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KTKTOS

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc.

Trending onWhy it's trendingX chatter spiked vs its recent normBacked by solid revenue growthPrice and volume picking up
$KTOS·$8.6B·Aerospace & Defense·Industrials
$46.03-2.0%YTD-39.9%1Y-21.9%
Mentions · last 7 days
2026-07-10: 51 posts2026-07-11: 19 posts2026-07-12: 31 posts2026-07-13: 89 posts2026-07-14: 127 posts2026-07-15: 124 posts2026-07-16: 78 posts524+16%
Price updated 7h ago·X counts updated 1d ago
KTKTOS
$KTOSKratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc.
$46.03-1.98%524 posts+16%
AI analysisFundamentalsVoices on X
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AI verdict & sentimentAI analysisGenerated by AI from underlying data

Top X posts

Today's AI verdict on what's driving $KTOS, plus how loud the X conversation is and which way it's leaning.

AI analysis

TickerTalks’ read on the fundamentals and what’s driving the move.

Comeback attemptWinding up for a moveAI verdict · as of 2026-07-18

Trading in a tight range and building pressure — a move looks likely soon, but the direction isn't clear yet.

Kratos is at the bottom of its 52-week range with $400M of fresh hypersonic funding — the tape has fully disconnected from the news flow.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions is a US-focused defense contractor with meaningful exposure to Unmanned Systems, hypersonics, satellite communications and C-UAS solutions — the specific US defense niches that get the most policy attention. The stock is down 40% year-to-date and sitting in the very bottom (0.5%) of its 52-week range despite the news catalysts stacking.

  • The revenue trajectory is genuinely strong: Q1 revenue grew 22.6% YoY to $371M after +21.9% in Q4 and +26% in Q3 — three straight quarters of 20%+ growth is a real cycle acceleration, driven by hypersonics and unmanned systems, and it doesn't match a stock at 52-week lows.
  • The catalyst backdrop is genuinely dense: ~$400M in Department of War hypersonic funding (Stifel calls this 'validation of the hypersonic franchise' and reiterates Buy at $134), a $100M sole-source award, a $156M DOE/NNSA On-The-Move C-UAS Special Operations Vehicle contract via Nomad GCS — and the new 167,000-square-foot PA manufacturing facility.
  • The insider tape is the loudest caveat: five officer S-Sale transactions in the last two weeks — Carrai $329K, Carter $202K, Lund $264K, Rock $234K — that is a coordinated cluster into a drawdown, and it's genuinely unusual for a defense name at 52-week lows.
  • The Pennsylvania Innovation Summit context is real: Kratos was confirmed as one of the named participants in Pennsylvania's ~$10B new defense investments — plus the 'Kratos: The Numbers That Matter Aren't The Ones You're Watching' Seeking Alpha framing that argues the tape ignores real backlog growth.

The August 6 Q2 print is the coil-break: revenue growth extending above +20% with hypersonic backlog commentary and reaffirmed FY guide is what pushes the tape toward $70+; a growth deceleration below +15% or a hypersonic execution disclosure sends the stock back through $37 support and confirms the drawdown regime.

Agrees with X sentimentThe X 'patient accumulation into a well-catalyzed thesis' framing is directly consistent with the revenue trajectory and catalyst density. What the sample under-weights is the coordinated insider selling cluster — a real 'trim the sizing' caveat that shouldn't override the fundamental case, but shouldn't be ignored either.

What to watch: The August 6 Q2 earnings — revenue growth vs Q1's +22.6%, hypersonic backlog trajectory, and reaffirmed FY guide. Above-20% growth with hypersonic strength pushes the tape to $70+; deceleration below +15% sends the stock through $37.

On the calendar: 2026-08-06 — Q2 2026 earnings

X sentiment

What the X crowd is saying right now — descriptive, summarised from the day’s posts.

Bullish sentiment32 posts analyzed · as of 2026-07-17

Kratos is being described as an underappreciated defense contractor mid-drawdown of about 64% from its year-to-date high. Recent catalysts include roughly $400M in Department of War hypersonic funding (Stifel calls this validation of the hypersonic franchise and reiterates Buy at $134), a $100M sole-source award, a $156M DOE/NNSA On-The-Move C-UAS Special Operations Vehicle contract via Nomad GCS, opening of a new 167,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in York, PA, and confirmation as one of the named participants in the Pennsylvania Innovation Summit's ~$10B new defense investments. Bears reduce to chart weakness, one Stifel-adjacent Hold rating at $32, and Jim Cramer souring publicly. The tone is patient accumulation into a well-catalyzed thesis.

Read the AI verdict + X sentiment for $KTOS

  • One-line verdict on what's driving the move — fundamentals, momentum, both, or an event
  • Next dated catalyst when there is one (earnings, deal closing, activist clock)
  • X crowd read with bullish/bearish call + post volume
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What it does

Plain-English summary of the business — what they sell and how they make money.

Makes affordable unmanned aerial systems, satellite ground equipment, and microwave electronics for US military.

Industry overviewAI analysisGenerated by AI from underlying data

Where Aerospace & Defense sits in its cycle right now — and what that implies for $KTOS.

Aerospace & Defense · Industrials

No material change from last week — institutions now mark RKLB, LUNR, and RDW against SPCX's $1.

What this means for $KTOS

Direct beneficiary — Makes affordable unmanned aerial systems, satellite ground equipment, and microwave electronics for US military; the business model is a direct conduit for the defense budget expansion and space commercialization.

Top industry ETF

$ITAiShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF
+7.1%YTD
+17.8%1Y

Fundamentals & catalyst

Profitability, valuation, and the next earnings event — at a glance, with rule-of-thumb signals.

Key ratios

P/E
351.9How much investors are paying per dollar of profit the company actually earned in the last 12 months. Lower means the stock looks cheaper relative to earnings.~15–25 is typical for the S&P 500; high-growth names trade 30+; hyper-growth or speculative can be 100+ or negative.
ROIC
0.6%What percentage return the business earns on every dollar of capital (equity + debt) deployed in operations. The cleanest measure of business quality.Above ~15% is high-quality; consistently above 25% suggests a real moat. Below the company's cost of capital is value-destroying.
Op margin
2.0%Operating profit (after sales, marketing, R&D, and overhead but before interest and taxes) as a percentage of revenue. The clearest view of how well the underlying business is run.Mature business above 20% is healthy; software businesses can run 30%+; commodity / retail businesses operate in single digits.
FCF yield
-1.2%Free cash flow (operating cash flow minus capex) divided by the company's market cap. The cash-on-cash return you'd get owning the whole business at today's price.Above ~5% is attractive; below ~2% means you're paying up for growth. Capital-light businesses (software) run higher than capital-heavy ones (utilities).
P/S
7.8Same idea as P/E but per dollar of revenue. Useful for companies that aren't profitable yet, where P/E is meaningless.Under ~2 is cheap; software / SaaS often runs 8–15; well above 20 implies the market is pricing in very high future growth.
ROE
1.3%Net income as a percentage of shareholders' equity. Similar to ROIC but counts only the equity side.Above 20% is strong, but can be inflated by leverage — a heavily indebted company can show high ROE with weak underlying ROIC.
Gross margin
21.8%Revenue minus the direct cost of producing what was sold, as a percentage of revenue. The first read on whether the product is structurally profitable.Software / SaaS is typically 70%+; consumer goods 30–50%; commodity / hardware businesses can be under 20%.
D/E
0.1Total debt divided by shareholders' equity. Measures how much the business runs on borrowed money versus owner capital.Under 1 is conservative; 1–2 is typical for mature businesses; over 2 is leveraged and more sensitive to interest rates.

Past earnings

QuarterReportedActualEstimateSurprise
Q1 2026May 6, 2026$0.16$0.13+19.2%
Q4 2025Feb 23, 2026$0.18$0.16+14.0%
Q3 2025Nov 4, 2025$0.14$0.13+12.0%
Q2 2025Aug 7, 2025$0.11$0.10+15.8%
Next earningsThu, Aug 6·consensus EPS $0.13

Quarterly trend

QuarterRevenueYoYGrossOpEPSFCF
Q1 FY26$371.0M+22.6%22.6%2.1%$0.07$-48.4M
Q4 FY25$345.1M+21.9%21.4%3.0%$0.03$-12.1M
Q3 FY25$347.6M+26.0%22.2%2.0%$0.05$-41.3M
Q2 FY25$351.5M+17.1%21.0%1.1%$0.02$-32.2M

Forward consensus

5-year forecast · up to 13 analysts
FYRevenueRangeEPSRangeAnalysts
FY26$1.7B$1.7B – $1.8B$0.76$0.59 – $0.8913
FY27$2.2B$2.0B – $2.4B$1.07$0.87 – $1.1613
FY28$2.6B$2.6B – $2.6B$1.39$1.05 – $2.029
FY29$3.0B$2.8B – $3.2B$2.08$1.96 – $2.328
FY30$3.4B$3.3B – $3.7B$2.46$2.32 – $2.744

Setup & momentum

Volume, range, and moving-average position — the technical setup driving short-term moves.

Right now

Vol vs 30dToday's traded share volume divided by the average over the prior 30 trading days. ≥3× signals unusual interest; below 1× is quiet.1.1×Today's traded share volume divided by the average over the prior 30 trading days. ≥3× signals unusual interest; below 1× is quiet.
52w rangeWhere the latest close sits between the 52-week low (0%) and high (100%). Above 80% is extended; below 30% is basing or in a downtrend.1%Where the latest close sits between the 52-week low (0%) and high (100%). Above 80% is extended; below 30% is basing or in a downtrend.
vs 50d MALatest close vs the 50-day simple moving average. Positive = short-term trend is up.-15.5%Latest close vs the 50-day simple moving average. Positive = short-term trend is up.
vs 200d MALatest close vs the 200-day simple moving average. Positive = long-term trend is up.-40.7%Latest close vs the 200-day simple moving average. Positive = long-term trend is up.

Float & profile

FloatMid float · 184.8M shFree-float shares — the slice of issued stock actually available to trade. Lower buckets squeeze harder on a catalyst.Traded today3.0% of floatToday's volume as a percent of the free float. Above 5% on a single day is unusually high turnover for the available share count.β1.075-year weekly beta vs the S&P 500. Above 1.5 means the stock typically moves more than the index; below 0.8 moves less.

Insider activity

Recent open-market buys and sells by officers and directors — flagged when multiple insiders cluster.

Recent transactions

SellJul 15Marie MendozaSVP & General Counsel1.0K sh$52KSellJul 15Phillip D CarraiPresident6.5K sh$329KSellJul 8David M CarterPresident4.0K sh$202KSellJul 1Deanna H LundCFO5.0K sh$264KSellJun 30Stacey G RockPresident4.7K sh$234KSellJun 29Steven S. FendleyPresident7.0K sh$339KSellJun 15Marie MendozaSVP & General Counsel1.5K sh$87KSellJun 15Phillip D CarraiPresident6.5K sh$375KSellJun 8Steven S. FendleyPresident35.0K sh$2.0MSellJun 5David M CarterPresident4.0K sh$237K
1–10 of 32
+ 9 other (7 awards · 2 exempts) in window

See when $KTOS insiders are putting their own money in

  • Real-time open-market buys and sells from Form 4 filings
  • Cluster-buy detection when multiple insiders pile in at once
  • 30 / 60 / 180-day windows so you can spot building conviction
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SEC filings

Material 8-K, 13D, S-3, and 424B5 events from the last 180 days — the filings that actually move the price.

Recent material filings

8-KShareholder voteMay 158-K — Item 5.07: Shareholder vote
AI summary

KTOS held its Annual Meeting of stockholders around 2026-05-15 (8-K Item 5.07). Stockholders elected 9 directors to the board. Independent auditor ratification was approved. Routine governance event — monitor for unusually high withhold votes as an activist signal.

3New insider — initial holdingsMar 303
AI summary

Form filed by More than One Reporting Person Table I - Non-De filed a Form 3 (initial ownership statement) for KTOS on 2026-03-30, initiating required Section 16 reporting. Role: of Reporting Person. Form 3 is a mandatory administrative filing upon first becoming an insider or 10%+ holder; it does not reflect a purchase or sale event.

8-KOfficer or director changeMar 258-K — Item 5.02: Officer or director change
AI summary

KTOS disclosed a personnel change (8-K Item 5.02, dated 2026-03-25). An executive departure and a new appointment are both reported. Governance Committee, the Board of Director. Personnel changes are generally administrative; materiality depends on seniority and circumstances.

8-KAcquisition completedMar 68-K — Item 2.01: Acquisition completed
8-KMaterial agreementMar 28-K — Item 1.01: Material agreement · Item 8.01: Other event
424B5Prospectus supplement (offering)Feb 27424B5
424B5Prospectus supplement (offering)Feb 26424B5
S-3ASRAuto-shelf registrationFeb 26S-3ASR
+ 15 other (5 13Gs · 2 earnings 8-Ks · 2 proxys · 1 SD) in window

Recent news

Latest headlines from major outlets, sourced and timestamped — context for whatever just moved.

Kratos Opens New 167,000-Square-Foot Manufacturing Facility in Pennsylvania, Expanding Existing Footprint in the Stateglobenewswire.com·3d agoKratos: The Numbers That Matter Aren't The Ones You're Watchingseekingalpha.com·3d agoHow Is KTOS Benefiting From the US Defense Industrial Base Expansion?zacks.com·4d agoKratos Receives Approximately $400 Million in New Funding for Hypersonic System and Other Programsglobenewswire.com·4d ago$50 Billion Is About to Flood Into Defense Stocks: Here's Who Cashes In247wallst.com·5d ago

In themes

Explore the broader themes this ticker is being talked about under.

Space EconomyDefense & Drones

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Voices on X · top 15 · last 7 days

TickerTalks is a research tool, not financial advice. We surface social-attention data; we do not make stock recommendations. Past attention is not predictive of future price movements.

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