Huntington Ingalls Industries, HII

Competitive advantage analysis · industrials

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
57/100
Moderate

Ranked against 79 peers in Aerospace & Defense

About Huntington Ingalls Industries,

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. designs, builds, overhauls, and repairs military ships in the United States. It operates through three segments: Ingalls, Newport News, and Mission Technologies. The company is involved in the design and construction of non-nuclear ships comprising amphibious assault ships, surface combatants, and national security cutters for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard. It also provides nuclear-powered … Full HII analysis →

Key strengths

  • Margins Stable Across Cycles Operating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.94), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.
  • Revenue Growth Consistent Revenue growth volatility is low (stability score 0.84), suggesting sticky customer base.

Key risks

  • Scale Without Profitability Despite scale, profitability lags peers (score 0.34), suggesting limited competitive advantage.
  • Liquidity Concerns Liquidity is concerning (score 0.14), raising questions about short-term obligations.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Moderate
58
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Signals, strengths and risks for Pricing Power

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Signals, strengths and risks for Cost Advantage

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Signals, strengths and risks for Customer Stickiness

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Signals, strengths and risks for Capital Efficiency

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Signals, strengths and risks for Resilience

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Signals, strengths and risks for Scale & Market Position

Where HII ranks in Aerospace & Defense

Huntington Ingalls Industries, ranks #34 of 80 scored companies in Aerospace & Defense by moat score — the top 42%. The widest moat in the group is Howmet Aerospace Inc. (HWM) at 80/100.

# Company Moat score Rating
30 Byrna Technologies, Inc. BYRN 60/100 Moderate
31 AAR Corp. AIR 59/100 Moderate
32 Karman Holdings Inc. KRMN 59/100 Moderate
33 National Presto Industries, Inc NPK 58/100 Moderate
34 Huntington Ingalls Industries, HII 57/100 Moderate
35 Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. SWBI 52/100 Moderate
36 Kratos Defense & Security Solut KTOS 52/100 Moderate
37 V2X, Inc. VVX 51/100 Moderate
38 VSE Corporation VSEC 51/100 Moderate

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How HII scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 58 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 68 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 71 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 63 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 49 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 35 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding HII's moat

What is Huntington Ingalls Industries, 's moat score?

Huntington Ingalls Industries, (HII) scores 57 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #34 of 80 scored companies in Aerospace & Defense, the top 42%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 79 companies in Aerospace & Defense. Its strongest defense is Customer Stickiness (71/100) and its weakest is Scale & Market Position (35/100).

How does Huntington Ingalls Industries, compare with other Aerospace & Defense companies?

Huntington Ingalls Industries, ranks #34 of 80 scored companies in Aerospace & Defense by moat score. The widest moat in Aerospace & Defense is Howmet Aerospace Inc. (HWM) at 80/100. The companies ranked closest are National Presto Industries, Inc (NPK) at 58 just above it and Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (SWBI) at 52 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 79 companies in Aerospace & Defense. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Huntington Ingalls Industries, scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Huntington Ingalls Industries, ?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and HII scores: Pricing Power (58), Cost Advantage (68), Customer Stickiness (71), Capital Efficiency (63), Resilience (49), Scale & Market Position (35). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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