Rolls-Royce shares hit a record after the report. They are growing faster than Nvidia securities

Shares of British aerospace giant Rolls-Royce soared to an all-time high in London trading, adding more than 8% after the publication of its financial statements and the announcement of a record buyback of its own shares. Rolls-Royce shares have risen almost 15 times over the past three years, outperforming even Nvidia, the undisputed leader in the global market for artificial intelligence chips.

The cost of shares of Rolls-Royce at trading in London rose at the moment by 8.4% - up to 1420 pence (14.2 pounds or $19.23). It became a new record of cost for all time of securities circulation on the exchange.

Rolls-Royce's papers have nearly doubled in value over the past year, putting the company in the top 10 largest companies in the leading British stock index, the FTSE 100, the Financial Times noted.

Counting from the lowest point of the company's stock drop at the end of 2022, the return on Rolls-Royce shares amounted to 1,383%, MarketWatch calculated. That's better than the world's most expensive company, processor maker Nvidia, whose shares rose 1,239% over the same period, according to the publication.

Rolls-Royce on Wednesday, February 26, announced a buyback program of 7-9 billion pounds ($12 billion) for the period 2026-2028. Moreover, the buyback of shares for 2.5 billion pounds ($3.3 billion) will be completed already this year. This volume exceeded all analysts' expectations and became one of the largest such programs in the corporate history of Great Britain, Bloomberg reports.

This is the second year in a row that Rolls-Royce has announced a share buyback after a decade-long hiatus. Last year, the company bought its securities for 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion), The Wall Street Journal emphasizes.

Notably, the buyback decision comes a month after US President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at combating budget overruns and delays on defense contracts, the WSJ explains. The executive order prohibits defense contractors from paying dividends or buybacks until they can "produce a superior product on time and on budget."

Rolls-Royce CEO Tufan Erginbilgic said the company is complying with U.S. government requirements, and he does not believe the shareholder payout plans will affect relations with the U.S. administration. Rolls-Royce makes engines for key U.S. Department of Defense programs; the company employs more than 6,000 people in the country and has its main hub in Indianapolis, the WSJ notes.

Rolls-Royce's key financials for 2025 have shown exceptional momentum, writes WSJ. The company's underlying operating profit jumped 40.65% to 3.46 billion pounds ($4.68 billion), while underlying revenue rose to 20.06 billion pounds ($27 billion, up from 17.85 billion pounds a year earlier).

The company's success in 2025 was underpinned by strong growth in all key divisions. The Power Systems department increased revenue by 19%, driven by the global boom in data center construction, which is massively using Rolls-Royce generator sets to provide uninterrupted power, CNBC notes .

The civil aviation sector, which remains the largest driver of the company's revenues, demonstrated growth of 15% due to the supply of engines for aircraft giants Boeing and Airbus. In addition, the defense division showed positive dynamics, with its revenue increasing by 8% against the background of the overall growth in military expenditures.

According to updated forecasts, the company expects to bring underlying operating profit to between 4.9 billion and 5.2 billion pounds ($6.63 billion and $7.04 billion) by 2028, with operating margins that could reach 20%.

Interactive Investor analyst Richard Hunter said this "brilliant set of results" dispelled any doubts about the group's ambitions, the WSJ wrote. Bernstein analysts called the new 2026 and 2028 targets "very strong," adding that the mid-term outlook update beat market expectations and will lead to a massive upward revision of earnings estimates.

Rolls-Royce is in the midst of a three-year transformation under the leadership of Tufan Erginbilgic, who is aggressively cutting costs and revitalizing previously frozen projects.

"Our transformation continues with speed and intensity," said Erginbilgic, "We are consistently achieving results that were not possible before these reforms began.

The top manager also said that the next big opportunity for the company will be the market for narrow-body aircraft engines, which is estimated at 1.6 trillion pounds ($2.17 trillion). Rolls-Royce plans to build such turbines in partnership with other players and is already in talks with the UK government for financial support, the Financial Times notes.

Market opinion is leaning towards a positive assessment of Rolls Royce shares. 12 analysts believe that its securities are worth buying, and another four analysts advise to hold.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor