RTX shares finished Friday in the green, climbing roughly 1.4% to $198.66, with the sector on edge as the Pentagon gets ready to unveil, early next week, a roster of defense contractors under review. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, and L3Harris are all in the spotlight alongside RTX. The backdrop: President Donald Trump’s Jan. 7 order could mean companies flagged as underperformers will face new curbs on dividends and stock buybacks—those being repurchases of their own stock. Data from Morgan Stanley put total payouts to shareholders at about $18 billion for the five largest defense names over the last 12 months. Trump has pointed directly at Raytheon, RTX’s unit, calling it “least responsive” to Pentagon demands. Any firms listed will have a 15-day window to submit remediation plans, signed off by their boards, with contract cancellations among the possible consequences. It’s still unclear whether subcontractors get swept in, and the order also directs the SEC to revisit buyback safe-harbor rules and tie executive compensation more closely to delivery performance.
