New York, March 1, 2026, 15:28 EST — Market closed.
RTX’s stock will be back in focus when U.S. markets reopen on Monday after the United States used Tomahawk cruise missiles made by the company’s Raytheon unit in strikes on Iran over the weekend, U.S. Central Command said. The Pentagon budget shows the U.S. plans to buy 57 Tomahawks in 2026, and a recent agreement between Raytheon and the Pentagon aims to lift production to 1,000 units a year. 1
The headlines land just as investors brace for a volatile Monday open across risk assets, with crude oil and broader risk sentiment likely to set the first tone. “The strike raises geopolitical risk premia as markets head into Monday’s open,” said Christopher Wong, a strategist at OCBC in Singapore. Nick Ferres, chief investment officer at Vantage Point Asset Management, summed up one likely first move: “Energy is still inexpensive.” 2
RTX (RTX.N) closed on Friday up 2.52% at $202.62, with the stock edging down 0.23% to $202.15 in after-hours trading, the session after the 4 p.m. close. It finished within a few dollars of its 52-week high of $206.73. 3
The company also picked up a commercial tailwind late in the week. Delta Air Lines said on Friday it will buy 34 more Airbus A321neo jets, with deliveries starting in 2029, and said the aircraft will be powered by RTX’s Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan (GTF) engines. 4
Defense shares were broadly firmer into the weekend. Lockheed Martin rose 2.56% on Friday and Northrop Grumman gained 1.90%, while Boeing slipped, according to MarketWatch data. 5
RTX sits on both sides of the aerospace cycle: missiles and air defenses at Raytheon, and jet engines and aircraft systems at Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace. Traders tend to treat it as a barometer when war risk rises, but it still trades with airlines and delivery schedules.
But there are obvious ways this breaks the other way. A rapid de-escalation could blunt any “defense bid” before it starts, and a broader risk-off move can still drag the whole sector lower. On the commercial side, Airbus in February cut its production goal and threatened to enforce contractual rights in a dispute with Pratt & Whitney over engine supply shortfalls. 6
What investors watch next is straightforward: how oil and broader equities settle, and whether the weekend’s Iran conflict headlines spill into U.S. defense names once cash trading resumes. For RTX, the first test is whether it holds near recent highs when New York opens.
Next up: the U.S. regular-session open on Monday, March 2.
