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CPI Aerostructures, Inc., known as CPI Aero, builds assemblies such as aircraft wing structures, engine inlets and equipment pods for aerospace and defense customers. Most programs use customers’ designs: outside manufacturers supply nearly all the individual parts, and CPI Aero assembles, integrates and tests the finished products. Customers pay under long-term contracts and purchase orders.
Defense prime contractors provide most of its revenue. Raytheon is its largest customer, followed by Sikorsky; Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force also contribute substantial business. CPI Aero separately supplies the Air Force and Defense Logistics Agency directly, including assembly and kits for the T-38 aircraft program. Commercial aircraft and business-jet work accounts for a smaller share of sales.
The business depends on a limited set of programs, their production schedules and continued U.S. government funding. Unfunded anticipated orders can be canceled or rescheduled, and the government can terminate contracts even without contractor fault. CPI Aero often pays production costs before customers reimburse it and relies partly on bank financing. Its agreement with Western Alliance Bank restricts additional borrowing, acquisitions and dividends, among other actions, without the bank’s consent.
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CPI Aero also depends on defense-program funding and orders from customers absent from this list—RTX and L3Harris, whose NGJ Low-Band Pods program began contributing revenue in 2025.
CPI Aero depends on Northrop Grumman’s E-2D orders: the government-focused defense contractor buys its structural kits for the aircraft’s outer wing panels. Cumulative orders exceeded $210 million through December 31, 2025, with CPI Aero expecting shipments against those orders to continue into 2026.
Lockheed Martin’s F-16 production brings work to CPI Aero, which supplies rudder-island and drag-chute-canister assemblies to the aircraft maker serving U.S. government agencies and allies. Two multiyear agreements total approximately $60 million; proposal efforts for the next pricing period cover expected deliveries in 2029 and 2030.
Ducommun competes with CPI Aero for aircraft-structure assembly work from aerospace and defense customers, but also pays CPI Aero for assemblies used in Sikorsky helicopters. Its helicopter assembly orders therefore matter to CPI Aero as customer business, not just as evidence of a rival’s performance.
Boeing’s program decisions can directly cut CPI Aero’s revenue and profit: the aircraft maker contracted with it for A-10 main landing gear pods, then terminated the program. The resulting unfavorable contract adjustment was a principal reason CPI Aero moved from profit in 2024 to a loss in 2025.
Embraer’s Phenom business-jet production feeds CPI Aero’s commercial business through purchases of engine-inlet assemblies for the Phenom 300 and 100 series under life-of-program agreements. Starting Phenom 100 inlet production helped drive CPI Aero’s commercial revenue growth in 2025, with first deliveries expected in 2026.
Air Industries Group competes for the aerospace and defense prime-contractor spending that also pays CPI Aero, with overlapping flight-control and structural assembly offerings. Military-aircraft end users accounted for approximately 58.3% of its 2025 net sales, making that business more relevant to CPI Aero than its ground-turbine work.
Applied Aerospace & Defense, Inc. shares CPI Aero’s exposure to defense-aircraft and airborne-system procurement cycles, manufacturing subassemblies to customers’ stringent requirements. Defense Aviation and Airborne Systems supplied 66% of its historical 2025 revenue, making that revenue line the clearest comparison with CPI Aero’s defense-dependent business.
Northrop Grumman Corp. earningsNOC
Northrop Grumman's report can show whether E-2D production supports near-term demand for CPI Aero's outer-wing structural kits for the aircraft.
Watch Northrop Grumman's comments on E-2D production or deliveries against CPI Aero's existing orders, for which shipments were expected to continue into 2026. An active program would support the prospect of those orders shipping on schedule; slower progress would put shipment timing at risk, but would not by itself mean CPI Aero's orders were canceled.
Fed Interest Rate Decision
CPI Aero’s Fed-linked variable-rate borrowings mean the Fed’s policy-rate decision can change what the company pays in interest and leave less or more cash from its operations.
Expected4.0%Last release4.0%
If it comes in above expectations
If the policy rate is higher than expected, interest costs on CPI Aero’s variable-rate line of credit and term loan may rise, leaving less cash to fund materials and production before customers pay.
If it comes in below expectations
If the policy rate is lower than expected, interest costs on CPI Aero’s variable-rate line of credit and term loan may fall, leaving more cash for materials and production before customers pay.
Ducommun Incorporated earningsDCO
Ducommun's report can show both demand for helicopter assemblies it buys from CPI Aero and how it is faring in structural-assembly work that competes with CPI Aero.
Separate demand in Ducommun's helicopter-related business from its performance in overlapping structural-assembly work. Stronger helicopter demand could support its purchases from CPI Aero; gains in the assembly work the two compete for would point to greater competitive pressure. If helicopter demand weakens, that customer support may also ease—Ducommun's overall sales growth alone would not show that CPI Aero lost an order.
Embraer S.A. earningsEMBJ
Embraer's report can show whether Phenom business-jet production is supporting demand for the engine-inlet assemblies CPI Aero supplies.
Watch Embraer's comments on Phenom 100 and 300 production or deliveries alongside CPI Aero's engine-inlet assemblies for those aircraft and the Phenom 100 deliveries expected to start in 2026. Stronger production and deliveries would support the potential for this work to add to CPI Aero's commercial revenue; a slowdown would make that contribution less certain, since aircraft production is not the same as revenue CPI has already recorded.
CPI Aerostructures, Inc. earningsThis company
CPI Aero's report will show whether it is turning government and commercial program work into revenue while protecting the profit left after manufacturing costs.
Read revenue alongside gross margin, the share of sales left after production costs, and any unfavorable contract-estimate adjustments. Stabilizing revenue, a recovering margin and fewer such adjustments would show that program work is converting into profit more effectively; weak revenue or continued estimate-driven margin pressure would mean the recovery is still fragile.
