L3Harris Technologies, Inc.
L3Harris Technologies, Inc. provides mission-critical solutions for government and commercial customers worldwide. It operates through three segments: Space & Mission Systems (SMS), Communications & Spectrum Dominance (CSD), and Missile Solutions (MSL). The SMS segment integrates satellite and payload capabilities, including missile warning and defense, with maritime, air special missions, and other global defense and civil government programs. Its MSL segment unites propulsion, hypersonic, and other advanced missile technologies. The CSD segment provides tactical radios, software, waveforms, satellite terminals, and end-to-end battlefield systems for the U.S. Department of Defense, international, federal, and state agency customers; broadband communications; integrated vision solutions, such as helmet-mounted integrated night vision goggles with image intensifier tubes and weapon-mounted sights, aiming lasers, and range finders; and public safety radios and system applications and equipment. The company was formerly known as Harris Corporation and changed its name to L3Harris Technologies, Inc. in June 2019. L3Harris Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Florida.
What does it do?
L3Harris makes the kind of technology that militaries and governments rely on when lives are on the line — think encrypted radios that soldiers use in the field, satellites that detect missile launches, and the engines that power hypersonic missiles. If you've ever seen a news clip of military communications gear or a missile defense system, there's a decent chance L3Harris built part of it. They serve the U.S. military as their biggest customer, but also allied governments and some commercial clients around the world. They were formed in 2019 when L3 Technologies and Harris Corporation merged, creating one of the largest pure-play defense contractors in the United States.
Defense budgets globally are rising fast — the war in Ukraine, tensions with China, and NATO allies scrambling to hit their spending targets have all pushed governments to buy more of exactly what L3Harris sells. The U.S. defense budget is hovering near record levels, and L3Harris sits right at the intersection of the hottest spending categories: space, electronic warfare, and hypersonic weapons. For investors, this is a company whose order book tends to grow when the world feels less safe — and right now, the world feels less safe.
How does it make money?
L3Harris generates almost all of its $21.9 billion in revenue from government contracts, primarily with the U.S. Department of Defense. It operates across three divisions: Space & Mission Systems (satellites and missile warning), Communications & Spectrum Dominance (military radios and electronic warfare tools), and Missile Solutions (propulsion and hypersonic systems). Revenue grew from $21.3 billion the prior year to $21.9 billion, a modest but steady gain. These are typically long-term, multi-year contracts — meaning revenue is relatively predictable compared to most companies.
Why do investors care?
The growth story here is straightforward: the U.S. and its allies are in a multi-year cycle of modernizing their militaries, and L3Harris has contracts across nearly every category that's getting funded. Hypersonics — missiles that travel at five times the speed of sound and are extremely hard to intercept — is one of the fastest-growing areas of defense spending, and L3Harris is a key player there. For the thesis to work, defense budgets need to stay elevated, L3Harris needs to keep winning new contracts, and the company needs to deliver on its ongoing push to improve profit margins after some post-merger integration costs weighed on earnings.
Deep Dive
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