Israeli defense giant Elbit Systems saw its quarterly profit surge and sales increase bolstered by growing demand from the Israeli military amid the fighting with Hamas terrorists in Gaza and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The country’s largest privately owned defense firm generated a net profit in the July to September period of $98.8 million, up almost 30 percent from the $76.5 million posted in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue rose by 14.4% to $1.72 billion from $1.5 billion during the same comparative period, led by aerospace sales which were up 7% and increased drone sales in Israel.
Amid Israel’s multifront war with Hamas, Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies and with the war between Russia and Ukraine, Israel’s military and European countries have been showing growing interest in buying Israeli defense technology due to heightened regional security concerns.
As a result, Elbit’s order backlog hit a record $22.1 billion at the end of September, marking an increase of $1 billion from the previous quarter. About 66% of the current backlog is from orders by global customers. Elbit said that 37% of the backlog is scheduled to be completed during the remainder of 2024 and in 2025.
“The company’s order backlog (…) provides stability and resilience for the company for years to come, as our investments in R&D create strong foundations for long-term growth and development,” said Elbit CEO Bezhalel (Butzi) Machlis. “Our highly regarded solutions and products are experiencing high demand.”
Elbit is a military technology corporation specializing in the development of a broad spectrum of defense, homeland security and commercial systems that are marketed worldwide.
Listed on both the Tel Aviv and Nasdaq stock exchanges, Elbit operates in various fields including aerospace, land and naval, command and control, communications, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems.
Sales to Israel’s military generated $499 million or about a third of Elbit’s revenues in the third quarter, followed by Europe which represented the defense firm’s second-largest market with about $430 million in sales.
Elbit announced on Monday that it has been awarded contracts worth a total of about $335 million, to supply defense systems to a European country. The contracts include the supply of its PULS long-range precise rocket artillery system, as well as Hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicle systems (UAS) equipped with advanced payloads.
Elbit has been inking contracts with global customers even though since the outbreak of war with Hamas last year, pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protesters have assailed the firm. That’s as negative sentiment towards Israel has been growing, the country’s global legitimacy is in question and arms embargoes have been touted.
“Some operations have experienced disruptions due to supply chain and operational constraints, including among others due to limitations on exports to Israel, increase of transportation costs and delays, material and component shortages, [and] attacks by anti-Israeli organizations,” Elbit said.
In recent months, the French government has been seeking to bar Israeli defense tech companies, including Elbit, from participating in major global defense exhibitions.
In October, an office of Elbit Systems in Sweden’s Gothenburg was the target of a shooting. In another incident, protesters splashed red paint on the London offices of German financial firm Allianz over its ties to Elbit.
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