A year ago, the outlook was unclear for some of the hottest defense stocks. The U.S. had just pulled its troops out of Afghanistan, and analysts were pointing to a potential period of isolationism. It appeared major powers such as the U.S. might turn their focus inward for a while and withdraw from the global stage.
However, Russia’s surprise invasion of Ukraine flipped everything on its head. That move made it impossible for the U.S. and its European allies to ignore their military budgets. Major powers such as Germany and Japan were forced to step up their defense spending to deter Russia and also head off potential future threats such as a possible geopolitical conflict in Taiwan. All this is to say that the situation has changed for defense stocks.
As if that weren’t enough, the U.S. created its Space Force in 2019 to oversee defense efforts in space including maintaining GPS, communications satellites, spaceplanes, and the country’s early missile warning defense system among other functions. The expansion of space-based operations adds more upside for defense stocks.
Take a look at these seven leading defense stocks.
This post originally appeared at InvestorPlace.