One-glance verdict
Within fair range
$395.46 our estimate vs market $375.06
Wall Street consensus: $395.69 (0.1% higher than our fair-value estimate)
5% below our estimate
Fundamentals snapshot
General Dynamics Corporation
GD · NYQ · Industrials · Aerospace & Defense
Current price
$375.06
52-week range
$293.95 - $380.71
Market cap
$101.43B
Balance sheet
Healthy
13.32x Strong cushion
Net debt $6.18B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
2 Risks
3 rewards · 2 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 2.4% last year.
- Reward Returns 18.0% on equity, ahead of 20% of its peers.
- Risk Stock trades 13.6% above its 5-year average P/E.
- Risk Operating margin compressed from 10.7% to 10.5% over 3 years.
What this company does
General Dynamics Corporation
General Dynamics is a major defense company that builds everything from Gulfstream private jets to nuclear submarines and tanks for the U.S. military. The bulk of its money comes from large, long-term government contracts, which can make its revenue (the total money it brings in from sales) more predictable than companies that sell to everyday shoppers. This reliance on government spending means the company's financial health is closely tied to national defense budgets.
How the company got here
General Dynamics' story starts in 1899 with a company called Electric Boat, which built submarines for the U.S. Navy. The modern General Dynamics was formed in 1952, and it grew by acquiring other companies, including aircraft maker Convair. After the Cold War, the company sold off many of its businesses in the early 1990s to focus on military vehicles and submarines. Starting in the mid-1990s, it began to grow again by purchasing key businesses, most notably Gulfstream Aerospace in 1999, which made it a major player in private business jets.
What it actually does
General Dynamics is a global aerospace and defense company. Think of it as a company that builds very advanced and expensive equipment, primarily for governments and corporations. Its products range from Gulfstream private jets and Abrams tanks to nuclear-powered submarines and sophisticated communication systems. People around the world rely on their products and services for safety and security.
Aerospace
This part of the company, known for its Gulfstream jets, builds and sells private aircraft for corporate and wealthy individual customers. It's not just about selling new planes; a significant part of this business involves providing services like maintenance, repairs, and custom interior completions for the aircraft they've sold. This segment provides exposure to the business-aviation market, which is separate from its government defense work. The Aerospace segment accounts for about a quarter of the company's revenue.
Marine Systems
This is General Dynamics' shipbuilding division and its largest business, making up nearly a third of its revenue. Its main customer is the U.S. Navy, for which it designs and builds nuclear-powered submarines, like the Virginia-class and Columbia-class, and other surface warships. This segment also builds ships for commercial customers and provides maintenance and support services for Navy ships, making it a critical part of the nation's defense industry.
Combat Systems
This segment manufactures land-based combat vehicles, weapons, and munitions for the U.S. military and its allies. You might recognize some of its products, like the M1 Abrams main battle tank and the Stryker wheeled combat vehicle. This division, which makes up a little less than a fifth of the company's sales, also produces weapons systems and ammunition.
Technologies
This is the company's high-tech services arm, providing a wide range of information technology (IT) solutions and mission support mainly to the U.S. government, including defense, intelligence, and civilian agencies. It focuses on areas like cybersecurity, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and secure communication systems. This segment represents about a third of the company's revenue and is focused on modernizing and securing the government's digital infrastructure.
What management is betting on now
The company is focused on a few key areas where it has a strong, hard-to-replicate position. A major priority is increasing the production and delivery of its new Gulfstream business jets. They are also heavily invested in building the next generation of nuclear submarines for the U.S. Navy, a massive, long-term project. Additionally, with global defense spending on the rise, the company sees continued demand for its combat vehicles and munitions from allied nations. In its technology segment, the focus is on high-demand areas like cybersecurity and digital modernization for its government clients.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q3
$1.22B
FY2024 Q4
$1.80B
FY2025 Q1
$-290.00M
FY2025 Q2
$1.40B
FY2025 Q3
$1.90B
FY2025 Q4
$952.00M
FY2026 Q2
$1.95B
Revenue
$13.48B
Net income
$1.12B
Diluted EPS
—
Operating cash flow
$2.15B
Free cash flow
$1.95B
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$14.38B
Net income
$1.14B
Diluted EPS
15.45
Operating cash flow
$1.56B
Free cash flow
$952.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$12.91B
Net income
$1.06B
Diluted EPS
—
Operating cash flow
$2.11B
Free cash flow
$1.90B
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$13.04B
Net income
$1.01B
Diluted EPS
—
Operating cash flow
$1.60B
Free cash flow
$1.40B
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$12.22B
Net income
$994.00M
Diluted EPS
—
Operating cash flow
$-148.00M
Free cash flow
$-290.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$13.34B
Net income
$1.15B
Diluted EPS
13.63
Operating cash flow
$2.16B
Free cash flow
$1.80B
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$11.67B
Net income
$930.00M
Diluted EPS
—
Operating cash flow
$1.42B
Free cash flow
$1.22B
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $395.46 vs current price $375.06
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $395.69 (0.1% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $395.46 a share — about 5.4% away from today's price of $375.06, so the stock currently looks fairly priced.
Is it drowning in debt?
Healthy
Net debt $6.2B. Interest coverage 13.3x.
Net debt
$6.18B
Interest coverage
13.32x
General Dynamics Corporation's profit covers its interest bill about 13.3 times over. which is stronger than every peer shown here and 1 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Healthy
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
GD
BASELINE
General Dynamics Corporation
Total debt $9.83B Interest coverage 13.32x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $20.70B Interest coverage 6.92x -48% vs GD Carries about 1.9x less debt cushion than GD.
Total debt $17.57B Interest coverage 6.44x -52% vs GD Carries about 2.1x less debt cushion than GD.
Total debt $38.93B Interest coverage 5.07x -62% vs GD Carries about 2.6x less debt cushion than GD.
Total debt $49.61B Interest coverage -1.95x -100% vs GD This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with GD.
Total debt $7.93B Interest coverage 3.60x -73% vs GD Carries about 3.7x less debt cushion than GD.
What you should know
The case for and against GD
3 Rewards
2 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 2.4% last year.
-
Returns 18.0% on equity, ahead of 20% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
Risks
-
Stock trades 13.6% above its 5-year average P/E.
-
Operating margin compressed from 10.7% to 10.5% over 3 years.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
23.59x
Forward P/E
20.60x
P/B
3.88x
P/S
1.88x
EV/EBITDA
16.56x
PEG ratio
2.78x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
15.2%
Operating margin
10.5%
Net margin
8.1%
ROE
18.0%
ROA
6.0%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.38x
Current ratio
1.38x
Quick ratio
0.80x
Total debt
$9.83B
Total cash
$3.65B
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$53.81B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
8.1%
EPS TTM
15.90
EPS 5Y CAGR
8.2%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$7.42B
Free CF TTM
$3.96B
FCF margin
7.4%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
1.7%
Payout ratio
38.3%
Last ex-div date
2026-07-02