What Happened?
Shares of aerospace and defense company BWX (NYSE: BWXT) jumped 3% in the morning session after a BofA Securities analyst raised their price target on the stock. The investment bank increased its price target to $220 from $155, maintaining a Buy rating. Analysts at BofA cited the high demand for BWXT's naval nuclear power plants and a recent $2.6 billion Navy pricing agreement that has driven the company's backlog to record levels. The firm believes BWX Technologies is in a unique position to capitalize on the deployment of military and space nuclear power. This optimistic outlook follows the company's recent strong second-quarter financial results, where it reported a 12.1% year-over-year revenue increase to $764 million, handily beating analysts' expectations. The strong performance has led to a series of positive analyst revisions, with BTIG also recently raising its target to $200, highlighting strong execution and robust market demand.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $174.85, down 2.6% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
BWX’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 6 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 8 days ago when the stock gained 18.1% on the news that the company posted strong second-quarter results and raised its full-year financial outlook. The nuclear components supplier announced adjusted earnings of $1.02 per share on revenue of $764 million, figures that comfortably topped Wall Street estimates. This performance stemmed from solid work in its government operations and a 24% revenue increase in its commercial business. The company also boosted its full-year guidance and reported a record $6 billion backlog, a 70% increase year-over-year, which was bolstered by a new pricing agreement for over $1 billion in U.S. naval reactor work.
BWX is up 56.8% since the beginning of the year, and at $174.85 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $182 from August 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of BWX’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $3,011.
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