Aerospace & Defense stocks lead industrial gainers, while TuSimple picks #1 loser tag

Aerospace and defense exchange traded funds have seen a double-digit jump in their underlying value ever since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. This week’s four out of five top gainers belonged to the aerospace and defense sector.

The SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF (NYSEARCA:SPY) -1.27% finished the week ending March 4 in the red after being in the green last week amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis. YTD the ETF is -9.01%. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR (NYSEARCA:XLI) +1.27% hit the green after being in the red three weeks in a row. YTD -5.12%.

The top five gainers in the industrial sector (stocks with a market cap of over $2B) all gained more than +13%.

Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY) +22.71%. It was a busy week for the defense and aerospace company, which gained throughout the week. Mercury started the week by gaining a $165M contract from the U.S. Air Force.

On March 2 it was also reported that activist Elliott Investment Management built a stake in Mercury and made an offer to acquire it. The company also received a $7.4M order for a cockpit multi-function display technology.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) +14.38% was part of a nearly $1.8B in contracts awarded by the U.S. DoD for a next-generation military communications network of 126 satellites. Northrop Grumman won a $692M contract, York Space took $382M, while Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) — which did not make to this week’s top five but took #9 spot with +11.88% gains — bagged a $700M deal.

The chart below shows 6-month total return performance of the top five gainers and XLI:

L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) +14.29% and Elbit Systems (NASDAQ:ESLT) +14.03% came in close third and fourth, respectively.

L3Harris gained at the start of the week after being awarded a $3.69B Navy contract for portable radios and ancillary parts. Elbit did not seem to have a major new this week but rose the most on Feb. 28 +15.52%.

KBR (NYSE:KBR) +13.20%. The engineering solutions provider came in the top five for two weeks in a row. KBR had gained last week gained following its earnings results.

The week’s top five decliners among industrial stocks (market cap of over $2B) lost more than -19% each.

TuSimple (NASDAQ:TSP) -32.65%. The autonomous trucking company took the top decliner spot again after more than a month. The company saw leadership change on March 3, which also led to a sharp fall in its stock price that day (-21.92%). Co-Founder and CTO Xiaodi Hou succeeded Cheng Lu as President and CEO and succeeded Mo Chen as Chairman. YTD the stock is down -67.95%.

Kanzhun (NASDAQ:BZ) -26.61%. The Chinese online recruitment platform was in the top #5 decliner after almost two months. The company consistently lost through out the week, however the Wall Street Analysts’ Rating is Buy with an Average Price Target of $40.02.

The chart below shows 6-month total return performance of the top five decliners and XLI:

AerCap (NYSE:AER) -24.12%. The world’s biggest plane leasing company plunged to a three-month low on Feb. 28 after it said that it will stop doing business with Russian airlines as sanctions increase over the invasion of Ukraine. SA contributor Dhierin Bechai has written: AerCap Tumbles On War Sanctions Against Russia.

United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) -19.93%. Travel stock suffered during the week as investors weighed the implications of the Russian invasion. Following in the footsteps of the EU and Canada, President Biden announced a ban on Russian aircraft and airlines entering American airspace. According to Wolfe Research UAL may need to consider potential equity raise to provide further liquidity cushion with oil trading over $100.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) -19.92%. The Ohio-based company, which provides equipment and services to data centers, was among the worst five decliners again this week following last week’s fall after its earnings result. YTD, the stock is down -57.67%.