Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index ended in red territory following a 0.77% drop to $5,405.12 due to heightened market volatility. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.54%) and S&P 500 (-0.30%) settled lower on signs of a weakening labor market. Only the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (+0.25%) bucked the downward trend.
Discount store Dollar Tree (Nasdaq: DLTR) and electronic trading platform MarketAxess (Nasdaq: MKTX) were the top gainers, with +7.72% and +6.68%, respectively. Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) rose 4.9% after announcing plans to introduce its full self-driving technology (FSD) in Q1 2025. Medical supply distributor McKesson (NYSE: MCK) sunk 9.9% on lower profit guidance.
Decliners outnumbered gainers on the GovCon Index, 24 to 5, with one or ICF (Nasdaq: ICFI) flat. Science Applications International Corporation (Nasdaq: SAIC) led all advancers, while V2X (NYSE: VVX) and AeroVironment (Nasdaq: AVAV) posted the most significant losses.
SAIC, a Fortune 500 company, reported a turnaround in Q2 fiscal 2025. In the three months ending August 2, 2024, revenues increased 2% to $1.81 billion versus Q2 fiscal 2024, although net income fell 67% year-over-year to $81 million. However, free cash flow climbed 67% to $241 million from a year ago.
VVX, a global mission solutions provider, sunk 9.39% after announcing the commencement of an underwritten public offering of 2,000,000 shares of common stock by a particular selling stockholder.
AeroVironment, a leading drone manufacturer, declined 5.31% after reporting a 3.33% year-over-year net income drop in Q2 2024. Nonetheless, revenue increased 24% to a record $189.5 million compared to Q2 2023.
The U.S. Army awarded BAE Systems Land & Armaments a $121.4 million modification to a contract producing M2A4 and M7A4 Bradley vehicles from various inducted legacy source variants.
Also, on Thursday, the latest ADP National Employment Report came out. Private businesses added 99,000 employees in August compared to 122,000 in July. The change was the headwind for equity markets because it was the lowest number since January 2021.
Market Summary
| Index | Price | Net Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| GovCon Index Daily Average | 5,405.12 | -41.71 | -0.77% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 40,755.75 | -219.22 | -0.54% |
| S&P 500 | 5,503.41 | -16.66 | -0.30% |
| NASDAQ | 17,127.66 | 43.36 | 0.25% |
Top 5 GovCon Index Daily Percentage Performers
| Symbol | Price | Net Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAIC | 135.28 | 6.07 | 4.70% |
| GD | 297.29 | 2.94 | 1.00% |
| PSN | 93.54 | 0.17 | 0.18% |
| CACI | 479.17 | 0.87 | 0.18% |
| MRCY | 37.58 | 0.04 | 0.11% |
Top 5 GovCon Index Daily Net Performers
| Symbol | Price | Net Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAIC | 135.28 | 6.07 | 4.70% |
| GD | 297.29 | 2.94 | 1.00% |
| CACI | 479.17 | 0.87 | 0.18% |
| PSN | 93.54 | 0.17 | 0.18% |
| MRCY | 37.58 | 0.04 | 0.11% |
Top 5 GovCon Index Daily Percentage Decliners
| Symbol | Price | Net Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| VVX | 48.34 | -5.01 | -9.39% |
| AVAV | 183.73 | -10.31 | -5.31% |
| J | 143.94 | -2.89 | -1.97% |
| LHX | 232.52 | -3.98 | -1.68% |
| TXT | 87.23 | -1.32 | -1.49% |
