1245 GMT - Bernstein becomes more positive on U.S. defense stocks after two years of underperformance in the sector. The U.S. brokerage says that while many Republicans want to pursue aggressive cost reduction, President Trump's "peace through strength" agenda should support defense capabilities. "Assuming that Trump supports strong capabilities (as it appears), we expect Congress to eventually fall in line with the budget." Trump's demands that allies pay more should also be good for U.S. defense exports, such as the F-35 jet. Bernstein expects a renewed focus on strategic capabilities such as nuclear deterrence, investment related to China, missile defense, Navy shipbuilding, and space. Bernstein rates L3Harris stock at outperform with a target price of $267, while they rate the other defense stocks at market-perform. (alistair.macdonald@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 23, 2025 07:45 ET (12:45 GMT)
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