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 AAR Corp., BWX Technologies or Inc. 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 AAR Corp., BWX Technologies and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About AAR Corp., BWX Technologies and Inc.

AAR Corp. provides products and services to commercial aviation, government, and defense markets in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Parts Supply; Repair, Engineering, and Software; Government Solutions; and Legacy Commercial Programs. The company sells and leases used serviceable material and aftermarket distribution of new, and original equipment manufacturers supplied replacement parts. It also provides airframe maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services, such as airframe inspection, painting services, line maintenance, airframe modifications, structural repairs, avionics service and installation, exterior and interior refurbishment and engineering services, and support for various commercial and military aircraft; component MRO services, including repair and overhaul services, engine and airframe accessories, and interior refurbishment; software solutions comprising cloud-based, mobile, and AI-enabled aviation aftermarket software; develops PMA parts for aftermarket applications; and designs proprietary designated engineering representative repairs. In addition, the company designs, manufactures, and repairs transportation pallets; offers fleet management and operations of customer-owned aircraft; provision of supply chain logistics services, such as material planning, sourcing, logistics, information and program management, and parts and component repair and overhaul services; and engineering, design, and system integration services for specialized command and control systems. Further, it provides asset-heavy flight hour-based component pool and repair programs for commercial airlines and distribution of consumables and expendables inventory. Additionally, it offers containers and shelters for military and humanitarian tactical deployment activities; and shelters, such as stationary and vehicle-mounted applications. AAR Corp. was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in Wood Dale, Illinois.

BWX Technologies, Inc. manufactures and sells nuclear components in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Government Operations and Commercial Operations. It manufactures precision naval nuclear components, reactors, and nuclear fuel; close-tolerance and high-quality equipment for nuclear applications; critical nuclear components, fuels and assemblies for government and limited other uses; down blend government stockpiles of uranium; and fabricate fuel-bearing precision components. The company also supplies proprietary and sole-source valves, manifolds, and fittings to naval and commercial shipping customers; research reactor fuel elements for colleges, universities, and national laboratories; and components for defense applications. In addition, it manufactures commercial nuclear steam generators, nuclear fuel, fuel handling systems, pressure vessels, reactor components, heat exchangers, tooling delivery systems; and containers for the storage of nuclear fuel and other high-level nuclear waste. Further, the company supplies nuclear fuel, fuel handling systems, tooling delivery systems, nuclear-grade materials and precisely machined components; and manufactures medical radioisotopes, radiopharmaceuticals, and medical devices. Additionally, it provides specialized engineering services that include structural component design, 3-D thermal-hydraulic engineering analysis, weld and robotic process development, electrical and controls engineering and metallurgy and materials engineering; in-plant inspection, maintenance and modification services; and non-destructive examination and tooling/repair solutions. It also offers nuclear power plant lifecycle support and management services. The company was formerly known as The Babcock & Wilcox Company and changed its name to BWX Technologies, Inc. in June 2015. BWX Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1867 and is headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Latest Aerospace & Defense and AAR Corp., BWX Technologies, Inc. Stock News

As of September 2, 2026, AAR Corp. had a $4.9 billion market capitalization, compared to the Aerospace & Defense median of $3.9 million. AAR Corp.’s stock is up 48.9% in 2026, down 9.3% in the previous five trading days and up 62.2% in the past year.

Currently, AAR Corp.’s price-earnings ratio is 25.5. AAR Corp.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $3.3 billion with a 5.7% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 23.0%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $5.709 per share for the current fiscal year. AAR Corp. does not currently pay a dividend.

As of September 2, 2026, BWX Technologies, Inc. had a $14.3 billion market cap, putting it in the 82nd percentile of all stocks. BWX Technologies, Inc.’s stock is down 8% in 2026, up 2% in the previous five trading days and down 2.72% in the past year.

Currently, BWX Technologies, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 40.3. BWX Technologies, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $3.5 billion with a 10.1% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 18.0%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $4.739 per share for the current fiscal year. BWX Technologies, Inc. currently has a 0.7% dividend yield.

How We Compare AAR Corp., BWX Technologies and Inc. 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 AAR Corp., BWX Technologies and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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AAR Corp., BWX Technologies and Inc. Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
AAR Corp.	AIR	D
BWX Technologies, Inc.	BWXT	F

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.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

AAR Corp. has a Value Score of 23, which is Expensive. BWX Technologies, Inc. has a Value Score of 11, which is Ultra Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither AAR Corp., BWX Technologies or Inc. has a high enough value 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 portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if AAR Corp., BWX Technologies or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to value.

AAR Corp., BWX Technologies and Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
AAR Corp.	AIR	C
BWX Technologies, Inc.	BWXT	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.

AAR Corp. has a Quality Score of 59, which is Average. BWX Technologies, Inc. has a Quality Score of 57, which is Average.

The Quality Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither AAR Corp., BWX Technologies or Inc. 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 AAR Corp., BWX Technologies or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to quality.

AAR Corp., BWX Technologies and Inc.’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
AAR Corp.	AIR	B
BWX Technologies, Inc.	BWXT	D

Momentum grades help to 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. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

AAR Corp. has a Momentum Score of 79, which is Strong. BWX Technologies, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 28, which is Weak.

The Momentum Grade Winner: AAR Corp.

As you can clearly see from the Momentum Grade breakdown above, AAR Corp. is considered to have stronger momentum compared to BWX Technologies, Inc.. For those specifically looking for companies that have stronger momentum compared to other companies in the same industry, AAR Corp. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other AAR Corp., BWX Technologies and Inc. Grades

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

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

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

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 AAR Corp., BWX Technologies and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, AAR Corp., BWX Technologies or Inc. Stock?

Overall, AAR Corp. stock has a Value Score of 23, Momentum Score of 79 and Quality Score of 59.

BWX Technologies, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 11, Momentum Score of 28 and Quality Score of 57.

Comparing AAR Corp., BWX Technologies and Inc.’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.