Companies making billions from the Iran war: who is profiting

Since the outbreak of the Iran war, a number of energy and defence companies have reported materially higher profits and expanding order books, benefiting from surging commodity prices and elevated military procurement.

A clear case is BP, which Reuters reports posted an underlying replacement cost profit of $3.2 billion in the first quarter — a sharp year-on-year rise attributable in part to war-driven trading and higher energy margins. Other international oil majors have recorded similar windfalls as supply disruptions pushed prices higher.

On the defence side, major US and Israeli contractors have enjoyed strong share-price performance and larger contract inflows, as demand for missiles, interceptors and layered air-defence systems surged. Production bottlenecks in specialised components have supported pricing power for certain suppliers.

Market ramifications are mixed: elevated oil and gas prices have added upward pressure to inflation measures while investors have rotated capital into defence equities, lifting valuations in the sector. Reuters factboxes and market reports detail how the conflict has disrupted global supply chains for commodities and intermediate goods, changing risk premia across asset classes.

Analysts caution that while near-term profits for energy and defence firms may persist, the outlook remains contingent on diplomatic developments, re-routed trade flows and potential policy responses such as windfall taxes. Independent research has also highlighted how Russia and other major exporters have benefited from the energy-price shock, underlining the wider geopolitical and fiscal implications of the revenue shifts.