NEW YORK, Feb 28, 2026, 15:59 (EST) — Market closed
- Northrop Grumman notched a 1.9% gain by Friday’s close. U.S. markets, of course, stayed closed through the weekend.
- Defence stocks are back on watchlists for Monday, following U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s response.
- Most analyst targets are bunched right around the recent closing price, so headlines are likely to drive the action in the short run.
Northrop Grumman could draw plenty of attention as U.S. markets reopen Monday, following joint U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. The move, escalating tensions across the Gulf, has investors recalibrating geopolitical risk. Israel claimed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed; Iran answered by launching missiles at Israel and Gulf states hosting American forces, according to Reuters.
Wall Street stayed shut on Saturday, leaving investors unable to react to weekend developments outside of what Friday’s trading had already shown. Northrop closed Friday at $724.38, a 1.9% gain. Lockheed Martin, RTX, and General Dynamics also posted gains, though the S&P 500 slipped, MarketWatch data show.
Looking at a straight “Northrop Grumman stock forecast,” the numbers don’t budge much. Analysts’ average 12-month price target lands at $724.39, basically hugging Friday’s closing level, with estimates stretching from roughly $587 up to $815, according to Investing.com data. Consensus leans buy or hold, not a clear sell. Investing.com
Heading into Monday, traders might focus more on risk appetite than on the numbers. “The strike raises geopolitical risk premia as markets head into Monday’s open,” said Christopher Wong, strategist at OCBC in Singapore. Brent could reach $100 a barrel if supply disruption risks start getting priced in, Barclays energy analysts said. Elsewhere, some flagged gold and energy as likely to feel the initial shocks. Reuters
Defence names react quickly to headlines—the market typically jumps to the obvious link: rising tensions drive spending and orders, even if the actual buying takes time to show. A Reuters markets piece out Saturday flagged that a move from Iran could ripple through multiple sectors, with defence and airlines drawing early investor focus as oil prices and security premiums get reworked.
Northrop touches a wide range of areas—everything from aeronautics to missile and defence systems, plus mission systems and space, its Reuters profile shows. That spread means the stock reacts to different forces: investors tend to move fast on missile defence and surveillance angles, but revenue from major platforms takes longer to materialize.
Geopolitics took most of the spotlight this weekend, leaving less on the tape from individual companies. Still, investors do have a few dates marked. Northrop’s board signed off on a $2.31 quarterly dividend per share, set for payout March 11, the investor site confirmed. Management’s revenue outlook for 2026 stands at $43.5 billion to $44.0 billion, as highlighted in a recent Nasdaq update.
Monday shapes up as a headline-driven session for traders. Ongoing threats to the Strait of Hormuz and stalled tanker flow could jolt oil, ripple through inflation bets, and hit risk assets—potentially outpacing reaction times to any new contract news.
The flip side isn’t complicated. Should the conflict cool off soon, or if investors come to believe the strikes won’t widen, the so-called “defence bid” could evaporate. Northrop’s shares are already pressing against the upper end of their recent range, and analyst targets aren’t pointing to much more room above that.
The clock’s ticking: at 4 p.m. local time in New York this Saturday, the U.N. Security Council gathers for an emergency session—an event investors are eyeing closely for any hint of how the crisis might spiral or what kind of international moves could follow.
Oil’s giving traders another signal for the near term. OPEC+ is set to meet Sunday. The group is weighing whether to bump up output even more after the strikes, Reuters said—a move that could offer an early gauge on how persistent the risk premium turns out to be.
Northrop Grumman shares face their first major hurdle at Monday’s open, March 2. That’s when U.S. markets will get their shot to price in the weekend headlines in cash equities.
