London, March 13, 2026, 13:43 GMT
- BAE Systems shares were up about 0.3% at roughly 2,306 pence by 1319 GMT, after Thursday’s 3.14% jump to 2,298 pence and a fresh 52-week high. 1
- The move came as the FTSE 100 fell 0.3% and oil held above $100 a barrel, keeping defence names in focus while most sectors weakened. 2
BAE Systems plc shares hovered near fresh highs on Friday, rising about 0.3% to around 2,306 pence in delayed London trading after Thursday’s 3.14% gain to 2,298 pence. The advance stood out against a weaker market, with the FTSE 100 down 0.3%. 1
The move matters because BAE has become one of London’s clearest bets on higher military spending. Oil had pushed back above $100 a barrel, inflation worries were forcing investors to scale back hopes for easier policy, yet BAE held firm and carried a market value of about £67.2 billion. 3
It is also building on what the company told investors in February. BAE said a “new era of defence spending” was lifting growth after it reported a record £83.6 billion order backlog — work booked but not yet delivered — and forecast 2026 sales growth of 7% to 9%. Chief Executive Charles Woodburn said BAE was well placed to supply both established weapons systems and newer technology. 4
Fresh company news helped. On March 11, BAE said it had completed the preliminary design review, an engineering checkpoint before final design, for the U.S. Space Force’s $1.2 billion missile-warning and tracking satellite programme. Thai Sheridan, who runs BAE’s military space business, said the milestone “validates the implementation of our plan.” 5
Regulatory filings were mixed, but small. A Thursday disclosure showed managing director Andrea Thompson sold 20,000 shares on March 10 at £22.51145 each, worth about £450,229, while a separate company statement said BAE had repurchased 18.8 million shares in aggregate under the second tranche of its buyback programme. 6
BAE was not alone. Italy’s Leonardo jumped as much as 9% to a record high on Thursday after laying out a five-year plan built around computing, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity — a shift CEO Roberto Cingolani has called “from bullets to bytes.” 7
The wider backdrop is doing part of the work. Reuters reported this week that attacks on shipping in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz had brought oil traffic close to a halt, while investors on Friday braced for a drawn-out conflict and kept selling most sectors outside energy. That has left defence stocks looking unusually resilient in a weaker market. 8
But the trade is not risk-free. A quick easing in the conflict could drain some of the geopolitical premium from defence names. A longer shutdown in Hormuz would bring a different problem by keeping fuel costs high and growth weak. “If the Strait of Hormuz re-opens by the end of March, the economic fallout should be limited,” Berenberg analyst Jonathan Stubbs said. 2
Valuation is the other question. Deutsche Bank cut BAE to “hold” in January and set a 2,140 pence target, below Friday’s market level, arguing that upside had narrowed after the rally. For now, investors are still backing contract flow, execution and government spending plans over that warning. 9
