Where can I find federal contract award data?

The primary source is USAspending.gov, maintained by the U.S. Treasury. It publishes all federal contract awards, grants, and loans. FPDS.gov (Federal Procurement Data System) provides more granular procurement data and is sometimes faster to update. Both are free and publicly accessible. HillSignal aggregates and analyzes this data automatically.

How quickly do federal contracts affect stock prices?

Large contracts ($100M+) for major defense primes like $LMT or $RTX typically get priced in within 1-3 trading days of announcement. However, contracts for smaller or mid-cap companies can take weeks to be noticed by the market, especially if the company doesn't issue a press release. This delayed reaction creates the opportunity for informed investors.

What is the difference between a contract award and an obligation?

A contract award is the total potential value of the agreement (e.g., a 5-year, $500M contract). An obligation is the amount of money actually committed by the government in a given fiscal year (e.g., $100M in year one). For investors, the award value signals long-term revenue potential, while obligations indicate near-term cash flow. Both are tracked on USAspending.gov.

How much does the U.S. government spend on federal contracts annually?

In FY2024, the U.S. government awarded $773.68 billion in contracts to 108,899 companies. Defense agencies accounted for approximately 60% ($464.2B). The remaining 40% spans healthcare (HHS, VA), technology (cloud computing, cybersecurity), infrastructure (DOT, Army Corps of Engineers), and energy (DOE). This makes the federal government the single largest customer in the world.

Research•March 15, 2026•9 min read

$773 Billion in Federal Contracts: The Trading Signal Hiding in Plain Sight

In FY2024, the U.S. government awarded $773.68 billion in contracts — $464 billion to defense alone. Lockheed Martin got $50.7B. This data is public, updated daily, and most investors ignore it entirely.

$LMT $RTX $BA +5 more

Key Takeaways

▸The U.S. government awarded $773.68 billion in contracts in FY2024 — more than Switzerland's GDP
▸Defense agencies accounted for $464.2 billion (60%), with Lockheed Martin receiving $50.7B alone
▸Federal contract awards are confirmed revenue, not estimates — binding federal obligations
▸SpaceX jumped from #53 to #28 in one year; new entrants winning large contracts signal revenue growth
▸Contract data is published daily on USAspending.gov but virtually no retail investor tracks it

In fiscal year 2024, the U.S. federal government awarded $773.68 billion in contracts to 108,899 companies. That's more than the GDP of Switzerland. It's public data, published on USAspending.gov by the U.S.

Treasury. And virtually no retail investor tracks it.

Here's why that's a problem: unlike analyst estimates or earnings whispers, a federal contract award is confirmed revenue. When the Department of Defense signs a $500 million contract with a publicly traded company, that money is going to hit their balance sheet. It's not a forecast.

It's not guidance. It's a binding federal obligation.

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FY2024 Federal Contract Spending by Agency

Top Agency Contract Awards FY2024 ($B)

Dept of Navy

137.5

Air Force

105.2

Army

102.4

Defense Logistics

HHS

42.1

28.3

DOE

21.7

GSA

18.9

Award Value ($B)

The Numbers: Who Gets the Money

Defense agencies dominated FY2024 contract spending, accounting for $464.2 billion — roughly 60% of all federal contract awards. At the company level, the concentration is even more striking. The top 100 defense contractors captured $287 billion — 63% of all defense contract dollars.

Top Defense Contractors by Award Value

FY2024 Top Defense Contract Recipients ($B)

Lockheed Martin

50.7

RTX (Raytheon)

24.8

Boeing

23.2

Northrop Grumman

18.1

General Dynamics

16.5

Contract Value ($B)

But here's what makes this data interesting for investors: the list isn't static. SpaceX jumped from #53 to #28 in FY2024. Anduril appeared at #74. $PLTR hit #96.

New entrants winning large contracts is a leading indicator of revenue growth that earnings reports won't confirm for quarters.

Beyond Defense: Contracts Across Every Sector

While defense dominates by dollar volume, federal contracts flow across every major sector of the economy. According to the U.S. GAO's FY2024 contracting snapshot, the total $755 billion in obligations spanned Healthcare (HHS, VA, NIH), Technology ($MSFT, $AMZN AWS, $GOOGL Cloud, $PLTR), Infrastructure (Fluor, AECOM, Jacobs), and Energy (DOE contracts for nuclear cleanup, grid modernization).

Why This Data Isn't Priced In

There's a common objection: "If it's public data, why isn't it already priced in?" Three reasons: (1) Volume — there are tens of thousands of contract awards per year. No human can monitor them all. (2) Lag — USAspending.gov data has a reporting delay of 1-30 days. Some awards appear on FPDS.gov faster but require knowing where to look. (3) Context — a $200M contract means different things to a $300B company vs a $2B company.

The signal is in the ratio, not the raw number.

What HillSignal Does With This

We poll USAspending.gov multiple times daily, filter for contracts above significance thresholds, identify the publicly traded companies involved, and run AI analysis to score market impact. Every contract award in your HillSignal feed is verified revenue — not speculation, not guidance, not estimates.

Sources

GovSpend FY24 Analysis U.S. GAO FY2024 Dashboard Defense Security Monitor Top 100

All data from publicly available government and research sources.

Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research before making investment decisions.

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