After two straight banner weeks for marquee aerospace and defense stocks -- companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and General Dynamics -- attention is beginning to turn to the second-tier ranks of America's defense industry. Last week, three of these lesser-known aerospace & defense plays reported their earnings.
They gave up absolutely nothing at all to their bigger-name peers.
Instead, as first TransDigm (TDG 3.35%), then Huntington Ingalls (HII 0.15%) and Orbital ATK (OA) reported earnings in quick succession, the announcements of their earnings were nearly drowned out by the cheers of investors, who sent each stock higher.
On a down week for the S&P, in general, this remarkably resilient performance by the aerospace and defense industry came as a welcome relief to investors. So what did these companies do right that every other company is doing wrong?
In the short slideshow below, we'll tell you all about it. Take a quick look now, and make sure to tune back in at the end for our special free report.