and 2 important warning signs that could impact your investment decision.
• Our free RTX research report provides a comprehensive fundamental analysis summarized in a single visual - the Snowflake - making it easy to evaluate RTX's overall financial health at a glance.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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