What Happened?

Shares of infrastructure and defense services provider Parsons (NYSE: PSN) jumped 5.3% in the morning session after the company announced it secured a ten-year, $392 million single-award contract from a federal customer. 

The agreement represented new work for the company, which provides technology solutions for the defense, intelligence, and critical infrastructure markets. The deal leverages Parsons' capabilities in biometrics and network engineering, combining hardware, software, and systems integration to support its client's mission. This win was particularly notable because it came weeks after the company lost a major contract with the FAA, an event that had previously pushed the stock down. This new contract helped reset the narrative for investors, shifting the focus from a prior loss to a significant new win.

Is now the time to buy Parsons? Access our full analysis report here.

What Is The Market Telling Us

Parsons’s shares are somewhat volatile and have had 10 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The previous big move we wrote about was about 1 month ago when the stock dropped 21.9% on the news that the company lost out on a significant government contract to upgrade the U.S. air traffic control system. 

The contract was instead awarded to competitor Peraton, an outcome that reportedly surprised investors and removed a key expected catalyst for the company. Following the announcement, Truist Securities lowered its price target on Parsons' stock to $90 from $100, noting the company now faced 'less defined catalysts.' The negative market reaction occurred despite other positive news that Parsons was selected as an awardee for a separate $3.5 billion contract with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. However, investors appeared to focus more on the loss of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) project.

Parsons is up 6.4% since the beginning of the year, but at $66.20 per share, it is still trading 31.4% below its 52-week high of $96.44 from January 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Parsons’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,881.

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