Northrop Grumman Corporation NOC

Competitive advantage analysis · industrials

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
63/100
Moderate

Ranked against 79 peers in Aerospace & Defense

About Northrop Grumman Corporation

Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense technology company in the United States, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Aeronautics Systems, Defense Systems, Mission Systems and Space Systems. The Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, produces, integrates, sustains, and modernizes aircraft systems. This segment also offers unmanned autonomous aircraft systems, including high-altitude long-endurance strategic, surveillance and … Full NOC analysis →

Key strengths

  • ROIC Sustainably Above Peers ROIC at 79.2th percentile exceeds peers and WACC, demonstrating superior capital allocation.
  • Revenue Growth Consistent Revenue growth volatility is low (stability score 0.94), suggesting sticky customer base.

Key risks

  • 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
59
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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 NOC ranks in Aerospace & Defense

Northrop Grumman Corporation ranks #21 of 80 scored companies in Aerospace & Defense by moat score — the top 26%. The widest moat in the group is Howmet Aerospace Inc. (HWM) at 80/100.

# Company Moat score Rating
17 Elbit Systems Ltd. ESLT 66/100 Moderate
18 Park Aerospace Corp. PKE 65/100 Moderate
19 TAT Technologies Ltd. TATT 65/100 Moderate
20 Textron Inc. TXT 63/100 Moderate
21 Northrop Grumman Corporation NOC 63/100 Moderate
22 RTX Corporation RTX 63/100 Moderate
23 Lockheed Martin Corporation LMT 62/100 Moderate
24 CAE Inc. CAE 61/100 Moderate
25 StandardAero, Inc. SARO 61/100 Moderate

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How NOC 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 77 · 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 80 · 15% of the moat score

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

Capital Efficiency

Score 72 · 18% of the moat score

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

Resilience

Score 51 · 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 41 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding NOC's moat

What is Northrop Grumman Corporation's moat score?

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) scores 63 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #21 of 80 scored companies in Aerospace & Defense, the top 26%. 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 (80/100) and its weakest is Scale & Market Position (41/100).

How does Northrop Grumman Corporation compare with other Aerospace & Defense companies?

Northrop Grumman Corporation ranks #21 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 Textron Inc. (TXT) at 63 just above it and RTX Corporation (RTX) at 63 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 Northrop Grumman Corporation 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 Northrop Grumman Corporation?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and NOC scores: Pricing Power (58), Cost Advantage (77), Customer Stickiness (80), Capital Efficiency (72), Resilience (51), Scale & Market Position (41). 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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