Sifting through countless of stocks in the Aerospace & Defense industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in AeroVironment, Inc. or Elbit Systems Ltd. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how AeroVironment, Inc. and Elbit Systems Ltd. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About AeroVironment, Inc. and Elbit Systems Ltd.

AeroVironment, Inc. designs, develops, produces, delivers, and supports a portfolio of robotic systems and related services for government agencies and businesses in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Autonomous Systems; and Space, Cyber and Directed Energy. The company provides uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), which include small and medium UAS, and kinesis command and control software; and counter-UAS and precision strike, a loitering munitions solution that deliver actionable intelligence and precision firepower modern warfighters, including precision strike, radio frequency and kinetic C-UAS, and electronic warfare systems. It also offers autonomy, AI, and platform technologies; unmanned maritime; uncrewed ground systems; and high-altitude pseudo-satellites. The company provides digital beamforming technology, a multi-band/beam software defined antenna tile that allows simultaneous communication with multiple satellites; laser communications, a data transmission systems for space operations; space-qualified hardware for line of sight stabilization and control electronics in low, medium, and geostationary earth orbit, as well as cislunar orbits; phased array antenna technology to supports hypersonic telemetry and tracking, and other missile testing; and directed energy solution. It also offers cyber solution for national security and defense operations; and HaloCortex OSINT, an AI-powered OSINT analysis platform to provide insights and solve department of defense and commercial challenges. AeroVironment, Inc. was incorporated in 1971 and is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.

Elbit Systems Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, develops and supplies defense and homeland security arenas products and services in Israel, North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and internationally. The company operates through five segments: Aerospace; C4I and Cyber; Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare; Land; and Elbit Systems of America. It offers airborne platforms, unmanned aerial solutions, precision guided munition sensors, aerostructures, training and simulator systems, flight academy solutions, and commercial aviation systems; and command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, as well as data links and radio communication systems and equipment, cyber intelligence solutions, and autonomous and homeland security solutions. The company also provides various electro-optic laser solutions and countermeasure systems and products, naval combat management and sonar systems, and electronic warfare, signal Intelligence, and radar systems; indirect fire, turrets and weapons, ammunition and munition, and active protection systems; and products, system solutions, and support services to defense, homeland security, law enforcement, commercial aviation, and medical instrumentation markets. It serves various governments and companies. The company was incorporated in 1966 and is based in Haifa, Israel.

Latest Aerospace & Defense and AeroVironment, Inc., Elbit Systems Ltd. Stock News

As of June 2, 2026, AeroVironment, Inc. had a $10.3 billion market capitalization, compared to the Aerospace & Defense median of $5.1 million. AeroVironment, Inc.’s stock is down 21.1% in 2026, up 5.3% in the previous five trading days and up 14.78% in the past year.

Currently, AeroVironment, Inc. does not have a price-earnings ratio. AeroVironment, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.6 billion with a -13.9% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 143.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.881 per share for the current fiscal year. AeroVironment, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

As of June 2, 2026, Elbit Systems Ltd. had a $40.4 billion market cap, putting it in the 92nd percentile of all stocks. Elbit Systems Ltd.’s stock is up 44.5% in 2026, up 0.8% in the previous five trading days and up 107.31% in the past year.

Currently, Elbit Systems Ltd.’s price-earnings ratio is 74.6. Elbit Systems Ltd.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $7.9 billion with a 7.1% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 43.8%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $15.586 per share for the current fiscal year. Elbit Systems Ltd. currently has a 0.5% dividend yield.

How We Compare AeroVironment, Inc. and Elbit Systems Ltd. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at AeroVironment, Inc. and Elbit Systems Ltd.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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AeroVironment, Inc. and Elbit Systems Ltd. Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
AeroVironment, Inc.	AVAV	C
Elbit Systems Ltd.	ESLT	A

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

AeroVironment, Inc. has a Growth Score of 57, which is Average. Elbit Systems Ltd. has a Growth Score of 89, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: Elbit Systems Ltd.

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, Elbit Systems Ltd. has a more attractive growth grade than AeroVironment, Inc.. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, Elbit Systems Ltd. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

AeroVironment, Inc. and Elbit Systems Ltd.’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
AeroVironment, Inc.	AVAV	F
Elbit Systems Ltd.	ESLT	C

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

AeroVironment, Inc. has a Quality Score of 10, which is Very Weak. Elbit Systems Ltd. has a Quality Score of 48, which is Average.

The Quality Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither AeroVironment, Inc. or Elbit Systems Ltd. has a high enough Quality Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if AeroVironment, Inc. or Elbit Systems Ltd. is the better investment when it comes to quality.

AeroVironment, Inc. and Elbit Systems Ltd.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
AeroVironment, Inc.	AVAV	D
Elbit Systems Ltd.	ESLT	C

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

AeroVironment, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 22, which is Negative. Elbit Systems Ltd. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 55, which is Neutral.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither AeroVironment, Inc. or Elbit Systems Ltd. has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade that could be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if AeroVironment, Inc. or Elbit Systems Ltd. is the better investment when it comes to estimate revisions.

Other AeroVironment, Inc. and Elbit Systems Ltd. Grades

In addition to Growth, Quality and Estimate Revisions, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Momentum.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether AeroVironment, Inc. and Elbit Systems Ltd. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, AeroVironment, Inc. or Elbit Systems Ltd. Stock?

Overall, AeroVironment, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 57, Estimate Revisions Score of 22 and Quality Score of 10.

Elbit Systems Ltd. stock has a Growth Score of 89, Estimate Revisions Score of 55 and Quality Score of 48.

Comparing AeroVironment, Inc. and Elbit Systems Ltd.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.