Defence stocks slide: Cochin Shipyard, HAL, Mtar Tech among top losers as Nifty India Defence falls 3%; all you need to know

Defence stocks traded lower on Monday, May 18, with the Nifty India Defence index declining 3% to an intraday low of 8,725.45, as 17 of its 19 constituents on the index were in the red.

Except for Solar Industries (4%) and Bharat Electronics (0.32%), all the other stocks were trading with losses. Mtar Technologies took the lead among laggards, tumbling 6%, followed by Cochin Shipyard (-5.77%), GRSE (-4.71%), Zen Technologies (-4.05%) and Aequs (-3.97%).

Further, Data Patterns (-3.33%), AxisCades Technologies (-3.08%), Hindustan Aeronautics (-2.85%), Mishra Dhatu Nigam (-2.83%), and BEML (-2.52%) were also seen lower. Shares of Mazagon Dock (-2.49%), Astra Microwave Products (-2.49%), Bharat Dynamics (-1.92%), Dynamatic Technologies (-1.84%), Apollo Micro Systems (-1.71%), Paras Defence (-1.39%), and Bharat Forge (-1.28%) were also seen lower.

Most stocks witnessed a decline on Monday as investors reacted to their latest earnings announcements. Morgan Stanley analysts, in a report on May 12, 2026, had said, “Earnings growth is turning after a six-quarter mid-cycle slowdown and is likely to accelerate further, driven by reflationary policies of the RBI and the government via rate cuts, bank deregulation and liquidity infusion; strong capex trends in energy, defence, semiconductors, fertilisers and data centres, among others; large tax cuts; and relatively stimulating fiscal.”

Check a few latest earnings:

Cochin Shipyard

Shares of Cochin Shipyard tanked 7.5% to their intraday low of ₹1,475 on Monday after its earnings failed to impress the investors.

Last week, Cochin Shipyard had reported a consolidated net profit of ₹276 crore in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year (Q4 FY26), marking a fall of 4% from ₹287 crore in the same period last year.

The Kerala-based company's revenue from operations slipped 16% to ₹1,484 crore in the January to March period as compared to ₹1,758 crore in the year-ago period.

The shipbuilding firm's operating profit, also known as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA), however, gained 16% to ₹309 crore as against ₹266 crore in the corresponding period last year. Its EBITDA margin expanded to 20.8%, in contrast to 15.1% in the year-ago period.

Along with the earnings approval, Cochin Shipyard’s board of directors has recommended a final dividend of ₹1.5 per equity share of face value ₹5 each for FY26, subject to shareholders’ approval at the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM).

The company added that the dividend will be paid within 30 days of its declaration at the AGM.

HAL

Last week, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) had reported a consolidated net profit of ₹4,196 crore in Q4 FY26, marking a growth of 5.5% from ₹3,977 crore in the same period last year.

The Bengaluru-based company's revenue from operations advanced 2% to ₹13,942 crore in the January to March period as compared to ₹13,700 crore in the year-ago period. The company’s net income also increased 5% to ₹15,093 crore in the reporting quarter from ₹14,351 crore on a year-on-year (YoY) basis.

The state-run fighter jet maker's operating profit, also known as EBITDA, however, declined 4% to ₹5,058 crore as against ₹5,294 crore in the corresponding period last year. Its EBITDA margin also contracted to 36.3%, in contrast to 38.6% in the year-ago period.