The 11/13 Paris terrorist attacks and stock prices: The case of the international defense industry

•The study explores the impact of the Paris terrorist attacks on stock returns.•Stock returns for the defense industry.•The methodology of the traditional event study is followed.•The attacks support rising cumulative abnormal returns over the post-attack period. This study explores the impact of the Paris terrorist attacks on the stock returns of the most important companies in the global defense industry. The investigation is carried out using the traditional event study methodology. The findings are suggestive that this terrorist attacks event supports an upward trend in cumulative abnormal returns across all companies over the post-attack period, implying a positive effect of the attacks on the defensive companies’ stock returns.