New York, Feb 22, 2026, 13:41 EST — The session has wrapped up.
- RTX closed at $204.92 on Friday after the stock went ex-dividend for a 68-cent distribution.
- The U.S. Navy has given Raytheon the green light: its StormBreaker smart weapon is now cleared for operational deployment on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fleet.
- Investors are eyeing potential follow-on procurement news, and looking for any updates regarding Pratt & Whitney engine supply levels.
RTX Corp begins the week in focus, coming off news that its Raytheon unit received a green light from the U.S. Navy for the StormBreaker precision weapon on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Shares wrapped up Friday at $204.92.
The clearance is significant: “operational use” acts as a real-world threshold, opening doors for wider fleet deployment and nudging demand into the procurement stream. For RTX, this is the straightforward narrative — weapons, incoming orders, and the pace of deliveries.
Still, the commercial engine arm is an anchor. Pratt & Whitney faces ongoing supply snags and inspections—issues that can ripple out to disrupt plane production. Investors? They don’t hesitate to factor in even slight stumbles.
RTX edged down 0.24% Friday, closing out the session after moving between $203.02 and $206.36. Volume landed around 10.3 million shares. One technical note—Friday marked the ex-dividend date, so new buyers from that point forward miss out on the upcoming dividend.
Raytheon says the StormBreaker can take on both moving and stationary targets, land or sea, even when the weather turns rough. The Navy has now cleared it for operational use on the Super Hornet. “Equipping it with StormBreaker increases the aircraft’s lethality … in all weather conditions,” said Sam Deneke, who leads Air & Space Defense Systems at Raytheon. RTX
RTX’s board announced this month it will pay out a quarterly cash dividend of $0.68 per share. The payout lands on March 19 for holders on record as of Feb. 20. The ex-dividend date often knocks the stock price lower, regardless of what’s happening with real demand.
Defense activity hasn’t let up. On Friday, Britain and several European partners announced a joint effort to build new, lower-cost air defense weapons—a move London pitched as a boost for NATO’s protective umbrella. “We are stepping up — investing together in the next generation of air defence,” said Luke Pollard, Britain’s minister for defence readiness and industry. Reuters
This week, Airbus lowered its key jet production target, citing ongoing supply disruptions from Pratt & Whitney, part of RTX. “We are very dissatisfied,” CEO Guillaume Faury told analysts, noting the company plans to “enforce our contractual rights.” RTX, for its part, had no comment, according to the report. Reuters
Airbus has the option to equip its A320neo-family aircraft with engines from CFM, the GE Aerospace–Safran joint venture. Engine makers track any changes in these orders closely. On defense, StormBreaker’s clearance for the Super Hornet is linked to Boeing’s carrier fighter program and hinges on how fast the Navy moves from green-lighting to scaling up purchases.
Still, investors know by now that an approval doesn’t immediately pad the top line. Orders can get stalled, budgets might move around, and if the Airbus-Pratt spat escalates, Pratt may be forced to put fresh engine shipments on hold to focus on repairs—squeezing margins along the way.
U.S. markets resume Monday. RTX will be in focus, responding to fresh defense news and any developments around engine supply negotiations. March 19 is the key dividend payout date up ahead.
