RTX Stock Steadies as Growth Outlook Brightens

January 3, 2026 at 07:13 UTC

4 min read

RTX stock price chart with defense contract and earnings outlook highlights

Key Points

RTX shares have climbed steadily, recently outperforming the S&P 500 with a 2.1% daily gain.
JPMorgan has raised its RTX price target to $200, citing a clearer growth path into 2026.
New multibillion‑dollar F135 engine contracts are reinforcing RTX’s long runway in defense.
RTX has lifted its 2025 earnings and sales guidance, signaling improving fundamentals.

RTX Share Price Firms After Volatile Stretch

RTX Corporation’s stock has been trading with restrained but positive momentum after a choppy period marked by engine issues and shifting sentiment on defense names. In the latest session, RTX closed at $187.25, up 2.1% on the day and ahead of the S&P 500’s 0.19% gain. That move extended a broader recovery: over the past year, RTX has delivered a solid double‑digit percentage gain, turning a hypothetical $10,000 investment into roughly $11,000–$11,500 before dividends. The shares now sit much closer to their 52‑week high than their low, reflecting a transition from last year’s fear around engine inspections to a more balanced view that acknowledges both execution risks and improving cash flow visibility. Zacks data show RTX has gained 7.06% in the past month, lagging the broader Aerospace sector’s 8.09% rise but outpacing the S&P 500’s 0.54% advance, and the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Upgraded Guidance and Contract Wins Support Fundamentals

Recent operating updates have underpinned the share price. In the third quarter of 2025, RTX raised its full‑year adjusted earnings outlook to $6.10–$6.20 per share, up from prior guidance of $5.80–$5.95. Adjusted sales expectations were also lifted to a range of $86.5 billion–$87 billion, compared with an earlier $84.75 billion–$85.5 billion. Management highlighted its ability to manage tariff impacts and macro uncertainty, a notable shift from July 2025, when the company had estimated a $500 million hit from tariff‑related costs and cut its outlook. On the defense side, operational momentum is visible in the F135 engine program. In August, RTX secured a $2.8 billion contract for F135 engine production. On December 2, it announced a separate $1.6 billion sustainment contract covering depot‑level maintenance, repair, engineering support and spare parts for U.S. and international F‑35 operators. Pratt & Whitney, RTX’s engine unit, has now delivered more than 1,300 F135 engines to the U.S. and 20 allied nations, reinforcing a long‑duration revenue stream.

Analyst Views: Cautious Consensus, Clearer Growth Path

Wall Street’s stance on RTX has shifted toward cautious optimism. Over roughly the last month, major firms including Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America have generally maintained neutral to moderately positive views, often describing RTX as a quality core aerospace and defense holding with near‑term overhangs but an improving medium‑term setup. Goldman Sachs has kept a neutral rating with a price target modestly above the current share price, pointing to stabilizing free cash flow, clearer engine remediation costs and a healthy defense backlog, while noting that valuation already reflects much of the recovery. J.P. Morgan has been more constructive. On December 19, analyst Seth Seifman raised the firm’s RTX price target to $200 from $195 and reiterated an Overweight rating as part of its 2026 aerospace and defense outlook. The bank expects strong aerospace demand and gradually increasing supply to support “visible growth,” while describing the defense backdrop as more nuanced. Across the street, price targets generally cluster in a band above the current quote but below the most optimistic scenarios, and Zacks notes that consensus EPS estimates for RTX have edged 0.2% lower over the past month even as full‑year earnings are still projected to grow about 8% year over year.

Valuation, Earnings Outlook and Sector Context

Current valuation metrics show RTX trading at a premium to many peers. According to Zacks, the stock’s forward price‑to‑earnings ratio stands at 27.28, above the Aerospace‑Defense industry average of 21.17, and its PEG ratio of 2.67 exceeds the industry’s 1.67. Consensus forecasts call for RTX to report quarterly earnings of $1.45 per share in its upcoming release, a 5.84% decline from the year‑ago period, on revenue of $22.74 billion, up 5.18%. For the full year, analysts expect earnings of $6.19 per share and revenue of $87.07 billion, implying earnings growth of about 8.03% with flat top‑line performance versus the prior year. Within the Aerospace‑Defense group, which currently sits in the top 43% of Zacks’ industry rankings, RTX is viewed as a high‑quality name that has already moved past the worst of its engine‑related downgrades but is not yet a consensus high‑conviction buy. The combination of upgraded company guidance, sizable long‑term contracts and a higher J.P. Morgan target has clarified the growth path into 2026, even as valuation and execution remain central to how much further the stock can run.

Key Takeaways

RTX has shifted from crisis repricing to a steadier phase where raised guidance and contract wins are now the main drivers of sentiment.
Analysts broadly see upside from current levels, but the stock’s premium multiples mean future gains are expected to be earnings‑driven rather than multiple‑driven.
Long‑cycle F135 engine contracts and a larger defense backlog give RTX multi‑year revenue visibility, which underpins J.P. Morgan’s higher $200 price target.