Lockheed Martin (LMT) posted stronger-than-expected second quarter earnings Tuesday but fell light on revenues as supply chain snarls clipped overall sales in all four of its business divisions apart from aeronautics.
Lockheed Martin said earnings for the three months ending in March came in at $6.44 per share, down less than 1% from the same period last year and firmly ahead of the Street consensus forecast of $6.21 per share. Group revenues, Lockheed Martin said, fell 7.7% to $14.96 billion, just shy of analysts' estimates of a $15.5 billion tally.
The group repeated that it sees 2022 sales of around $66 billion with diluted earnings in the region of $26.70 to $27.00 per share.
"Lockheed Martin had a solid start to the year by delivering margin expansion and free cash flow above our expectations despite recent Covid-surge impacts on our operations and supply chain," said CEO James Taiclet. "We remain confident in our guidance for the remainder of the year and our growth outlook beyond."
"Global events this quarter marked a dramatic change in the geopolitical environment and demonstrated the tremendous importance of an effective deterrent to aggression by major nation-states, and mutual defense among the United States and its allies," he added.
Lockheed shares were marked 0.5% lower in early Tuesday trading immediately following earnings release to change hands at $465.30 each, a move that still leaves the stock with a year-to-date gain of around 31.3%.
Last month, the German government agreed to buy 35 new F-35A fighter jets from Lockheed as it replaces its existing fleet of Tornado aircraft and ramps-up military spending in the wake of Russia's three week war on Ukraine.
Europe's largest economy said last month that it would boost military spending to around 2% of GDP as part of a plan that new Chancellor Olaf Scholz told an extraordinary session of parliament on February 27 was aimed at "investing more in the security of our country to protect our freedom and democracy."
