Defense giant Elbit becomes Israel’s most valuable company, after 45% surge this year

Fueled by booming arms sales, Elbit’s market value soars to $40 billion in Tel Aviv, overtaking generic drug giant Teva and the country’s largest banks, Leumi and Hapoalim

By Sharon Wrobel

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5 March 2026, 2:29 pm

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Sharon Wrobel is a tech reporter for The Times of Israel

An Elbit Hermes 450 drone comes in for landing at the Palmachim airbase, during Operation Breaking Dawn in early August 2022. (Israel Defense Forces)

Defense giant Elbit Systems becomes the largest Israeli firm by market value listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange after surpassing Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries and the country’s biggest lenders, Bank Hapoalim and Bank Leumi.

Elbit shares jump almost 4 percent in midday trading, taking its market value to about NIS 123 billion ($40 billion), according to Tel Aviv Stock Exchange data. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries is ranked second with a market value of NIS 118 billion, followed by Bank Leumi at 115 billion and Bank Hapoalim at NIS 105 billion.

Among all companies listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Elbit is the second most valuable company, after US cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks with a market capitalization of NIS 396 billion.

Elbit, led by CEO Bezhalel Machlis, is an arms manufacturer and supplier specializing in the development of a broad spectrum of defense, homeland security and commercial systems that are marketed worldwide.

Listed on both the Tel Aviv and Nasdaq stock exchanges, the defense firm is controlled by Israeli billionaire Michael Federmann through Federmann Enterprises. It operates in various fields, including aerospace, land and naval command and control, communications, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems. Over the past two trading days, the value of Federmann’s 42.1% holding in Elbit has increased by more than NIS 5 billion in accumulative terms.

Since the start of the year, Elbit shares soared 45% buoyed by booming sales to Israel’s military and multiple contracts with international customers. Amid Israel’s October 2023 multifront war with Hamas, Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies and with the war between Russia and Ukraine, Israel’s military and European countries have been showing growing interest in buying Israeli defense technology due to heightened regional security concerns. As a result, Elbit’s order backlog hit a record last year, reaching $25.2 billion as of the end of September.

Anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protesters sit on the floor with a sign reading ‘Elbit corrupts justice’, referring to the Israeli defense group Elbit, after spraying red paint over the exterior of the Ministry of Justice building in central London on December 12, 2025. (HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)

Over the past two years, Elbit has been inking contracts with global customers even as pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protesters have assailed the firm, negative sentiment toward Israel has been growing, and arms embargoes have been floated over Israel’s conduct during the war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza.