Financial performance analysis of defense industry companies in Borsa İstanbul

The Turkish defense industry sector has become one of the most important sectors in the country in terms of leading other sectors with the contributions it has made to the national economy, in which large technological and financial investments are made. Companies operating in the defense industry sector in Turkey need to improve their financial performance in order to be more competitive both nationally and globally with the ability to provide Turkish Armed Forces with fully domestic and national defense equipment in to make a profit which is their main objective. Knowledge and control of the financial performance of businesses is an important consideration for business managers, shareholders, lenders, potential investors, and related institutions. In this study, the financial ratios of 3 companies operating in the defense industry sector, whose shares are traded in Borsa Istanbul (BIST), were determined using the financial statements between 2010 and 2019. In line with these data, decision criteria and 3 firms according to these decision criteria were evaluated by 7 experts experienced in 3 business areas with the help of linguistic variables. The data from the experts were transformed into triangular fuzzy number system and the Fuzzy TOPSIS (Tecnique for Order Preference by Smilarity to Ideal Solution) method was applied. Defense industry companies were ranked from best to worst according to their closeness coefficients. As a result, Aselsan Electronic Industry and Trading A.Ş. first, Otokar Automotive Defense Industry A.Ş. second, Katmerciler on-board Equipment Industry and Trading A.Ş the last has been. When it is necessary to choose between different stocks in the same sector in stock investments, the Fuzzy TOPSIS method can be used as an alternative tool for stock investor in their analysis and investment decisions. In addition, Fuzzy TOPSIS method can be said to be an appropriate method for evaluating the performance of businesses operating in other sectors.