Defense contractors are scrambling for legal counsel after President Donald Trump signed an executive order tying share buybacks, dividends, and executive pay to weapons delivery timelines, three sources familiar with the issue said. The sector handed back around $8 billion in dividends and about $10 billion in buybacks over the past year, according to Morgan Stanley data. Despite the move, aerospace-and-defense stocks ended the week higher: the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF jumped 2.4% on Friday, the SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF gained 2.9%, Lockheed Martin surged 4.7%, Northrop Grumman climbed 4.8%, RTX added 0.7%, and L3Harris rose 3.1%.
