By Al Root

President Donald Trump said Wednesday the U.S. would resume attacks on Iran, after a Shahed drone downed a U.S. Apache helicopter.

"We're gonna be attacking them, attacking them very hard," Trump told reporters, according to The Wall Street Journal. "We hit them hard yesterday, and we're going to hit them again hard today," he said.

Defense stocks were down in midday trading. Shares of RTX, Northrop Grumman, Huntington-Ingalls Industries, General Dynamics, and L3Harris Technologies were down almost 1% on average. Only Lockheed shares were up 0.2%, while the S&P 500 was off 1%.

The defense sector has remained surprisingly weak since the start of the Iran war. Through midday trading, that group of six companies was down an average of 18% since the end of February, while the S&P 500 is up 7%.

Fighting means more orders for munitions and aftermarket parts. But the war is unpopular, with six of 10 Americans saying it was the wrong choice, according to Pew Research. The backlash has created some concerns about defense funding in the coming years.

The stock market is also forward-looking. Defense stocks already reflect higher spending in the U.S. and Europe. Recent declines still left the group of six up 22% over the past 12 months.

There is also an aerospace problem. Commercial aerospace is impacted by higher oil prices and geopolitical tensions.

Boeing and GE Aerospace are more tied to commercial aerospace than to defense, despite both having large defense franchises. Their shares were down about 3% in midday trading on Wednesday, leaving shares down about 5% since fighting began.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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June 10, 2026 13:50 ET (17:50 GMT)

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