Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index was in the red in three of five trading sessions but still ended with a solid 1.43% week-on-week gain. The index, which tracks the stock performances of 30 major government contractors, recorded its largest single-day gain (2.04%) and highest close ($5,105.25) on Tuesday.
It was Wall Street’s worst week since April, with the Nasdaq Composite (-3.6%) and S&P 500 (-2%) posting significant declines. Only the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.07%) posted a weekly gain.
Nearly two-thirds, or 19 of 30 GCI stocks, had positive gains during the week. The Carlyle Group (Nasdaq: CG) advanced 6.27% in five days, while AeroVironment (Nasdaq: AVAV) declined 5.21% in the same period. Top-performing Palantir Technologies (NYSE: PLTR) gained 1.82% to boost its year-to-date gain to 66.45%.
News broke out Thursday that investment firm Carlyle and industry peer KKR will purchase, through their strategic partnerships, Discover Financial Service’s student loans portfolio worth up to $10.1 billion. Published reports on Tuesday said that Carlyle is exploring the potential sale or initial public offering of StandardAero, an aircraft maintenance services business it supports.
In addition to a second straight winning week, the GovCon Index is up 8.26% year-to-date following this week’s advance. The earnings season continues next week, with top defense contractors Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC), RTX (NYSE: RTX) and General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) due to report their respective quarterly results.
