Cathie Wood Just Loaded Up on This Defense Stock (Hint: It's Not Palantir)
One of Cathie Wood's largest positions in the Ark portfolio is Palantir Technologies, which dominates the military intelligence pocket of the artificial intelligence (AI) realm.
More recently, she has been building a stake in one of Palantir's key partners.
As AI becomes a higher priority for military operations, traditional defense contractors could be positioned for long-term gains.
10 stocks we like better than L3Harris Technologies ›
CEO and chief investment officer of Ark Invest Cathie Wood earned a reputation for making high-conviction bets on disruptive, speculative opportunities aimed at toppling legacy incumbents in markets such as financial services, technology, and pharmaceuticals. When it comes to artificial intelligence (AI) stocks, it's no surprise that Wood has taken a liking to data analytics powerhouse Palantir Technologies, the third-largest holding across Ark's exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Every now and then, however, Wood quietly complements Ark's high-growth positions with a select group of blue-chip counterparts. In Palantir's case, the company is often linked with an emerging corner of the AI realm, using its analytics platforms to bolster the capabilities of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).
While Palantir will likely remain a core Ark position, recent buying activity hints that Wood may be broadening her exposure within the national security arena, scouting for under-the-radar opportunities even as Palantir remains her flagship pick at the intersection of AI and military operations.
Throughout the summer, Wood has been accumulating shares of L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) in both the ARK Space Exploration & Innovation and ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics funds.
Let's explore what may have prompted this move and assess if defense tech investors should consider looking beyond familiar names like Palantir.
Understanding how AI fits into the defense equation
While AI has become the dominant megatrend driving the technology sector, most conversations still center on chips, data centers, cloud infrastructure, or workplace productivity tools. Behind the scenes, however, AI is rapidly emerging as a transformative tailwind reshaping modern military strategy.
AI's applications in national security range from satellite imagery analysis and equipment maintenance to cybersecurity threat detection and autonomous navigation for unmanned systems like drones.
Among established defense contractors, the usual names include Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, RTX, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, and L3Harris.
Palantir stands apart from these incumbents thanks to its versatile AI platforms, including Foundry and Gotham. This integrated ecosystem has positioned Palantir as the operating system supporting a wide range of military operations, securing billion-dollar contracts with the Army and Navy, and extending its reach overseas through collaborations with U.S. allies in NATO.
Why might Cathie Wood like L3Harris stock?
Like many of its peers mentioned above, L3Harris manufactures mission-critical systems poised to benefit from deeper integration of AI-enhanced capabilities. This makes it plausible that Wood is targeting stealth opportunities to complement Ark's more pure play AI holdings, such as Palantir.
That same logic helps explain why several defense-adjacent companies such as electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) Archer Aviation and Joby Aviation, Kratos, AeroVironment, and Lockheed found a place in Ark's portfolio. When it comes to L3Harris however, I think there is a more specific catalyst behind Wood's recent buying.
While Palantir often commands the spotlight in the DOD's high-profile technology awards, many other contractors secure portions of these deals. L3Harris is one of them, partnering with Palantir to develop the Army's next-generation ground transportation systems under the Titan program.
During the company's second-quarter earnings call, L3Harris CEO Christopher Kubasik even highlighted the collaboration, noting, "our ongoing partnership with Palantir on the U.S. Army's Titan program continues to mature".
Is L3 Harris stock a buy?
The comparable company analysis benchmarks L3Harris against a peer set of leading defense contractors on an enterprise value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) basis.
From a valuation standpoint, L3Harris trades at an EV/EBITDA multiple of 16.4 -- a discount to historical peaks but still on the higher end of this cohort. Despite this relative premium, analysts largely view L3Harris through the lens of a conventional defense contractor, valuing the company based on its current contracts and pipeline.
I think that the upside from AI integration is not yet fully reflected in L3Harris's share price. As AI-enabled services become a greater priority at the Pentagon, the narrative around traditional contractors could shift especially as they form deeper ties with leading technology platforms like Palantir -- as L3Harris is already doing.
For this reason, I see L3Harris as well positioned for long-term valuation expansion and consider it a savvy buy at current levels.
Should you invest $1,000 in L3Harris Technologies right now?
Before you buy stock in L3Harris Technologies, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and L3Harris Technologies wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $663,630!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,115,695!*
Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,071% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 185% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of August 13, 2025
Adam Spatacco has positions in Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AeroVironment, L3Harris Technologies, and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool recommends Lockheed Martin and RTX. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Cathie Wood Just Loaded Up on This Defense Stock (Hint: It's Not Palantir) was originally published by The Motley Fool
擷取數據時發生錯誤
登入存取你的投資組合
擷取數據時發生錯誤
擷取數據時發生錯誤
擷取數據時發生錯誤
擷取數據時發生錯誤
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Is Costco Stock an Obvious Buy Right Now?
Key Points Costco's massive scale gives it leverage over its vendors to obtain favorable pricing. The warehouse club operator's membership model drives customer loyalty. Investors are clearly enamored with the stock, as indicated by the current valuation. 10 stocks we like better than Costco Wholesale › Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) proves that investors don't need to own businesses at the cutting edge of technology to score huge wins. In the past five years, shares of this warehouse club operator have produced a total return of 216% (as of Aug. 14), beating the market by a wide margin. Despite this strong performance, this top retail stock trades 9% off its record from February of this year. Is Costco an obvious buy right now? Hard to disrupt With fiscal 2025 Q3 (ended May 11) net sales of $62 billion, Costco is the world's third largest retailer. Selling high-quality merchandise at extremely low prices has made it a fan favorite. What's more, operating a membership model helps drive incredibly valued customer loyalty, while at the same time bringing in a recurring revenue source. Costco should still be thriving well into the future. That's because it's a business that's hard to disrupt. The company possesses a tremendous cost advantage, which allows it to purchase its inventory from suppliers at favorable prices. These savings are constantly passed to customers, encouraging them to increase their spending over time, thus reinforcing the cost advantage. Steep valuation However, the market is fully aware of Costco's merits. The stock has performed exceptionally well historically, helping the company get to a $433 billion market capitalization. But the valuation has clearly gotten stretched. Investors can buy shares at a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.3. This is close to the most expensive level in the last 25 years. Costco is a great business that investors should keep on their watch lists. However, the current valuation is expensive, so the stock is far from being an obvious buying opportunity right now. Should you buy stock in Costco Wholesale right now? Before you buy stock in Costco Wholesale, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Costco Wholesale wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $668,155!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,106,071!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,070% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 184% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 13, 2025 Neil Patel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Is Costco Stock an Obvious Buy Right Now? was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
I'm 39, nearly $60,000 in debt and have nothing saved for retirement — and I don't know what to tackle first
Jordan is 39 years old, and despite not having a college degree, he recently started a job earning $75,000 per year. But he also carries a heavy weight. He's $59,000 in debt, with no savings and no assets. He finally has some momentum with his salary, but he's burdened by poor financial decisions from his past. Don't miss Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 6 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan 'works every single time' to kill debt, get rich in America — and that 'anyone' can do it For most of Jordan's adult life, money management wasn't a priority. He was financially irresponsible throughout his 20s. But he finally decided to get his act together and take his finances seriously. He's even started budgeting. The big question he has is what should come first: becoming debt-free or building wealth for the long term? Debt rundown Student loans make up about $20,000 of Jordan's overall debt. The rest, about $40,000, is high-interest credit card debt. He's run the numbers: if he is aggressive, he should be able to pay off nearly all of his credit card debt by around mid-2027 if he puts $2,000 per month or more toward it. If he extends that runway, he could be fully debt-free the following year. But remember, Jordan doesn't have any savings. His employer offers a sponsored 401(k) plan with a 5% match, but he can only start contributing next year. So, what's his best course of action? Here are some options to consider. Establishing a small cushion One thing Jordan probably doesn't want to do is fall further into debt. That's where an emergency fund comes into play. Emergency funds are meant to protect us in case of an unexpected expense or job loss. He could start with as little as $1,000 and grow it over time. Experts typically recommend saving up three to six months' worth of expenses. Read more: Nervous about the stock market? Gain potential quarterly income through this $1B private real estate fund — even if you're not a millionaire. Getting that 401(k) match Whether Jordan decides to focus on paying down his debt or start building his nest egg, one thing he should absolutely consider doing is participating in his employer's 401(k) match program once he's eligible. Not only would contributing to a 401(k) put money toward your retirement, but any matching funds you receive from your employer is essentially free money. Matching programs are a great way to build a nest egg. Focus on debt or savings? Should Jordan prioritize paying off his debt or saving for retirement? Part of the problem with saving while paying down debt is any interest accumulated on the debt would eat into any savings. This is why some experts recommend, in this situation, focusing on paying down high-interest debt. Jordan may want to put his efforts toward paying his credit card debt as aggressively as possible, at least until he's eligible for his employer's 401(k) match program. Once he starts contributing 5% of his salary to a 401(k), the remainder he has available can continue to be put toward his credit cards until they're paid off. Depending on the interest rate of his student loan debt, he may then want to consider pulling back on how much he puts toward his debt. If the rate is low, he may want to contribute more to his 401(k) or establish an IRA. But as previously stated, as long as Jordan has debt any interest will reduce his savings. There's also the mental aspect of carrying debt. Jordan may be in a financial hole, but he's in a solid position to dig himself out. He may want to consult a financial advisor, who can help him develop a tailored blueprint to get out of debt and set himself up for the future. But either way, he can rest easy knowing there's a path forward to achieve his goals. What to read next Robert Kiyosaki warns of a 'Greater Depression' coming to the US — with millions of Americans going poor. But he says these 2 'easy-money' assets will bring in 'great wealth'. How to get in now Here are 5 simple ways to grow rich with real estate if you don't want to play landlord. And you can even start with as little as $10 Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead Here are 5 'must have' items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you? Stay in the know. Join 200,000+ readers and get the best of Moneywise sent straight to your inbox every week for free. This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
2 Top Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks That Could Crush the Nasdaq
Key Points Sovereign AI systems is a $50 billion per year opportunity, which could benefit AI chip leader Nvidia. The success of Meta Platforms' Ray-Ban smart glasses shows it is more than just an advertising business. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › Sticking with industry leaders is all an investor needs to do to run circles around the market indexes. The Nasdaq Composite has returned 26% over the past 12 months, but leading stocks like Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) have doubled that return. As artificial intelligence (AI) sweeps across the global economy, here's why these stocks are poised to deliver strong growth to help you beat the market. 1. Nvidia Nvidia's explosive growth led by demand for its high-powered data center chips for AI workloads has fueled the stock higher in 2025. Investors who missed the rally shouldn't feel like it's too late. Organizations around the world are still in the early innings of adopting AI, which spells more upside for investors. Nvidia's data center business is booming, with revenue up 73% year over year in its fiscal first quarter. The company provides chips for several markets, including gaming, professional graphic artists, and autonomous training systems for cars. But data center is its largest business, making up over 88% of the most recent quarter's revenue. Investors new to Nvidia should be encouraged to see management pointing to an expanding set of opportunities. For example, CEO Jensen Huang continues to talk about the opportunity in sovereign AI, where governments worldwide are starting to build their own AI systems for national security and dependence from foreign AI models. Spending on sovereign AI infrastructure is expected to reach $50 billion annually, according to Bank of America. With Nvidia controlling the lion's share of the AI chip market, this will pad the company's revenue over the next decade. There's growing competition for AI chips, as Nvidia's are costly. Some AI researchers might feel Nvidia's chips are overkill for their needs and may look at lower-cost options from other vendors. But Nvidia is well positioned to remain the leader for large organizations and governments, which is still a big opportunity. Assuming the Nasdaq doubles again by 2030, Nvidia stock needs to deliver a compound annual return of at least 15% to beat it. Its adjusted earnings grew at a compound annual rate of 83% over the last five years, and Wall Street analysts currently project earnings to grow over 29% per year in the coming years. With the stock still trading within its historical range on a forward price-to-earnings basis, it should follow earnings, pointing to market-beating returns for investors buying shares today. 2. Meta Platforms Meta Platforms has a strong competitive position in the digital economy, with over 3.4 billion people using its family of apps every day. The stock has nearly doubled the return of the Nasdaq over the past year, up 49% at the time of this writing. While its forward price-to-earnings multiple of 28 has stretched to the high end of its previous three-year range, the company's earnings momentum and progress in capturing growth outside of its core advertising business should justify a higher valuation. Meta is one of the top digital advertisers, with trailing-12-month revenue reaching $178 billion. Revenue growth has been impressive, up 22% year over year in Q2. Analysts expect earnings to grow at an annualized rate of 17% over the next several years, putting the stock on course to outperform the Nasdaq. With $71 billion in net profit generated over the past year, Meta's growing digital ad business is providing substantial resources to invest in the best AI engineers and data center infrastructure. This is fueling development of AI tools for advertisers and potentially explosive opportunities from the company's Reality Labs division. Meta's Reality Labs only generated $370 million of revenue last quarter, with a large operating loss of $4.5 billion. But Meta might be stumbling onto a big opportunity with its AI consumer products. The Ray-Ban smart glasses posted accelerating sales last quarter with demand exceeding supply. Meta is already launching new performance-focused AI glasses in partnership with Oakley to capitalize on growing consumer interest in these products. Through the first half of 2025, the company reported stellar earnings growth of 37% year over year, significantly outperforming analysts' expectations. The profits from its advertising revenue allow the company to take calculated bets on things like smart glasses, which help bolster Meta's brand as it works to integrate its AI technology into the lives of its customers. Meta is aiming to be its users' everyday superintelligence agent, and this would unlock more growth opportunities over the long term. Given Meta's profitable advertising business and how AI is benefiting its growth, investors appear to be rerating the stock with its forward P/E potentially heading into the 30s. The stock should continue to grow in value with earnings putting it on track to outperform the Nasdaq over the next five years. Should you buy stock in Nvidia right now? Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $668,155!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,106,071!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,070% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 184% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 13, 2025 Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. John Ballard has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 2 Top Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks That Could Crush the Nasdaq was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
