3 US Defense Stocks Worth Watching As Nvidia Questions Hit National Security Sasha Jovanovic Sun, November 8, 2026 at 8:12 PM EST 5 min read NVDA +3.91% AVAV +10.45% KTOS +5.12% LASR +29.85% Explore stocks on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
Nvidia's boardroom drama, with CEO Jensen Huang under investigation after admitting an extramarital affair tied to an alleged intelligence-linked sting, has pushed national security risk from the policy pages onto your portfolio screen. Scrutiny of Nvidia's China links and AI exports could change who wins and loses across defense and security technology. This piece unpacks three stocks exposed to that story, and why their next chapter matters for you.
The stocks covered below are just a small sample, and the full screen surfaced 26 more US defense and national security technology companies with equally compelling stories that are not detailed in this article. To identify your own highest conviction angles across defense, cybersecurity, secure semiconductors, avionics and C4ISR, head straight into the US Defense & National Security Technology Stocks screener
AeroVironment is closely tied to the US defense and national security theme, providing uncrewed aircraft, loitering munitions, and space, cyber and directed energy systems that are heavily used by government customers.
AeroVironment generates most of its revenue from Autonomous Systems at about $1.4b, with around $584 million from Space, Cyber and Directed Energy, and has a market value of roughly $5.7b.
A key recent contract helps explain why AeroVironment is on investor radars right now.
"A $465 million EHEL award that Nawabi now describes as "the first-ever production contract for direct energy systems in U.S. military history."
What happens to AeroVironment's margins if a single high profile program like this changes in scope or timing?
If that contract risk is front of mind, the full narrative for AeroVironment lays out how AeroVironment's pipeline, programs and balance sheet could absorb shocks while still compounding its defense exposure.
nLIGHT sits squarely in the defense and national security story, with its high power semiconductor and fiber lasers feeding directly into directed energy weapons and sensing programs that matter more when supply chains and export controls come under the microscope.
nLIGHT designs and manufactures semiconductor and fiber lasers for aerospace and defense, industrial and microfabrication uses, selling globally through a mix of direct sales and distributors, and currently carries a market value of about US$2.2b.
"The rapid growth and expanding pipeline in aerospace and defense, particularly around high power laser solutions such as HELSI 2 and DE M SHORAD alongside newer awards like the Joint Laser Weapon System contract with a ceiling of roughly US$600 million to US$627 million, continues to position nLIGHT to capture a larger share of rising directed energy spend and support multi year revenue expansion."
The real swing factor is how one unresolved pressure on nLIGHT's defense-focused mix ultimately filters through to margins and contract durability.
That pressure point is exactly what the full narrative for nLIGHT unpacks, showing how nLIGHT's defense mix, contract profile and capital spend could be quietly reshaping its risk reward profile.
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions fits the US Defense & National Security Technology theme cleanly, with its unmanned aircraft, hypersonic systems and space ground infrastructure built primarily for US and allied government customers. Investors are watching how that focus converts into long term cash generation.
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions develops defense focused systems, software and hardware for government and commercial customers worldwide and currently has a market value of about US$6.6b.
In a moment when Nvidia's China questions push Washington to look harder at who supplies critical national security technology, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions offers a cleaner, domestically aligned way to gain exposure to unmanned systems, hypersonics and space infrastructure.
"Kratos Defense & Security Solutions is building a larger hypersonic franchise, with hypersonic revenue around US$200m in 2025 and forecasts of roughly US$400m in 2026 and at least US$700m in 2027, supported by several hundred million dollars of recent funding, new programs such as Kraken and Nemesis, 120 solid rocket motors on order, and a multi year MACH TB budget profile of about US$7b, which could materially lift future revenue and earnings power."
What really moves the needle from here is how one invisible constraint shapes the gap between impressive backlog headlines and actual margin progress.
That invisible constraint is the real tell, and the full narrative for Kratos Defense & Security Solutions shows how Kratos Defense & Security Solutions' hypersonic and unmanned ambitions could accelerate or quietly stall from here.
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