Drone Makers AeroVironment, Kratos Get Boost From New Pentagon Purchase Push
Hegseth said he was "rescinding restrictive policies" and ordering commanders in all the services to buy American-made drones.
Hegseth explained that U.S. military drone purchases had been "mired in bureaucratic red tape," but wouldn't be anymore.Shares of military drone makers AeroVironment (AVAV) and Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (KTOS) took off Friday, a day after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced new government plans to unleash drone production in the U.S.
In a video posted on X, Hegseth explained he sent a memo to commanders of all the services explaining that he was "rescinding restrictive policies" on Pentagon purchases, which he said would boost the domestic manufacturing base by producing thousands of U.S.-made drones and prioritizing "buy American," and that service personnel would be armed with low-cost, American-crafted drones. Hegseth added that senior officers had to "overcome bureaucratic risk aversion in budgeting, weaponeering, and training."
Hegseth said that while U.S. "adversaries have produced millions of cheap drones, before us, we were mired in bureaucratic red tape. Not anymore."
The news sent shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions up 12% to their highest level in 19 years. AeroVironment shares hit an all-time high June 30, and despite tumbling the next day after announcing a $1.35 billion stock and debt sale, the shares have added about two-thirds of their value this year, including a 7% gain Friday morning.
Read the original article on Investopedia
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
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
American Express & 3M post Q2 results that top estimates
American Express (AXP) beat second quarter earnings estimates and reaffirmed full-year EPS guidance, as consumer spending remains steady. Meanwhile, 3M (MMM) raised its full-year EPS outlook and reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $2.16 per share, beating estimates alongside better-than-expected sales. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Morning Brief: Market Sunrise here. We're looking at some key market movers this morning. Now, in American Express and 3M, both reporting quarterly results ahead of the open. First up, let's start with American Express. Shares moving higher, a little bit to the downside at one point. The bank reaffirming full year guidance and reporting Q2 earnings per share of $4.08. That's versus estimates of $3.87 and revenue of $17.86 billion. That was above the street estimate of $17.71 billion. So, I do want to get you a few more numbers from this release, of course, of the major credit card holder American Express. Maintaining its full year EPS guidance. That's in a range of $15 per share to $15.50 per share. American Express still seeing full year revenue increasing year over year in a range of 8% to 10%. Of course, when you think about a company like American Express, a large part of their business depends on how much American consumers are spending, right? There's sort of continuing a trend we've been bringing you really all week here, thinking about big banks have come out and been very positive overall on the consumer, on consumer spending. We had Netflix last night, which we just mentioned a little bit earlier. Netflix asked specifically about the macro environment, their executives saying that they're still seeing spending. Things are still going well there, and even on the economic data front, not company specific, you had retail sales come out yesterday for the month of June increasing 0.6%. And so overall, you're getting a picture of a strong US consumer that is continuing to hold on here, and you're going to hear that in our next company here too. We also have 3M shares. 3M shares are rising after raising its full year outlook. The parent of Scotch tape and posted notes sees adjusted earnings per share for the full year at $7.75 to $8. That range is higher than the previously seen $7.60 to $7.90. They also sees total sales for the year growing 2.5% versus prior guidance of 0.5% to 1.5%. 3M also reporting a beat on the top and bottom line for the current quarter, adjusted earnings per share clocking in at $2.16 versus $2.01 expected, and net sales coming in at $6.3 billion. That was versus $6.1 billion. So again, another consumer company here. We mentioned off the top there, 3M. That's the company that can bring you something like Scotch tape, posted notes, a lot of those kinds of items, continuing to see strength here. That stock is up over 23% this year, had been up over 50% over the past year, past 12 months. So, you're seeing strength again from the consumer sort of broadly here, and a lot of earnings beats this week. These are some of the last major companies to report to Dow Jones components, and I think we're leaving this first major week of second quarter earnings where you're going to see earnings projections for this quarter for the S&P 500 move higher. That's a good sign for the broader market as we head into some more big tech earnings that will be coming over the next few weeks, which, of course, we'll be breaking down here at Yahoo Finance. Related Videos Waller calls for rate cut, GENIUS Act, Netflix earnings: 3 Things Retail sector playbook: Best & worst stock picks Rate Cuts Ahead? Fed Voices Weigh In as Stocks Hit Record High Buy the Dips, Longview Economics Says 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
The Hill
24 minutes ago
- The Hill
China pledges to crack down on illicit exports of rare earths, urges US to lift more trade controls
BANGKOK (AP) — China's state security agency says it is cracking down on alleged smuggling of rare earths minerals that it says threaten national security, just weeks after Beijing and Washington agreed to make it easier for American firms to obtain from China those materials, which are critical for manufacturing and computer chip production. In a report published Friday in the state-run newspaper Global Times, the Ministry of State Security said foreign 'espionage and intelligence agencies' were colluding to steal rare earths-related goods by repackaging and relabeling rare metals to hide their Chinese origin. In some cases the minerals were falsely declared as non-controlled items, mislabeled as such things as 'solder paste,' mixed into other materials like ceramic tiles, or hidden in plastic mannequins or bottled water, it said. It referred only to an unnamed 'certain country' that it said lacked the capacity to make and refine its own rare earths. Investigations had found Chinese criminals were involved, exploiting shipping and delivery channels to evade controls on exports of the materials used in many high-tech applications including electric vehicle batteries, it said. The crackdown followed a report by Reuters earlier this month detailing how rare earths were being transshipped to the U.S. via Thailand and Mexico. China is the main source for many strategically vital rare earths and it has moved to slow exports of such minerals in retaliation for steep import duties President Donald Trump has imposed on Chinese goods since he returned to the White House and launched his crusade to overturn a global trading system he says is unfair to the United States and its workers. That followed an earlier series of restrictions by Beijing on exports of such materials as gallium, germanium, antimony and tungsten in response to trade friction with the administration of then-President Joe Biden. In April, Beijing imposed permitting requirements on seven rare earth elements, under a Chinese law that applies to all exports, not just those bound for the U.S. market. With the permitting process taking 45 days, the new requirement caused a pause in shipments, threatening to disrupt production of cars, robots, wind turbines and other high-tech products in the U.S. and around the world. The U.S., meanwhile, added to restrictions on exports of advanced technologies to China. Rare earths have remained at the center of China-U.S. talks aimed at staving off huge tariff increases that were postponed in May to allow time for negotiations on a broader trade agreement. The deadline for reaching a deal is Aug. 12. An agreement announced in late June did not remove China's permitting requirement on rare earths, but Beijing agreed to flexibility in dialing up or down the approval process as needed. Computer chips are another key bone of contention. The Chinese Commerce Ministry said Friday that it had taken note of a decision by the Trump administration to lift restrictions on exports of key semiconductors used in artificial intelligence made by Nvidia and its rival Advanced Micro Devices. In April, the Trump administration announced it would restrict sales of Nvidia's H20 chips to China — as well as MI308 chips from AMD. But Commerce Ministry spokesman Wang Wentao said restoring healthy trade ties will require more action by Washington. U.S. export controls on Ascend chips made by Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies have hurt the interests of Chinese companies, Wang told reporters in Beijing. 'We hope that the United States and China will meet each other halfway and correct their wrong practices through equal consultation, create a good environment for mutually beneficial cooperation between enterprises of both sides, and jointly maintain the stability of the global semiconductor production and supply chain,' he said.
San Francisco Chronicle
24 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
China pledges to crack down on illicit exports of rare earths, urges US to lift more trade controls
BANGKOK (AP) — China's state security agency says it is cracking down on alleged smuggling of rare earths minerals that it says threaten national security, just weeks after Beijing and Washington agreed to make it easier for American firms to obtain from China those materials, which are critical for manufacturing and computer chip production. In a report published Friday in the state-run newspaper Global Times, the Ministry of State Security said foreign 'espionage and intelligence agencies' were colluding to steal rare earths-related goods by repackaging and relabeling rare metals to hide their Chinese origin. In some cases the minerals were falsely declared as non-controlled items, mislabeled as such things as 'solder paste,' mixed into other materials like ceramic tiles, or hidden in plastic mannequins or bottled water, it said. It referred only to an unnamed 'certain country' that it said lacked the capacity to make and refine its own rare earths. Investigations had found Chinese criminals were involved, exploiting shipping and delivery channels to evade controls on exports of the materials used in many high-tech applications including electric vehicle batteries, it said. The crackdown followed a report by Reuters earlier this month detailing how rare earths were being transshipped to the U.S. via Thailand and Mexico. China is the main source for many strategically vital rare earths and it has moved to slow exports of such minerals in retaliation for steep import duties President Donald Trump has imposed on Chinese goods since he returned to the White House and launched his crusade to overturn a global trading system he says is unfair to the United States and its workers. That followed an earlier series of restrictions by Beijing on exports of such materials as gallium, germanium, antimony and tungsten in response to trade friction with the administration of then-President Joe Biden. In April, Beijing imposed permitting requirements on seven rare earth elements, under a Chinese law that applies to all exports, not just those bound for the U.S. market. With the permitting process taking 45 days, the new requirement caused a pause in shipments, threatening to disrupt production of cars, robots, wind turbines and other high-tech products in the U.S. and around the world. The U.S., meanwhile, added to restrictions on exports of advanced technologies to China. Rare earths have remained at the center of China-U.S. talks aimed at staving off huge tariff increases that were postponed in May to allow time for negotiations on a broader trade agreement. The deadline for reaching a deal is Aug. 12. An agreement announced in late June did not remove China's permitting requirement on rare earths, but Beijing agreed to flexibility in dialing up or down the approval process as needed. Computer chips are another key bone of contention. The Chinese Commerce Ministry said Friday that it had taken note of a decision by the Trump administration to lift restrictions on exports of key semiconductors used in artificial intelligence made by Nvidia and its rival Advanced Micro Devices. In April, the Trump administration announced it would restrict sales of Nvidia's H20 chips to China — as well as MI308 chips from AMD. But Commerce Ministry spokesman Wang Wentao said restoring healthy trade ties will require more action by Washington. 'We hope that the United States and China will meet each other halfway and correct their wrong practices through equal consultation, create a good environment for mutually beneficial cooperation between enterprises of both sides, and jointly maintain the stability of the global semiconductor production and supply chain,' he said.
