Nuclear arms makers see stock prices soar amid Ukraine-Russia war

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many defense stocks have skyrocketed.

A March 2022 analyst note from Citi predicted that “Defense [sector] It is increasingly likely to be seen as a necessity that facilitates the ESG as a project, as well as the maintenance of peace, stability, and other social goods.”

Defense companies secure billions of dollars each year in government contracts to maintain and build nuclear weapons.

Many of these companies like Northrop GrummanAnd general dynamicsAnd Lockheed Martin And Raytheon It is publicly traded, which means it has millions of shareholders and investors.

“We’ve seen even the world’s largest defense contractors switch businesses under pressure from the investment community,” said Susie Snyder, Financial Sector Coordinator for the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. “And this pressure is coming from investors every day.”

The Congressional Budget Office predicts that the US government can spend $634 billion between 2021 and 2030 on nuclear forces. This is an increase of $140 billion over the previous estimate of $494 billion between 2019 and 2028.

“What is happening in Ukraine reminds us [that] David Epstein, a former Wall Street analyst who is now focused on reducing the risks of nuclear weapons by… venture through capital. “I think it reminds people that these defense companies do a lot of different things and that conventional weapons at least help defend democracy and the well-being of the free world.”

Here are some of the companies that benefit from nuclear weapons and how the investor community feels about it.