Daily NZX update, Wednesday, July 15, 2026

MBDA and BAE Systems said the UK and Italy provided additional funding to finish integrating Meteor air-to-air and MBDA SPEAR precision surface-attack missiles on the F-35. The RAF plans to fit both; Italy’s role is for Meteor, with possible interest in Spear. The investment amount is not disclosed, but is estimated around $400 million, with Lockheed Martin subcontracting integration work.

The Pentagon, via Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg’s Aug. 5 memo, asked major defense contractors to submit within 21 days plans to accelerate production and delivery of critical weapons systems. The memo targets firms including Boeing and Lockheed Martin and seeks capital and facility expansion proposals. It also cites RTX’s $442 million Patriot interceptor contract and a seven-year propulsion framework for PAC-3 MSE and THAAD.

CACI International reported Q4 and FY26 results, with quarterly sales of $2,709.06 million and full-year sales of $9,567.78 million. It issued FY27 guidance for revenue of $10.65–$10.85 billion and net income of $574–$594 million. Separately, OPM selected a team including CACI for a nearly $400 million, 10-year HR IT modernization contract.

Firefly Aerospace (NASDAQ:FLY) said it signed a first-phase U.S. Department of Defense contract for a preliminary design review of a deorbit mission, issued by the Defense Innovation Unit and Space Development Agency. The contract does not disclose value. If the PDR succeeds, Firefly can compete for later phases using its Elytra spacecraft, according to the company.

According to The Information, Nvidia is in talks to invest up to $3 billion in SB Energy, a SoftBank Group subsidiary building a planned Ohio data center for OpenAI. The report says the funding is linked to Nvidia discussions to provide about $100 billion in credit support. SB Energy aims to IPO in September, potentially raising at least $5 billion. Reuters could not verify.

The Information, citing sources, says Nvidia is discussing an equity investment of up to $3 billion in SoftBank Group’s SB Energy to support an Ohio data center campus for OpenAI. The talks involve about $100 billion in credit support, with Nvidia funding half at signing and the rest tied to SB Energy’s IPO. SB Energy targets an IPO in September raising at least $5 billion; Reuters could not verify.