Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index started May with a modest gain and stayed positive in the subsequent two sessions. On Friday, the index, which tracks the stock performances of 30 major government contractors, advanced 0.58% to $4,923.43 for a 0.89% week-on-week gain.
Major US stock indexes ended strong on weaker jobs data, leading to weekly gains of 1.14% and 1.1% for the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% to post a two and a half week high.
The U.S. economy added 175,000 jobs in April 2024, or 42.2% lower than the 303,000 jobs in March. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate rose to 3.9% from 3.8% a month ago.
On the GovCon Index, Tetra Tech (Nasdaq: TTEK) was the week’s top performer, gaining 7.92% in five days. It outperformed Thursday with a 6.11% gain following the stellar results in Q2 fiscal 2024. The high-end consulting and engineering services firm achieved record revenue, EBITDA, and a $4.74 billion backlog, its largest second-quarter backlog ever.
Boeing (NYSE: BA) advanced 7.92% for the week amid safety issues and a downgrade by some market analysts. On the evening of May 6, Boeing’s Starlight capsule will lift off and bring two astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA.
Meanwhile, Palantir Technologies (NYSE: PLTR) will present its first-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Monday. The AI stock is GCI’s top performer thus far in 2021. At $23.33 per share, the year-to-date gain is 35.88%, while the one-year price return is 207.38%. Market analysts estimate revenue and net income in Q1 2024 to be significantly higher than in Q1 2023.
