Back in the early part of the year when Elon Musk was slashing federal budgets as part of his DOGE initiative, it brought into question whether BigBear.ai’s (BBAI) military-focused business strategy might be in peril.
But with BigBear’s stock up 49.4% so far this year – and its market cap now at $1.9 billion – the company appears to have put any concerns about its strategy to rest.
What has helped drive this growth is the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) push to modernize its military operations through the kinds of AI-powered decision intelligence tools that BigBear builds for defense and national security.
Central to these offerings is its Virtual Anticipation Network (VANE) platform, which uses automated machine learning, tensor completion, and scenario forecasting to give the military a more accurate interpretation of data in order to optimize decision-making, and improve situational awareness.
The American military and its allies recently tested the VANE platform as part of the U.S. Army’s Project Convergence Capstone 5 (PC-C5), which aims “to integrate resources and technologies in support of defense transformation efforts for future warfighters,” according to a press release.
The PC-C5 experiment allowed the multinational military forces to test Next Generation Command Control (NGC2) systems using relevant AI models.
“BigBear.ai is proud that VANE continues to demonstrate operational value in real-world exercises and experiments like PC-C5, involving forces from multiple nations,” Ryan Legge, President of National Security at BigBear.ai, said in a statement.
“These environments validate the critical role AI plays in supporting faster, more accurate decision-making for warfighters,” he added. “The feedback we received will inform future enhancements to better serve our mission partners.”
Growing beyond the military – and the U.S.
But BigBear has been expanding its national security solutions beyond just the military.
The company has now also deployed its biometric software used for enhanced passenger processing at numerous airports across North America.
The enhanced processing of airline passengers “requires near seamless integration of advanced biometrics, AI, and operational infrastructure – this is where BigBear.ai excels,” CEO Kevin McAleenan said in a statement.
The solution was developed by Pangiam, which BigBear acquired in March 2024. Pangiam creates Vision AI for the global trade, travel and digital identity industries.
BigBear also began its international expansion last month with a partnership in the United Arab Emirates aimed at accelerating the research, development and deployment of AI-enabled solutions across the UAE.
Wall Street has taken notice of this momentum.
Analysts at the investment bank H.C. Wainwright raised its price target for BigBear’s shares to $9.00 from $6.00.
The stock was priced at $6.65 at the close of trading on Tuesday.
The firm noted the company’s outperformance over the past six months, driven by “new customer and contract momentum as well as favorable underlying secular trends in AI driven defense and security.”
The bank also pointed to the “encouraging signs that the company’s products are resonating across key growth verticals,” which includes “border security, defense, intelligence, and critical infrastructure.”
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