Northrop Grumman falls as investors react to Boeing’s F/A-XX win

Northrop Grumman (NOC) is down 4.6% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The most likely catalyst is that Boeing was selected for the U.S. Navy’s F/A-XX next-generation carrier fighter program, a major award that Northrop Grumman had been competing for. Losing a marquee defense competition can pressure sentiment because investors may reset expectations for future revenue, backlog growth, and long-term positioning in naval aviation.

Details:

Boeing announced on September 29, 2026 that the Navy selected it for the F/A-XX program, a sixth-generation carrier-based fighter effort viewed as a potentially very large multiyear opportunity.

Northrop Grumman had been widely identified as one of the key competitors for the award, so Boeing’s selection likely reduced investor expectations that Northrop would capture that platform.

The contract is tied to the Navy’s future carrier air wing and includes development and test aircraft work, making it strategically important beyond the initial award value.

Recent Northrop Grumman updates had otherwise pointed to ongoing business momentum, including stronger 2026 guidance after second-quarter results and program progress on Sentinel, which makes the contract outcome the clearest reason for today’s drop.

Sources:

Boeing Newsroom, USNI News, Northrop Grumman

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$NOC Insider Trading Activity

$NOC insiders have traded $NOC stock on the open market 21 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 21 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $NOC stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

MARK A III WELSH has made 0 purchases and 21 sales selling 190 shares for an estimated $106,324.

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard. You can access data on insider stock transactions through the Quiver Quantitative API insider transaction endpoint.

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$NOC Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 791 institutional investors add shares of $NOC stock to their portfolio, and 829 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

CAPITAL WORLD INVESTORS removed 1,829,766 shares (-26.5%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $931,918,121
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO added 1,400,270 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $713,171,513
CAPITAL INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS removed 1,243,791 shares (-17.5%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $633,475,194
T. ROWE PRICE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, INC. added 1,156,101 shares (+31831.0%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $588,813,800
BLACKROCK, INC. added 901,299 shares (+8.3%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $459,040,593
SIXTH STREET PARTNERS MANAGEMENT COMPANY, L.P. added 881,615 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $449,015,335
FMR LLC removed 801,654 shares (-38.1%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $408,290,398

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard. You can access data on hedge funds moves and 13F filings through the Quiver Quantitative API 13F endpoint.

$NOC Government Contracts

We have seen $11,884,426,230 of award payments to $NOC over the last year.

Here are some of the awards which we have have seen pay out the most over the last year:

GROUND-BASED STRATEGIC DETERRENT (GBSD) ENGINEERING AND MANUFACTURING DEVELOPMENT (EMD) AND EARLY PRODUCTIO...: $2,919,034,000
BLOCK 3 EA SUBSYSTEM HEMISPHERE PRODUCTION: $661,243,087
E130J ENGINEERING AND MANUFACTURING DEVELOPMENT (EMD): $544,564,255
THIS CONTRACT COVERS THE GROUND-BASED MIDCOURSE DEFENSE (GMD) WEAPON SYSTEM (GWS) SYSTEMS ENGINEERING, DESI...: $453,882,572
COMPUTER,RADAR DATA: $438,315,691

To track government contracts to publicy traded companies, check out Quiver Quantitative's government contracts dashboard. You can access data on government contracts through the Quiver Quantitative API government contracts endpoint.

$NOC Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $NOC recently. We have seen 5 analysts offer price targets for $NOC in the last 6 months, with a median target of $745.0.

Here are some recent targets:

John Godyn from Citigroup set a target price of $587.0 on 07/01/2026
Sheila Kahyaoglu from Jefferies set a target price of $580.0 on 06/26/2026
Gavin Parsons from UBS set a target price of $745.0 on 04/23/2026
Andre Madrid from BTIG set a target price of $815.0 on 04/22/2026
Kristine Liwag from Morgan Stanley set a target price of $745.0 on 04/22/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.