Israel's largest publicly listed defense company. TASE: ESLT; NASDAQ: ESLT. FY2025 revenue $7.94B (+16%). Backlog $30.2B (Q1 2026), ~71% foreign. Federmann family ~45% control. CEO Bezhalel Machlis since 2013. 2018 IMI acquisition ($495M) — origin of PULS rocket artillery franchise. Elbit America: $2B+ US subsidiary. ~20,000 employees.
THE ENTITIES · OLAM.BUSINESS
Edited on Aug 16, 2026.
Elbit Systems (TASE: ESLT; NASDAQ: ESLT) is the largest publicly listed Israeli defense company and the anchor commercial pillar of Israel's three-prime defense-industrial base. FY2025 revenue closed at $7.94 billion. The order backlog crossed $30 billion in Q1 2026 — the largest defense order book any Israeli company has ever carried, and one of the largest defense-order books relative to revenue in the global defense-electronics sector.
The company operates as the commercial expression vehicle for a period of unprecedented defense-procurement expansion — European governments accelerating military spending post-2022, the post-October-7 Israeli operational cycle driving domestic and export demand, and the arrival of Israeli defense technology at scale inside NATO procurement pipelines. Every one of those trends compounds inside Elbit's revenue and backlog. The equity has performed accordingly.
Elbit Systems: Snapshot
| Founded | 1966; current corporate form 1996 (merger of Elbit Ltd. and Elop) |
|---|---|
| Tickers | TASE: ESLT; NASDAQ: ESLT (dual-listed) |
| Headquarters | Haifa, Israel — MATAM Advanced Technology Center |
| President & CEO | Bezhalel "Butzi" Machlis (since April 2013) |
| Chairman | Michael Federmann |
| Controlling shareholder | Federmann family (~45%) through Federmann Enterprises |
| FY2025 revenue | $7.94 billion (up ~16% YoY) |
| FY2025 net income | ~$600 million |
| Q1 2026 backlog | $30.2 billion; ~71% foreign |
| Q1 2026 revenue | $2.2 billion (+16% YoY) |
| Q1 2026 contract awards | $4B+ (nearly 2x quarterly revenue) |
| Book-to-bill ratio | Above 1.5x for 8 consecutive quarters |
| Employees | ~20,000 globally, majority in Israel |
| Revenue CAGR (2018–2025) | ~11% |
| Key 2018 acquisition | IMI Systems — NIS 1.8B (~$495M); origin of PULS rocket artillery franchise |
| US subsidiary | Elbit America (Fort Worth, TX) — $2B+ revenue, 4,000+ US employees |
| Dividend | Doubled to $1/share in Q1 2026 |
How did Elbit Systems start? The 1966 founding and 1996 consolidation
Elbit Systems' modern corporate form dates to 1996 with the merger of the original Elbit Ltd. (founded 1966) and Elop. The founding organization was rooted in Israeli military electronics — the company's early product base focused on avionics, command and control, and adjacent defense electronics categories developed in close partnership with the Israel Defense Forces. The 1996 merger consolidated the Israeli commercial defense-electronics sector into a single publicly listed entity.
Elbit's expansion through the 2000s and 2010s ran through consistent international acquisitions and organic growth. Named acquisitions included Vectop (2000), Silver Arrow (2004, UAS platform), Innocon (2007), Tadiran Communications (2008, the reference Israeli military-communications company), Harris Night Vision (2019, one of the two largest US night-vision manufacturers), Sparton Corporation (2020, US Navy sonobuoys), and IMI Systems (2018, the transformative land-warfare acquisition).
What was the IMI acquisition and why does it matter?
The 2018 acquisition of IMI Systems for NIS 1.8 billion (approximately $495 million) was one of the most consequential single transactions in Israeli defense-industrial history. IMI had been the state-owned Israeli munitions company — the manufacturer of small-arms ammunition, artillery shells, tank rounds, and the adjacent explosives-and-ordnance categories that anchor conventional military supply. The privatization of IMI through the Elbit acquisition consolidated the Israeli defense-industrial base into a clean three-prime map (Elbit, IAI, Rafael) and gave Elbit a positioning inside the artillery-and-ammunition category that has proven substantially more valuable through the post-2022 European rearmament cycle than could have been forecast at the time of the transaction.
The IMI acquisition is the origin of the PULS rocket artillery franchise now being sold across Europe — Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Serbia, Spain, and (pending) Greece. PULS is now displacing HIMARS as the European divisional rocket artillery standard. That is a multi-decade franchise built on the foundation the IMI deal provided. See: IMI Systems and Elbit Land.
Who runs Elbit? The Bezhalel Machlis era
Bezhalel "Butzi" Machlis has served as President and CEO of Elbit Systems since April 2013 — a 13-year tenure that has driven the company's revenue trajectory from approximately $2.9 billion at his arrival to $7.94 billion at FY2025. The revenue growth has compounded at approximately 9–11% annually with margin expansion driven by the C4I and cyber segments alongside the traditional airborne systems core. Non-GAAP operating margin crossed 10% in Q1 2026 for the first time in years.
The Machlis-era strategic emphasis has been on international commercial expansion, targeted M&A, and platform-integration positioning inside the major NATO defense-procurement pipelines. The result: Elbit now derives approximately 71% of backlog from international customers — one of the highest international-revenue mixes among global defense-electronics companies of comparable scale. See: Bezalel Machlis.
What are Elbit's five business segments?
- Airborne systems (~30% of revenue) — Combat aircraft avionics, helicopter systems, UAV platforms (Hermes 450/900/1000 family), high-power laser pods, precision-guided munitions. Fastest-growing segment in Q4 2024 at 27% YoY.
- Land systems (~25% of revenue) — PULS rocket artillery, IMI-consolidated munitions, tank and mortar systems, UT30 MK2 turret.
- C4I and cyber (~20% of revenue) — Command, control, communications, intelligence, and cybersecurity systems. Radios, tactical networks, NATO-interoperability packages.
- Electro-optics (~15% of revenue) — Elop-derived surveillance systems, laser systems, night-vision, and thermal-imaging platforms.
- ISTAR and homeland security (~10% of revenue) — ISR, border-security systems, homeland-security platforms.
Every segment posted double-digit growth in the most recent quarter. That is the shape of a demand cycle across the whole book, not a mix shift.
What is Elbit America?
Elbit America is Elbit's Fort Worth, Texas-domiciled US subsidiary — above $2 billion in revenue, more than 4,000 US-citizen and security-cleared employees, and prime-contractor access across all four US military services. It is the structural vehicle Elbit built to neutralize the 2028 US-Israel FMF cliff, when off-shore procurement provisions phase out and all FMF dollars must be spent on US-origin defense equipment. See: Elbit America.
How does Elbit compare to IAI and Rafael?
Elbit is the only publicly listed pure-play Israeli defense prime. That structural fact — one publicly traded Israeli defense company, three sector-anchor operators — is why institutional capital getting long the Israeli rearmament thesis concentrates flow into a single ticker. Named competitors globally include Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX (Raytheon), Boeing Defense, BAE Systems, Thales, Leonardo, and Rheinmetall (also Elbit's PULS co-production partner in some European markets). As IAI and Rafael partial-IPO discussions advance through 2026, that concentration will loosen. Until then, Elbit is the expression vehicle.
Who owns Elbit? The Federmann family
The Federmann family — through Federmann Enterprises — holds the controlling shareholder position at approximately 45%. Michael Federmann serves as Chairman. The Federmann family's ownership of Elbit is one of the longest-tenured Israeli industrial controlling-shareholder positions and one of the reference cases in Israeli family-controlled industrial capital at global scale. The family has not sold through the current cycle. Any change in the controlling posture would be a market-moving event. See: Michael Federmann and The Federmann Family.
What happened after October 7?
The Israeli operational cycle since October 2023 has driven demand for Israeli defense technology at scale — both domestically (as IDF procurement and munitions replenishment expanded) and internationally (as European governments accelerated defense-procurement decisions and Israeli defense technology benefited from combat-proven positioning). Israeli defense exports exceeded $14.8 billion in 2024 per Israeli Ministry of Defense data — the fourth consecutive record year. Elbit holds roughly half of that export footprint. See: Inside Israel's $14.8 Billion Defense Export Year.
Why Elbit matters now
Elbit is the anchor commercial Israeli defense-electronics platform. An Israeli rocket beat a Lockheed-Rheinmetall bid on German soil. Elbit America is a Fort Worth-headquartered US prime contractor across four services. Elbit's Hermes UAV family competes head-on with General Atomics' MQ-9 series. Elbit's night-vision franchise is embedded in US Army soldier-visualization procurement. None of that would have been possible without the multi-decade M&A and platform-integration program Elbit executed under Machlis.
Elbit Systems: Frequently Asked Questions
What is Elbit Systems?
The largest publicly listed Israeli defense company. TASE: ESLT; NASDAQ: ESLT. Founded 1966, current form 1996. Headquartered in Haifa. FY2025 revenue $7.94 billion. Backlog $30.2 billion. ~20,000 employees. Controlled by the Federmann family (~45%).
Who owns Elbit Systems?
The Federmann family, through Federmann Enterprises, holds ~45%. Michael Federmann serves as Chairman. It is one of the longest-tenured Israeli industrial controlling-shareholder positions.
What is Elbit's revenue?
$7.94 billion in FY2025, up from $2.9 billion when Bezhalel Machlis became CEO in 2013. Q1 2026 revenue $2.2 billion (+16% YoY). Revenue CAGR since 2018: ~11%.
What did Elbit acquire from IMI?
IMI Systems (Israel Military Industries) in 2018 for NIS 1.8B (~$495M). Added artillery, ammunition, PULS rocket-system precursors, and land-systems categories. IMI's value has proven substantially greater through the post-2022 European rearmament cycle than forecast at transaction time.
What is PULS?
A modular rocket artillery system derived from the IMI acquisition, now displacing HIMARS as the European divisional rocket artillery standard. Sold to Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Serbia, Spain, with Greece pending.
How does Elbit compare to IAI and Rafael?
Elbit is the only publicly listed Israeli defense prime. IAI ($7.3B revenue, state-owned) focuses on aerospace, missiles (Arrow), and satellites. Rafael ($6.8B revenue, state-owned) focuses on tactical missiles (Iron Dome, Spike) and active protection (Trophy). All three are scheduled for public-market activity in 2026.
What is Elbit's ticker?
Dual-listed: TASE: ESLT and NASDAQ: ESLT. Constituent of the TA-35 index.
Who is Bezhalel Machlis?
President and CEO since April 2013. Under his 13-year tenure, revenue grew from $2.9B to $7.94B. Strategic emphasis on international expansion, M&A, and NATO pipeline positioning. ~71% of backlog is now foreign.
What is Elbit America?
Elbit's Fort Worth, Texas-based US subsidiary. $2B+ revenue, 4,000+ US employees, prime-contractor access across all four military services. Built to neutralize the 2028 FMF cliff.
What is Elbit's order backlog?
$30.2 billion as of Q1 2026, approximately 71% from foreign customers. Book-to-bill ratio above 1.5x for eight consecutive quarters. Q1 2026 contract awards exceeded $4 billion — nearly double the revenue booked in the same quarter.
Primary Sources
Elbit Systems annual reports and quarterly filings (Form 20-F via SEC EDGAR). Israeli Ministry of Defense export data. SIPRI Arms Transfers Database. Historical coverage of the 1996 corporate consolidation and the 2018 IMI acquisition. Reuters, Globes, Calcalist, Defense News, Israel Defense. Related coverage: Inside Israel's $14.8B Defense Export Year; Order Backlog Index Q1 2026; IMI Systems and Elbit Land; Elbit America; Rafael; IAI. Data current as of August 2026.
Olam coverage
See: Inside Israel's $14.8B Defense Export Year · Order Backlog Index Q1 2026 · IMI Systems and Elbit Land · Elbit America · Bezalel Machlis · Michael Federmann · Rafael Advanced Defense Systems · Israel Aerospace Industries
בעברית
אלביט מערכות (ת"א: אלבי; נאסד"ק: ESLT) היא חברת הביטחון הציבורית הגדולה בישראל והעמוד המסחרי של תעשיית הביטחון הישראלית. הכנסות 2025: 7.94 מיליארד דולר (עלייה של כ-16%). צבר הזמנות ברבעון ראשון 2026: 30.2 מיליארד דולר, כ-71% מחו"ל. נוסדה ב-1966, צורתה הנוכחית מ-1996. מטה: חיפה, מת"מ. מנכ"ל: בצלאל "בוצי" מכליס (מאפריל 2013). יו"ר: מיכאל פדרמן. בעל שליטה: משפחת פדרמן (~45%) דרך פדרמן אנטרפרייזס. רכישת IMI ב-2018 תמורת 1.8 מיליארד ש"ח הולידה את זכיון ארטילריית PULS שמחליפה את HIMARS כסטנדרט אירופי. אלביט אמריקה (פורט וורת', טקסס): מעל 2 מיליארד דולר הכנסות, 4,000+ עובדים אמריקאים. ~20,000 עובדים גלובלית.
The Olam Editorial Team | The Entities
