Aerospace stocks have struggled for a couple of reasons lately. Business conditions aren't one of them.

Late Monday, AAR, a provider of aerospace aftermarket parts and service, reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter numbers and raised full-year guidance. It also bought a company. Shares were rising in early trading on Tuesday.

For the quarter, AAR reported earnings per share of $1.49 on sales of $918 million. Wall Street was looking for $1.29 and $879 million, respectively. A year ago, AAR reported earnings per share of $1.08 on sales of $740 million, according to FactSet.

It's a solid beat. Management raised sales growth guidance to a "low teens" percentage from "low double-digit to low teens."

There was even an acquisition. AAR is buying a controlling interest in MRO Holdings at an implied enterprise value of $4 billion. That's large for AAR. Its enterprise value, which is the value of its debt and equity combined, is about $5.4 billion, according to FactSet.

AAR shares were up 3.4% in premarket trading at $119, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.3%.

William Blair analyst Louie DiPalma wrote Tuesday that the acquisition "would provide a major scale increase," adding "this acquisition should turbocharge the cross-selling of heavy maintenance and component repair services for AAR's largest airline customers."

He rates shares Buy and doesn't have a price target. A Buy at Blair essentially means the broker expects a stock to outperform the market.

Things appear to be looking good in the aerospace sector. Investors wouldn't know it by looking at the stock prices. Coming into Tuesday trading, the iShares Aerospace & Defense ETF was down about 14% since the start of the Iran war, trailing the S&P 500 by about 26 percentage points.

Rising oil prices have weighed on investor sentiment. Higher jet fuel prices can hurt demand for air travel. Defense multiples have also taken a hit, as investors worry that a split U.S. Congress after the midterm elections can pressure the defense budget. Boeing's new 737 MAX software glitch isn't helping either. When Boeing or Airbus experiences issues that can impact production, it reverberates through the entire aerospace supply chain.

Still, AAR's results are a reminder that things are OK. "The negative geopolitical narrative alongside rising fuel prices has continued to get louder in recent weeks," wrote Citi analyst John Godyn on Monday. "We've reminded investors multiple times that we've seen this movie before."

Rising fuel prices and geopolitical tensions drove down sector stocks after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. That year, aerospace stocks bottomed in October. He sees a similar pattern happening this year, with shares bouncing after the U.S. midterm elections.

That would be welcome for weary aerospace and defense investors.