Reston, Virginia-based General Dynamics Corporation (GD) operates as a global aerospace and defense company, specializing in high-end design, engineering and manufacturing of weapons. With a market cap of $75.5 billion, GD’s offerings include ship construction, land combat vehicles, weapon systems & munitions, and more.

The defense giant has significantly underperformed the broader market over the past year, but outperformed in 2025. GD stock prices have dropped 6.2% over the past 52 weeks and gained 6.9% on a YTD basis, compared to the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 11.9% surge over the past year and 1% uptick in 2025.

Looking closer, General Dynamics has also underperformed the industry-focused iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF’s (ITA) 27.2% gains over the past year and 19.3% returns on a YTD basis.

General Dynamics’ stock prices dropped 3.3% after the release of its mixed Q1 results on Apr. 23. While the company observed a notable uptick in Marine, Combat, and Technologies divisions’ sales, its aerospace revenues soared 45.2% year-over-year to more than $3 billion. This led to its overall topline surging 13.9% year-over-year to $12.2 billion, exceeding the Street’s expectations by a significant margin. Meanwhile, its net earnings for the quarter increased by a staggering 24.4% year-over-year to $994 million, and its EPS of $3.66 surpassed the consensus estimates by 5.5%.

However, the company’s backlogs have observed a continued downward trajectory. Its backlog at the end of Q1 stood at $88.7 billion, down from a $90.6 billion report at the end of Q4 2024, which unsettled investor confidence.

For the current FY 2025, ending in December, analysts expect GD to deliver a 9.4% year-over-year growth in earnings to $14.91 per share. The company has a mixed earnings surprise history. While it surpassed the Street’s bottom-line estimates twice over the past four quarters, it missed the projections on two other occasions.

Among the 22 analysts covering the GD stock, the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy.” That’s based on eight “Strong Buys,” 13 “Holds,” and one “Strong Sell.”

This configuration is slightly less bullish than three months ago, when nine analysts gave “Strong Buy” recommendations and one analyst gave a “Moderate Buy” suggestion.

On Apr. 24, UBS (UBS) analyst Gavin Parsons reiterated a “Neutral” rating on GD, while raising the price target from $268 to $279.

As of writing, General Dynamics’ mean price target of $292 represents a modest 3.7% premium to current price levels. While the street-high target of $330 suggests a notable 17.2% upside potential.