AADX vs KRMN: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: AADX is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. AADX and KRMN share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined AADX and KRMN exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Applied Aerospace & Defense builds the physical parts that other people's programs depend on: nose cones, fairings, payload adapters and satellite assemblies for launch and space vehicles, flight structures for fixed-wing, rotary and autonomous aircraft, and casings and precision platforms for radar, air defense and precision strike systems. The company describes itself as vertically integrated, and the capability list is unusually specific for a supplier of this size, covering flow forming, spin forming for propulsion tanks, RF-transparent composites, deep hole boring and large-scale clean room capacity. It runs eleven plants across six states with about 1.5 million square feet of production space and roughly 1,540 employees. The corporate entity was assembled from 2022 onward by Greenbriar Equity Group out of businesses with a much longer manufacturing history, and it has kept buying: Innovative Composite Engineering in October 2024, NeXolve in March 2025 and Consolidated Boring in March 2026.

Full AADX guide

Karman Holdings, which operates as Karman Space & Defense, is a Huntington Beach, California maker of highly engineered systems that go inside missiles, missile-defense interceptors, hypersonic vehicles, unmanned aircraft, and space launch vehicles. Its products fall into three families: payload protection and deployment systems (such as fairings and shrouds), propulsion systems, and aerodynamic interstage structures. It sells into three end markets, Hypersonics and Strategic Missile Defense, Missile and Integrated Defense Systems, and Space and Launch, and counts primes like Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin among its customers. The company says it runs more than 100 active programs with no single program above roughly 10% of sales, which spreads its revenue across many contracts.

Full KRMN guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• AADX drivers: Precision strike and air defense demand is the fastest-moving piece; Space and launch scales with cadence, not with wins.
• KRMN drivers: Defense budget and missile-defense tailwind; Record backlog and demand visibility.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Customer concentration is severe: three customers were 31%, 18% and 10% of 2025 revenue, 59% combined, and their names are not disclosed. For KRMN, the most immediate risk is valuation: with a trailing P/E reported above 200 and slim GAAP earnings, the stock prices in years of strong growth, so any disappointment can drive a sharp de-rating (the shares have already swung widely, trading between roughly $43 and $118 over the past year).

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick AADX if you believe its drivers more; KRMN if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the AADX and KRMN guides.

AADX. On guidance, the enterprise value of roughly $3.05 billion works out to about 4.5x 2026 revenue and roughly 20x 2026 adjusted EBITDA, which is a growth multiple rather than a machine-shop multiple. The reported P/E is negative and will stay so for 2026 because of the IPO compensation charge, so the trailing GAAP figure carries no information here. The gap between the $20.00 IPO price, the ~$24.24 high on July 1 and the ~$15.20 low set on August 20 is a reminder that three months of trading history offers very little to anchor a valuation against.

KRMN. Figures are approximate and tied to the asOf date; verify live numbers before acting. KRMN's very high P/E reflects strong revenue growth and rising adjusted EBITDA against still-modest GAAP net income, so the multiple is best read as a gauge of how much future growth is already priced in rather than a normal earnings valuation. The 52-week range (roughly $43 to $118) shows how sensitive the shares are to sentiment on defense spending and growth.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): AADX shows revenue (ttm through q2 2026) ~$576M, fy2026 revenue guidance ~$670M to ~$690M, fy2026 adjusted ebitda guidance ~$150M to ~$155M, q2 2026 net loss (gaap) ~-$154.0M, including ~$110.8M of first-half share-based comp; KRMN shows revenue (q1 2026 quarterly) ~$151.2 million, up 51% year over year, full-year 2026 revenue guidance ~$720 to $735 million, adjusted ebitda (q1 2026) ~$44.8 million, up ~48% year over year, backlog ~$1.03 billion (up ~61% year over year).

AADX and KRMN are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined AADX and KRMN exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.