Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC)

What does SAIC own?
SAIC operates as a single-brand government technology services company. The company does not own separate consumer brands but provides services including IT modernization, cybersecurity, AI and data analytics, engineering services, and space systems support to U.S. government agencies. SAIC's primary asset is its workforce of approximately 24,000 employees, including approximately 18,000 with government security clearances.

Is SAIC publicly traded?
Yes, SAIC is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SAIC. The company has been publicly traded since its 2006 IPO. Major institutional holders include Vanguard Group, BlackRock, and State Street Global Advisors. The company's market capitalization was approximately $6.5 billion as of mid-2025.

Who founded SAIC?
SAIC was founded in 1969 by J. Robert Beyster, a physicist who had worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory and General Atomics. Beyster established the company in La Jolla, California, with a vision of a science and technology company owned by its employees. SAIC pioneered the employee-ownership model in the defense contracting industry. Beyster retired as CEO in 2003 and passed away in 2014.

Is SAIC the same as Leidos?
No. SAIC and Leidos were once the same company but split into two separate publicly traded companies in 2013. The government IT services business retained the SAIC name, while the larger technical services and science business was renamed Leidos Holdings. The split was motivated by Federal Acquisition Regulation provisions that prevented the combined company from bidding on certain contracts due to organizational conflicts of interest. Today, Leidos is approximately twice the size of SAIC by revenue.

How much revenue does SAIC generate?
SAIC reported FY2025 (ending January 31, 2025) revenue of $7.4 billion, up 2% year over year, with net income of $337 million and diluted EPS of $6.27. The company's backlog at the end of FY2025 was approximately $12 billion. In Q1 FY2026 (ending May 2, 2025), SAIC reported revenue of $1.9 billion, up 2% year over year.

Who owns SAIC?
SAIC is publicly owned with no controlling shareholder. Major institutional holders include Vanguard Group, BlackRock, and State Street Global Advisors. CEO Toni Townes-Whitley leads the company, having joined in October 2023. The board of directors is chaired by Donna Morea.

SAIC was founded in 1969 by J. Robert Beyster, a physicist who had worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory and General Atomics. Beyster established the company in La Jolla, California, with a vision of a science and technology company owned by its employees. SAIC pioneered the employee-ownership model in the defense contracting industry, with employees holding shares through an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) and direct stock purchases. This model aligned employee interests with company performance and helped SAIC attract and retain technical talent.

SAIC grew steadily through the 1970s and 1980s, winning contracts with the Department of Defense, intelligence agencies, and other government customers. The company's technical expertise in areas including nuclear physics, systems engineering, and information technology made it a trusted partner for complex government programs. By the 1990s, SAIC had grown to over 30,000 employees and was one of the largest employee-owned companies in the United States.

SAIC went public in 2006, ending its 37-year history as a private employee-owned company. The IPO valued the company at approximately $8 billion. J. Robert Beyster retired as CEO in 2003 and published a book about SAIC's employee-ownership model. He passed away in 2014.

In 2013, SAIC underwent a major restructuring. The company split into two separate publicly traded companies: the government IT services business retained the SAIC name, while the larger technical services and science business was renamed Leidos Holdings. The split was motivated by Federal Acquisition Regulation provisions that prevented the combined company from bidding on certain contracts due to organizational conflicts of interest (OCIs). The separation created two independent companies, each with approximately $4 billion in revenue at the time.

Following the 2013 separation, SAIC pursued an aggressive acquisition strategy to expand its capabilities and scale:

• Scitor Holdings (2015): Acquired for approximately $790 million, expanding SAIC's intelligence community presence and adding approximately 1,500 cleared employees.
• Engility (2019): Acquired for approximately $2.5 billion in an all-stock transaction, significantly expanding government services capabilities and adding approximately 5,000 employees. The Engility acquisition made SAIC the second-largest government IT services contractor by revenue.
• Unisys Federal (2020): Acquired for approximately $1.2 billion, strengthening federal IT services and adding cloud migration and infrastructure management capabilities.
• Halfaker and Associates (2021): Acquired to expand healthcare IT capabilities, particularly within the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense Health Agency.
• SilverEdge Government Solutions (2022): Acquired to expand AI, cybersecurity, and data analytics capabilities for defense and intelligence customers.

In 2023, Toni Townes-Whitley succeeded Nazzic Keene as CEO, becoming the first woman and first African American to lead the company. Under Townes-Whitley's leadership, SAIC has focused on integrating AI into government services, expanding cloud and digital transformation offerings, and improving operational margins through process optimization and facility consolidation.

In FY2025, SAIC continued to pursue strategic contract wins, including task orders under the General Services Administration's ASTRO contract vehicle for IT and cybersecurity services. The company also invested in AI capabilities, launching an AI Center of Excellence to help government agencies adopt AI technologies in compliance with federal guidelines.

SAIC has faced scrutiny over government contracting practices. In 2012, the original SAIC (before the Leidos split) agreed to pay $500 million to settle claims related to a New York City payroll system project (CityTime) that was plagued by cost overruns and technical failures. The CityTime project, which began as a $63 million contract, grew to over $600 million, and several individuals were convicted of fraud. The settlement was one of the largest ever paid by a government contractor for project-related misconduct.

As a major defense contractor, SAIC is subject to ongoing oversight by the Department of Defense Inspector General, the Government Accountability Office, and congressional oversight committees. The company must comply with complex procurement regulations including the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), and various agency-specific regulations.

SAIC faces ongoing challenges related to organizational conflicts of interest (OCIs), which can arise when the company provides advisory services to an agency on a procurement and then bids on the resulting contract. SAIC maintains OCI mitigation procedures, including organizational and contractual firewalls, to prevent conflicts.

The company is also subject to cybersecurity regulations including CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) requirements for defense contractors and FedRAMP compliance for cloud services. SAIC's own IT systems must meet stringent security requirements to process classified and sensitive government information.