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UK defense technology company providing testing, R&D and evaluation services plus specialized defense products.
UK defense technology company providing testing, R&D and evaluation services plus specialized defense products.
Earns mostly from governments under long contracts, with the UK Ministry of Defence the largest customer; test-range operation for the MoD runs under a long-term partnering agreement, giving a steady base. Born in 2001 from the government's defence research agency and floated in 2006, it has built a growing US business.
In one line: A UK Leidos for defense R&D and testing.
Moat: narrow (regulatory licence, installed base, IP / patents). Owns unique UK MoD test ranges and long-standing government security clearances.
Headquarters: Farnborough, UK · Founded: 2001 · Employees: 7,378
Size QinetiQ (QQ..L) is a United Kingdom Industrials company (Aerospace & Defense) with a market value of $3.51B, the 119th largest of 363 United Kingdom companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at £513.00 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 26.4%, against -16.5% for the median peer and +3.6% for the United Kingdom market (cap-weighted) — highest of 21 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue fell 0.5% over the last twelve months (peer median +1.9%); the operating margin is 10.1% (peer median 1.2%).
Valuation It trades at 15.3× forward earnings against a peer median of 45.7× (2nd cheapest of 17).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 0% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +9%, so the hurdle is -8 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 12.6 points above its cost of capital (7.8% WACC).
Next results Next results expected around 12 Nov 2026 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £1.92B | £1.92B | £1.93B | £1.91B | £1.58B |
| Revenue growth | — | 0% | +1% | +21% | — |
| Gross profit | £194M | £546M | £504M | £506M | £480M |
| EBITDA | £314M | £313M | £263M | £268M | £227M |
| Net income | £108M | £108M | -£186M | £140M | £154M |
| Free cash flow | £172M | £172M | £126M | £157M | £111M |
| Capital expenditure | £72.5M | £72.5M | £109M | £96.3M | £109M |
| Total debt | n/a | £423M | £429M | £392M | £369M |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QinetiQ QQ..L | $3.51B | +26% | 0% | 10% | 15.3× | 0.1% |
| BAE Systems BA..L | $72.6B | -4% | +7% | 9% | 22.0× | 2.8% |
| Leidos LDOS | $16.2B | +2% | +3% | 12% | 11.4× | -6.4% |
| Babcock International BAB.L | $6.60B | 0% | +7% | 6% | 15.4× | 13.2% |
| Chemring CHG.L | $1.92B | +13% | -4% | 13% | 27.0× | n/a |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | QQ..L | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +13.0% | -0.2% | highest of 21 |
| 6-month return | +26.4% | -16.5% | highest of 21 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -11.0% | -40.0% | highest of 21 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | -0.5% | +1.9% | 10th lowest of 20 |
| Operating margin | 10.1% | 1.2% | 4th highest of 21 |
| Forward P/E | 15.3× | 45.7× | 2nd cheapest of 17 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 0.1% | 26.4% | least demanding of 13 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +8.5% | +7.7% | 5th highest of 13 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -8.4 pp | +11.7 pp | 2nd least demanding of 13 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +12.6 pp | -5.4 pp | 2nd highest of 21 |
| EV / EBITDA | 8.8× | 14.2× | cheapest of 7 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.5× | 1.0× | 4th least indebted of 8 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QinetiQ QQ..L | United Kingdom | $3.51B | +26% | 0% | 10% | 15.3× | 0.1% | +8.5% |
| Baimtec Material 688563.SS | China | $3.53B | -12% | -1% | 15% | 38.2× | 22.7% | +14.4% |
| Avicopter 600038.SS | China | $3.54B | -8% | -6% | 1% | 33.9× | 9.1% | +8.1% |
| Firefly Aerospace FLY | United States | $3.48B | -48% | +179% | -116% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Archer Aviation ACHR | United States | $3.42B | -31% | n/a | -13,570% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| AECC Aero-engine Control 000738.SZ | China | $3.66B | -10% | -3% | 3% | 64.0× | n/a | n/a |
| Lisi FII.PA | France | $3.27B | 0% | -8% | 10% | 22.5× | 20.4% | +7.3% |
| Jiangxi Hongdu Aviation Industry 600316.SS | China | $3.77B | -4% | +62% | 0% | 121.0× | 53.4% | +8.0% |
| Inner Mongolia First Machinery 600967.SS | China | $3.22B | -10% | -7% | 0% | 26.0× | 38.2% | -5.4% |
| RENK R3NK.DE | Germany | $3.84B | -24% | +11% | 13% | 21.1× | 29.8% | +54.5% |
| Anhui GreatWall Military Industry 601606.SS | China | $3.20B | -22% | -10% | -7% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Avic (Chengdu) UAS 688297.SS | China | $3.93B | -15% | +74% | 0% | 106.5× | n/a | n/a |
| AviChina Industry & Technology 2357.HK | Hong Kong | $3.11B | -13% | +2% | 5% | 8.1× | n/a | n/a |
| Bharat Dynamics BDL.NS | India | $4.12B | -28% | -19% | 10% | 47.2× | n/a | n/a |
| North Industries Group Red Arrow 000519.SZ | China | $2.88B | -22% | +100% | 1% | 57.5× | 23.0% | +7.5% |
| Aar AIR | United States | $4.39B | -7% | +22% | 9% | 18.4× | 13.2% | +14.9% |
| Sai MicroElectronics 300456.SZ | China | $2.75B | -45% | -59% | -99% | 65.9× | 41.7% | +1.5% |
| Mercury Systems MRCY | United States | $4.48B | -19% | +8% | 2% | 44.2× | 59.6% | +1.3% |
| North Navigation Control Technology 600435.SS | China | $2.65B | -19% | -32% | -5% | 97.4× | 17.1% | +6.8% |
| Aerospace CH UAV 002389.SZ | China | $2.64B | -17% | +3% | 0% | 54.9× | n/a | n/a |
| Nanchang Sanrui Intelligence Technology 301696.SZ | China | $4.87B | -14% | +29% | 45% | n/a | 36.1% | +43.7% |