The first-quarter reporting cycle for defense stocks, which are housed within the broader Aerospace sector, is underway, with a handful of industry players having released mixed quarterly performance so far. In particular, while defense bigwigs like Northrop, L3Harris Technologies, Lockheed and RTX have beat on earnings, major contractors like General Dynamics and Textron lagged the same. Taking a look at the whole picture, we remain optimistic about the first-quarter results of the remaining defense majors, as widespread hostilities continue to engulf the global defense map, thereby compelling nations to safeguard their borders by ordering more cutting-edge defense products. A handful of defense stocks like CAE Inc. (NYSE: CAE), Leidos Holdings (NYSE: LDOS), Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE: LDOS), Embraer (NYSE: ERJ) and Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII), which are set to release their first-quarter results soon, are likely to beat on earnings this reporting cycle. Factors Driving Defense Stocks' Growth in Q1 In a bid to tackle the growing geopolitical instability across the globe, particularly with the frequent hostilities erupting in the Middle East and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, governments of the majority of nations have been boosting their defense budget significantly. With the United States being the world's largest weapon manufacturer, its defense budget has always been in the spotlight. To this end, it is imperative to mention that in March 2024, the Biden administration submitted the fiscal 2025 budget proposal, which requests funding worth $850 billion for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), reflecting a 1% increase over fiscal 2024's enacted budget amount. Such enhanced budgetary provisions thereby raised the chance of increased order inflows for major defense primes from Pentagon and U.S. allies. This, in turn, must have boosted the defense contractors' backlog. We expect to witness this once all the major defense players reveal their first-quarter numbers. Ongoing conflicts like the one prevailing in the Middle East, as well as the Russia-Ukraine issue, have also proved to be beneficial for U.S. defense stocks, with these affairs prompting the U.S. government to sanction big defense aid for the affected nations. Evidently, as of Mar 12, 2024, the United States committed more than $44.9 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden Administration (per a report by the U.S. DoD). Moreover, last year, President Biden asked Congress to approve a $95 billion supplemental spending bill that included $14 billion for Israel.  No doubt these security aids imply a supply of military arms and ammunition, which, in turn, must have ...