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Ducommun makes small but critical metal and electronic parts that go into airplanes, missiles, and spacecraft.
Ducommun is a parts supplier for the aerospace and defense world. It doesn't build whole planes or rockets. Instead, it makes the components that go inside them — things like structural assemblies, fuselage parts, and electronic systems that help a missile guide itself or an aircraft communicate. Its customers are the big names in the industry: Boeing, Airbus, Lockheed Martin, and other defense contractors and space companies.
The business splits into two main pieces. One is structural systems, which is the metal-bending side: Ducommun cuts, forms, and assembles metal parts for aircraft. The other is electronic systems, where it builds circuit boards, sensors, and other electronics, often for defense programs like the F-35. It also has a small but interesting niche in space, where it makes components that end up on satellites and rockets. Customers don't come to Ducommun because it has a famous brand. They come because these parts have to work perfectly, and switching suppliers on an aircraft program means years of re-certification. That creates sticky, long-term relationships. Ducommun has been around a long time — its roots go back to 1849, when it started as a watchmaking parts business in California. Today it's headquartered in Santa Ana, California. Over the years it shifted entirely into aerospace and defense, and it's spent the last decade buying smaller companies to widen what it can make. That roll-up strategy has made it a bigger player, but it also means the company carries debt and must keep integrating acquisitions well.
The core risk is the same one every aerospace supplier faces: the business rises and falls with airplane production rates and defense budgets. When Boeing cuts production or a big defense program gets delayed, Ducommun feels it. On the flip side, demand for new planes and missiles is strong, and there are only so many suppliers certified to make these parts. Ducommun reported roughly $780 million in revenue in 2023, and it leans on free cash flow to pay down debt from its acquisitions rather than paying a big dividend.
Saved answer · last researched 27 Oct 2026