Ticker Reports for August 29th
Defense Dividends: 3 Strong Performers That Are Raising Payouts
When it comes to industry-specific performance, undoubtedly one of the most impressive showings in 2025 has come from aerospace and defense stocks. The SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (NYSEARCA: XAR), a diversified barometer for the industry, has provided a total return of nearly 31% year to date. That far surpasses the 10% total return of the S&P 500 Index. Strong performance often leads to key events that many investors covet: dividend increases.
Below, we’ll detail three aerospace and defense stocks posting solid returns in 2025 and recently announced huge dividend boosts. All three have lifted their dividends by 20% or more, helping to significantly juice the income portion of their return profiles.
TDG Boost’s Special Dividend, Lifting Yield Above 6%
Kicking off the list is Transdigm Group (NYSE: TDG), which recently made a unique dividend announcement. On Aug. 20, the firm’s board of directors approved a substantial increase to Transdigm’s special dividend. The company has lifted this payment, which occurs once yearly, to $90 per share. This marks a significant increase of 20% compared to the company’s 2024 special dividend of $75 per share.
The new special dividend is payable on Sept. 12 to shareholders of record as of the Sept. 2 close. Investors should note that Transdigm only pays a special dividend and does not pay regular quarterly dividends.
Despite this, the stock still has a substantial indicated dividend yield, which rises to 6.4% with the firm’s latest increase. This comes as shares have appreciated nearly 10% in 2025.
Additionally, Wall Street analysts are relatively bullish on this stock. The MarketBeat consensus price target on Transdigm is just under $1,625, implying around 17% in shares.
Transdigm’s latest special dividend is nearly five times larger than the $18.50 special dividend the firm paid in 2022. This suggests that further increases would not be surprising.
ESLT Raises Dividend 20% After Massive Rally
Next up is Elbit Systems (NASDAQ: ESLT), a stock that has managed to provide a total return of 78% in 2025. In conjunction with releasing its latest financials on Aug. 13, the firm declared a new quarterly dividend of 75 cents per share.
That marks a 25% increase from its previous dividend of 60 cents. Elbit will pay the new dividend on Oct. 27 to shareholders of record on Oct. 14. The stock now has an indicated dividend yield of approximately 0.65%.
Despite announcing its second dividend increase in the last 12 months, the stock’s yield is down considerably as shares have soared. Shares have appreciated around 131% over that period, while the stock’s yield has fallen from around 1% at the start.
Currently, MarketBeat only tracks one Wall Street analyst who covers the stock. However, even with Elbit’s surge, Bank of America sees room for the rally to continue. Their $500 price target implies around 9% upside in shares.
Howmet Lifts Dividend for Third Time in Less Than Two Years
Last up is Howmet Aerospace (NYSE: HWM), with a total return of nearly 57% in 2025. In the company’s latest financial results, released on July 31, Howmet reported record revenue and profit.
The firm also announced a substantial 20% increase to its quarterly dividend, which now stands at 12 cents per share.
The record date for the most recent payment has already passed.
However, investors should expect a 12-cent or higher payment in future quarters, as this is the third time since the beginning of 2024 that the firm has raised its quarterly dividend.
Still, dividends remain a relatively minor part of the stock’s return profile, with Howmet's indicated dividend yield of just under 0.3%.
Defense Dividends Show the Industry’s Strength
Clearly, these three firms are feeling good about their businesses, which allows them to pay out more cash to shareholders.
These increased commitments are just one factor demonstrating the strength of the defense industry right now.
INVESTOR ALERT: Tiny "$3 AI Wonder Stock" on the Verge of Blasting Off
INVESTOR ALERT: Tiny "$3 AI Wonder Stock" on the Verge of Blasting Off
Free Cash Flow Boom Keeps Microsoft Ahead of the Pack
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is one of the Magnificent Seven stocks that continues to outperform the NASDAQ in 2025. As of Aug. 27, MSFT stock is up 18.6% in 2025, outpacing the tech index, which has an 11.9% gain.
Microsoft is at the forefront of many of the fastest-growing sectors within the tech space. The company has avenues for generating revenue from cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) to cybersecurity and gaming. More importantly, the company can turn that revenue into retained profit in the form of free cash flow (FCF).
In its fourth-quarter earnings report for its 2025 fiscal year, Microsoft reported $25.6 billion in FCF, a 10% year-over-year increase. To give that more perspective, Microsoft’s free cash flow is higher than that of 99.8% of all technology stocks. More than that, the company’s FCF is currently at a record level and 421.9% above its three-year low.
That FCF doesn’t come at the expense of the company’s dividend, which has increased for 23 consecutive years. In fact, including share repurchases and dividends, Microsoft returned $9.4 billion to its shareholders in FY2025.
Strength Across Its Core Businesses
Microsoft has strong positions in hardware, software, and cloud computing and is increasingly becoming the leader in AI. The company’s Office and Azure platforms are an ecosystem unto themselves, allowing the company to deliver scalability along with strong barriers to entry.
The company’s dominant market position was evident in its most recent quarter.
- Full-year Cloud revenue was up 23%, surpassing $168 billion.
- Azure annual revenue was up 34% to $75 billion.
- AI and analytics adoption accelerated despite the fact that Azure AI services remain supply-constrained, with demand exceeding data center capacity.
Investing Heavily in AI
It’s important to note that Microsoft is growing its free cash flow while making massive investments in AI infrastructure. The company announced plans to spend approximately $30 billion in the current quarter.
No full-year guidance was given, but some analysts have the full-year numbers between $100 billion and $110 billion. Those commitments are ongoing and will continue for the foreseeable future.
Microsoft acknowledges that its level of capex spending will eat into its gross margin. However, this is another area where context is important. Microsoft has one of the highest gross margins in the tech sector at 69%. That’s further testament to the recurring nature of its business model.
When to Buy the Dip in MSFT Stock
For all the positive attributes that Microsoft offers investors, the stock is still subject to scrutiny about its valuation. At 36x earnings, MSFT is currently trading at a slight premium to its historical average. At a time when the entire market looks overvalued, investors have been looking to trim their tech exposure, even with high-quality stocks.
That includes MSFT stock, which is down about 1.9% in the last 30 days. That’s not an extreme drop, but it could fall further. September and October are historically weak months for stocks.
But this is mostly due to fund rebalancing and the beginning of tax-loss harvesting.
Still, the stock could fall to around $490 to $495, which would match an area of support in June. Below that, it could drop to around $465 to $470. The worst-case scenario would appear to be around $440 to $445, which would correspond to the stock's 200-day simple moving average (SMA).
Nvidia Gained 156,000%…
Nvidia Gained 156,000%…
Ollie's Bargain Outlet: Buy it While It's Still a Bargain
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings (NASDAQ: OLLI) is not a cheap stock, trading at approximately 40x its current year’s earnings forecast, but this market is pricing in growth. The growth pace forecasted by analysts places this stock in the low teens relative to its 2035 consensus, which is a deep value among high-quality retailers. The TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX), the established off-price leader, trades at 30x its current-year earnings, suggesting Ollie’s isn’t all that overpriced in 2025, and the potential for share price gains is substantial.
Ollie’s stock price could advance by 100% or more within the next few years in this scenario, and the upside may be greater because of its performance in 2025.
The 2025 results are strong, but the growth is accelerating sequentially and compared to the same period last year, outperforming consensus estimates. The development is underpinned by an accelerating store count, primarily due to Big Lots' bankruptcy. The bankruptcy left a void that Ollie’s is happy to fill and provided ample infrastructure for the company to capitalize on.
Ollie’s acquired over 60 Big Lots leases and rapidly converted them to Ollie’s formats. The takeaway is that the long-term forecasts for Ollie’s Bargain Outlet are likely low, and a bullish analyst revision cycle can be sustained.
As of late August 2025, Ollie’s analyst trends are bullish. The coverage is steady at 13 analysts, sufficient for a reasonable conviction in the consensus data, with a Moderate Buy rating and an increasing price target.
The consensus price target assumes the market is trading near fair value at $132, but it has increased by 30% in the preceding 12 months and 5% in the 30 days leading up to the Q2 release, suggesting a 20% upside is possible at the high end of the range. A move to the high-end of $159 is significant because it would set a new all-time high.
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet’s Q2 Results Give Cause for Analysts to Lift Estimates
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet had a robust quarter driven by improving comps and an accelerated store count growth. The company’s $679 million net revenue is up by 18.5% year-over-year, outperforming MarketBeat’s consensus estimate by more than 300 basis points, on a 5% comp store increase and a 16.8% increase in store count.
The company says it has the “wind in its sails”, with sales driven by transactions, consumer staples, and seasonal items. Ollie’s Army is another area of strength, with loyalty membership up by more than 10%.
Margin is another area of strength. Not only is the company converting the ghost footage acquired from Big Lots into an operating store count, but internal improvements in planning and a favorable merchandise environment also aid margin.
The gross margin improved by 200 basis points, the operating margin by 80 basis points, and the adjusted EPS by 25%, outperforming expectations.
The EPS is nearly 1000 bps ahead of schedule and expected to remain strong as the year progresses.
The guidance was also strong and supports an outlook for an analyst upgrade cycle.
The company has raised its forecasts for revenue and earnings above the consensus estimates and is likely to outperform due to the prevailing trends.
The improving store count, comp store growth, and a favorable selling environment are triple tailwinds to drive revenue growth and a widening of margins.
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Pulls Back After Results
Ollie’s stock price surged following the Q2 release, but the gain was capped early, resulting in a gap at the open and a large red candle by the day’s end. The move suggests support for this market is present, but profit-takers and naysayers are capping gains.
The pullback could linger through September, resulting in a move to $125 or $120. However, critical support is near $130; if the market can sustain it, consolidation at the current level is likely, and a new high and continuation of the uptrend will quickly follow.
Altucher: August 30th, Trump's Great Gain is Goes Ballistic
Altucher: August 30th, Trump's Great Gain is Goes Ballistic
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