{"id":66458,"date":"2026-08-13T07:38:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T11:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/citigroup-boosts-defense-targets-as-heatwave-drives-record-power-demand-in-italy\/66458\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T07:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T11:38:14","slug":"citigroup-boosts-defense-targets-as-heatwave-drives-record-power-demand-in-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/citigroup-boosts-defense-targets-as-heatwave-drives-record-power-demand-in-italy\/66458\/","title":{"rendered":"Citigroup Boosts Defense Targets as Heatwave Drives Record Power Demand in Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Citigroup (<a href=\"\/stock\/C\">C<\/a>)<\/strong> significantly raised its price targets for defense giants <strong>Lockheed Martin (<a href=\"\/stock\/LMT\">LMT<\/a>)<\/strong> to <strong>$691<\/strong> and <strong>Northrop Grumman (<a href=\"\/stock\/NOC\">NOC<\/a>)<\/strong> to <strong>$667<\/strong>, reflecting a bullish outlook on the aerospace and defense sectors.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Italy&#39;s electricity demand<\/strong> reached a historic peak in July 2026 as a severe heatwave forced temperatures above <strong>40\u00b0C<\/strong>, straining the national grid and driving power prices to multi-year highs.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Nomura<\/strong> adjusted its interest rate forecast for <strong>Norway<\/strong>, now anticipating the next hike in <strong>November<\/strong> rather than <strong>September<\/strong>, following softer-than-expected underlying inflation data.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Solar generation<\/strong> provided a critical buffer for the European energy grid, supplying roughly <strong>25%<\/strong> of EU electricity during the peak of the summer heatwaves.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Defense Sector: Citigroup Raises Targets for LMT and NOC<\/h2>\n<p>In a major update to its aerospace and defense coverage, <strong>Citigroup (<a href=\"\/stock\/C\">C<\/a>)<\/strong> has increased its price targets for two of the industry&#39;s largest players. The firm raised its target for Lockheed Martin (<a href=\"\/stock\/LMT\">LMT<\/a>) to <strong>$691<\/strong> from <strong>$641<\/strong>, while simultaneously boosting its target for Northrop Grumman (<a href=\"\/stock\/NOC\">NOC<\/a>) to <strong>$667<\/strong> from <strong>$617<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>These adjustments come as defense contractors benefit from a robust global demand environment and record backlogs. Lockheed Martin (<a href=\"\/stock\/LMT\">LMT<\/a>) recently raised its <strong>2026 sales guidance<\/strong> to a range of <strong>$79.75 billion to $81.75 billion<\/strong>, driven by accelerated production of munitions and the <strong>F-35<\/strong> program. Similarly, Northrop Grumman (<a href=\"\/stock\/NOC\">NOC<\/a>) continues to see strong momentum from its <strong>B-21 Raider<\/strong> program and a record <strong>$105 billion backlog<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2>Energy: Record Demand and Heat Stress in Italy<\/h2>\n<p>Italy experienced a record-breaking surge in electricity demand this July as a &quot;red alert&quot; heatwave gripped major cities. Temperatures exceeding <strong>46\u00b0C<\/strong> in regions like Sicily drove cooling needs to unprecedented levels, causing daily power demand to spike by as much as <strong>22%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The extreme heat has also impacted supply, with thermal and nuclear generation efficiency dropping across Europe. While <strong>solar output<\/strong> rose by <strong>17%<\/strong> during the heatwave to help stabilize the grid during daylight hours, Italian day-ahead electricity prices still climbed to their highest levels in <strong>three and a half years<\/strong> due to supply scarcity after sundown.<\/p>\n<h2>Monetary Policy: Nomura Shifts Norway Rate Hike Outlook<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Nomura<\/strong> economists have pushed back their expectations for the next rate hike from the <strong>Norges Bank<\/strong>, Norway&#39;s central bank. Previously forecasting a move in September, the firm now sees the next <strong>25-basis-point<\/strong> increase occurring in <strong>November<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The shift follows data showing that Norway&#39;s underlying inflation slowed to <strong>2.7%<\/strong> in July, coming in below consensus expectations for the second consecutive month. While the <strong>Norges Bank<\/strong> maintains a restrictive stance to bring inflation toward its <strong>2% target<\/strong>, the recent cooling of price pressures has provided policymakers with more room to delay further tightening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Citigroup (C) significantly raised its price targets for defense giants Lockheed Martin (LMT) to $691 and Northrop Grumman [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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