• With today's gains, BigBear.ai stock is up roughly 70% over the last month.

• Macroeconomic trends and excitement surrounding defense AI opportunities are pushing the stock higher today.

• Investors are betting that BigBear.ai's business will surge thanks to expected contract wins.

BigBear.ai stock is rocketing higher again on Wednesday. The company's share closed up 13.7% at $7.56. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5% and 0.9%, respectively.

The rally for defense artificial intelligence (AI) stocks is continuing in today's trading, and BigBear.ai is seeing bullish momentum in conjunction with the trend. The stock may also be benefiting from recently published analyst coverage.

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BigBear.ai continues to climb on defense AI rally

BigBear.ai stock has seen big gains as investors have piled into AI stocks with significant exposure to the defense industry. Its share price is now up 82% over the last month and 70% year to date.

After sell-offs in yesterday's trading, tech sector valuations are moving higher again. President Donald Trump's announcement that a trade deal with Vietnam has been made is helping to push stocks higher. A report from ADP showing that the private sector unexpectedly lost 33,000 jobs last month is also helping to support expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this week.

One investment firm thinks BigBear.ai is heading significantly higher

BigBear.ai may also be continuing to climb today thanks to recent analyst coverage and recent demonstrations for some of its AI software. In a note published yesterday, H.C. Wainwright reiterated a buy rating on the stock and raised its one-year price target from $6 per share to $9 per share. The price target still suggests upside of roughly 19% even with today's rally.

H.C. Wainwright expects that the company's share price will continue to climb as the business moves toward management's targets for better performance in the second half of the year. Expectations for the stock have risen dramatically as the defense AI trade has come into vogue, but the business has a lot of proving to do after posting sales growth of just 5% last quarter.