Defence and Aerospace ETF Report | Aug 2024

Defence and Aerospace ETF Key Takeaways

Record 23 NATO countries hit 2% target – A record 23 NATO countries out of its now 32 members are hitting the 2% of GDP spending target with Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Turkey among those hitting the target for the first time.  Across Europe and Canada, defence spending increased by 18%, the biggest increase in decades. The fact 23 countries meet the target — which was set 10 years ago — makes it “more than twice as many as four years ago and demonstrates that European allies and Canada are really stepping up and taking their share of the common responsibility. Poland tops the chart at 4.12%, followed by Estonia (3.43%), the U.S. (3.38%), Latvia (3.15%) and Greece (3.08%). Meanwhile, Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Spain are among the lowest spenders.

Canada pledges to meet NATO spending target – Long-seen as punching below its weight, Canada, the world’s second-largest country by area and one of the seven wealthiest economies, said it would meet its NATO military spending pledge of 2% of GDP by 2032. Canada currently spends roughly 1.4% of its economic output on defence and has plans to increase that to 1.7% by the end of the decade.

Is the 2% milestone enough? – Following Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, NATO countries committed to the goal of spending 2% of GDP on defence. A decade later, after renewed Russian aggression culminated in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a record number of countries are on track to meet that goal. However, with the continued threat of Russian aggression from the east, the U.S. and some European countries have suggested that NATO’s benchmark should be raised to 2.5% or even 3% in-line with the amounts spent during the Cold War. Defence spending challenges vary by country with regard to public opinion, taxes and spending, and the level of national debt.

Defence companies performed well in FY2023 – Defence companies grew earnings by 13% in 2023, amid the Russian-Ukraine war, battles in the Middle East, and rising tensions in Asia over disputed territory and Taiwan’s independence. In response to these events, governments around the world are spending more on defence, which in turn boosts industry earnings.

Palantir tops earnings and revenue estimates – Palantir Technologies beat analyst expectations for earnings and revenue and the company guided up citing continued demand for its artificial intelligence software for defence and intelligence purposes.  The company stressed the importance of its military business in its letter to shareholders and of working closely with the U.S. government and its allies.  The company’s software is now used across all branches of the US military, with its TTM revenue coming from the U.S. government exceeding $1 billion for the first time.   Government sales of $371 million were up 23% in Q2.

New rebalance holding: DroneShield – During the July Index rebalance, Australian military defence technology company DroneShield was added as a new index holding. The company produces a range of innovative drone defence technology systems for counter defence. DroneShield recently did a secondary offering of $120 million AUD aimed at helping it fulfil a raft of new contracts for it drone-defence technology and to drive new and existing research and development programs including artificial intelligence and new counterdrone (C-UxS) products. Such next-generation R&D is critical for C-UxS systems to continuously evolve and detect, track and neutralise increasingly sophisticated drone threats.  The placement will enable the company to undertake a number of rapid R&D programs in response to end-user requirements over the next 12 to 24 months.

Sources available upon request. Please remember that when you invest in ETFs, your capital is at risk.

Macro Outlook

Whereas just a few years ago, the 2% of GDP targets set by NATO in 2014 seemed unattainable, some member countries like the U.S. are questioning whether 2% is enough in light of rising geopolitical risks around the world.

As a result of increased spending on defence, defence earnings grew by 13% in 2023, and many companies such as Palantir are reporting record earnings and sales results tied to government defence contracts.

At the forefront of spending are new defence technologies such as AI, cyber defence, unmanned vehicles and drone defence systems. As NATO spending increases, future of defence technologies will become an even more important component of the spending mix to supplement traditional defence capabilities.

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