What Leidos Holdings (LDOS)'s New AI-Focused CTO Appointment Means For Shareholders

• Leidos Holdings has appointed Theodore "Ted" Tanner Jr. as its new chief technology officer, effective January 5, 2026, bringing experience from BigBear.ai, IBM Watson Health, and several AI-focused startups, while outgoing CTO Jim Carlini will remain as a senior advisor on national security.
• Tanner’s background in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cloud technologies, underscored by 18 U.S. patents and work across defense and healthcare, signals a deeper push by Leidos into advanced AI-driven solutions for government and commercial customers.
• With Tanner’s AI-heavy background now shaping technology decisions, we’ll explore how this leadership change may influence Leidos’ existing investment narrative.

Uncover the next big thing with financially sound penny stocks that balance risk and reward.

Leidos Holdings Investment Narrative Recap

To own Leidos today, you generally need to believe that long term demand for complex, tech heavy government solutions will stay resilient, and that the company can keep shifting toward higher margin, AI enabled contracts. The CTO transition to Ted Tanner looks incrementally positive for that AI narrative, but it does not change the nearer term swing factor, which is still exposure to U.S. federal budget decisions and potential pressure on large defense and security programs.

The recent Leidos and CargoSeer agreement, which folds trade analysis algorithms into the Mezzo platform for border inspections, ties directly into one of Leidos’ key catalysts: multi year funding for national security and border protection projects. It also shows how AI and data analytics are being embedded into existing platforms, which could matter for Leidos’ push toward software like, recurring revenue across customs, defense, and critical infrastructure customers.

Yet even with these AI focused wins, investors still need to think carefully about the risk that...

Read the full narrative on Leidos Holdings (it's free!)

Leidos Holdings' narrative projects $18.6 billion revenue and $1.5 billion earnings by 2028. This requires 3.0% yearly revenue growth and about a $0.1 billion earnings increase from $1.4 billion today.

Uncover how Leidos Holdings' forecasts yield a $218.08 fair value, a 18% upside to its current price.

Exploring Other Perspectives

Six members of the Simply Wall St Community see Leidos’ fair value between US$152.74 and US$298.53, showing very different expectations for upside. Set that against the AI driven contract catalyst described above, and it becomes clear why you may want to review several viewpoints before deciding how Leidos fits into your portfolio.

Explore 6 other fair value estimates on Leidos Holdings - why the stock might be worth as much as 62% more than the current price!

Build Your Own Leidos Holdings Narrative

Disagree with existing narratives? Create your own in under 3 minutes - extraordinary investment returns rarely come from following the herd.

• A great starting point for your Leidos Holdings research is our analysis highlighting 4 key rewards and 1 important warning sign that could impact your investment decision.
• Our free Leidos Holdings research report provides a comprehensive fundamental analysis summarized in a single visual - the Snowflake - making it easy to evaluate Leidos Holdings' overall financial health at a glance.

Seeking Other Investments?

Every day counts. These free picks are already gaining attention. See them before the crowd does:

• This technology could replace computers: discover 28 stocks that are working to make quantum computing a reality.
• The end of cancer? These 29 emerging AI stocks are developing tech that will allow early identification of life changing diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's.
• Trump has pledged to "unleash" American oil and gas and these 22 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com