NEW YORK, June 6, 2026, 16:04 EDT
RTX Corp. was one of the few names to finish higher in a tough U.S. session, ending Friday at $180.99, up 0.88%. An analyst upgrade late in the week pushed the aerospace and defense stock to a weekly gain of around 0.7%. After the close, shares edged down to $180.03.
Stocks dropped hard Friday, with the S&P 500 off 2.64%, the Nasdaq down 4.18%, and the Dow losing 1.35%. A stronger May jobs report hit the market, fueling more talk the Federal Reserve could keep rates high or go even more hawkish. High rates usually cut the value of stocks priced on big future profits.
RTX wasn’t reacting to a single day’s move in the stock but to where money is moving. The company is in missiles, radars, aircraft engines, and airline repairs, which gives it a different earnings mix than the tech stocks that led Friday’s drop.
Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu raised her rating on RTX to Buy from Hold and bumped her price target up to $220 from $210 Thursday, pointing to better commercial aerospace engine aftermarket sales, wider margins, and steady defense demand. “RTX is home to leading franchises across Aerospace and Defense,” Kahyaoglu said, according to Barron’s. Barron’s
RTX jumped 3.98% Thursday after the call, wiping out losses from earlier in the week. Shares finished Friday above $179.66, their May 29 close. The move was small but clearer with other stocks sliding.
Mixed moves for peers. General Dynamics added 1.45% Friday, Lockheed Martin up 0.91%. Boeing dropped 0.91%. The gap kept the story simple—defense stocks saw demand, but commercial aviation names like Boeing stayed pressured by oil prices, fuel costs, and questions on order pace.
RTX’s fundamental story is the same. The company lifted its 2026 forecast in April after reporting first-quarter sales up 9% to $22.1 billion, with adjusted EPS up 21% to $1.78. Backlog was at $271 billion, $162 billion from commercial and $109 billion from defense. CEO Chris Calio said RTX is putting “significant investments to increase output.” RTX
Raytheon, the defense arm of RTX, said earlier this week it picked up a $515 million U.S. Navy contract for its SPY-6 radar line. Barbara Borgonovi, who heads Naval Power at Raytheon, said the business plans to double SPY-6 production by 2028, citing an $800 million spend on radar manufacturing.
Still, the risk is not small. The Iran war has sent jet fuel costs higher and made airline planning tougher, directly hitting the Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney arms of RTX. Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association, told Reuters that high fuel prices will be “very difficult to cope with” for some airlines and also took aim at delays in aircraft and engine deliveries, including those from Pratt & Whitney. Reuters
Tariffs and execution are another challenge here. RTX reported on its first-quarter call that it paid $500 million related to International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs, according to Reuters. The company may try to recover some of that, but for now, that cash is spent.
Company calendar thins out next week, but there is some activity. RTX will pay its raised quarterly dividend of 73 cents a share on June 11 to shareholders who were on the books as of May 22. That’s a 7.4% hike from the last quarter. The dividend is paid in cash to shareholders.
Bigger moves could kick off Monday. If Friday’s rate jitters hit industrials after chips, RTX might need to push the defense backlog angle more. If investors keep shifting to safer cash and out of crowded tech names, last week’s slim gain could matter more than it seemed.
