New York, January 9, 2026, 19:15 ET — After-hours
- RTX shares rose about 0.7% in late trading on Friday
- Trump’s order would tie buybacks, dividends and executive pay to weapons delivery performance
- RTX urged holders to reject a $130 mini-tender offer expiring Jan. 12; earnings due Jan. 27
RTX Corp shares rose about 0.7% to $188.50 in after-hours trade on Friday as investors kept sorting through a Trump administration order that could curb dividends and share buybacks at major defense contractors. (Reuters)
The order matters because cash returns are a big part of the defense-stock pitch. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, L3Harris and RTX paid roughly $8 billion in dividends over the last 12 months and bought back about $10 billion of stock, Morgan Stanley data compiled by Reuters showed. Buybacks are when a company repurchases its own shares, often lifting earnings per share by shrinking the share count. (Reuters)
Contractors have been calling lawyers, and the industry is bracing for a messy rollout. “Ultimately, this announcement results in more questions than answers,” TD Cowen analyst Roman Schweizer wrote, adding he expected the Pentagon to clarify definitions and benchmarks. (Breaking Defense)
RTX also flagged a separate, smaller issue for shareholders this week. The company said it received notice of an unsolicited “mini-tender” offer from Tutanota LLC to buy up to 500,000 RTX shares at $130 each, and urged holders not to tender because the price is below the market and the offer carries conditions; it is currently scheduled to expire at 5:00 p.m. EST on Jan. 12. Mini-tender offers typically target less than 5% of a company’s shares, sidestepping some SEC disclosure and procedural rules, RTX said. (RTX)
Defense stocks have been jumpy since Trump’s comments hit midweek, but some names rallied into the weekend. Lockheed and Northrop each rose more than 4% in Friday’s session, while RTX gained about 0.7%, MarketWatch data showed. (MarketWatch)
But the downside case is straightforward: if the administration uses contract leverage aggressively — even before courts weigh in — the threat of delayed payments, tougher terms or lost work could change how investors value the sector’s steady cash-return model. The bigger risk for RTX is not the paperwork. It is uncertainty around what “underperformance” means and how quickly Washington tries to enforce it.
Next up: investors will watch for any Pentagon guidance tied to the executive order, the Jan. 12 mini-tender deadline, and RTX’s fourth-quarter results on Jan. 27, when the company is due to give its 2026 outlook. (RTX)
