Lockheed Martin has raised its sales and earnings guidance for full year fiscal 2026 (FY26) following a robust third quarter (Q3), supported by growth in each of its four business segments.
During the quarter ended 27 September, the company’s sales reached $20.7bn, up 11% from $18.6bn for the same period a year earlier.
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
All four of the company’s business segments contributed to this expansion, with an overall sales increase of 11%.
Aeronautics posted a 13% year-on-year sales increase, reaching $8.21bn largely from higher volumes in the F-35 programme and liquidation of pre-contract costs on the C-130. However, this was partially offset by lower F-16 production and unfavourable profit adjustments.
The Missiles and Fire Control segment saw the strongest growth, with a 24% increase in sales, attributed to higher demand for systems including Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3), Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS), and Precision Strike Missile (PrSM).
Rotary and Mission Systems grew 3%, with increased radar programme activity, while Space posted a 4% sales rise, led by the Fleet Ballistic Missile and Next Generation Interceptor programmes.
During the quarter, Lockheed Martin’s net earnings rose by 14% to $1.8bn, which translates to diluted earnings per share of $7.97.
The rise in profitability was attributed to higher consolidated operating profit, up $163m over last year, driven by increased volume in munitions and aeronautics.
The company also stated that its backlog grew by 27% since the previous quarter to reach $292bn.
Lockheed Martin chairman, president and CEO Jim Taiclet said: “Our strong third quarter performance underscores Lockheed Martin’s continuing leadership in the development and delivery of advanced and reliable defence technology solutions.
“Every day, our research, engineering and production teams are putting highly effective and scalable capabilities in the field. We strive to improve mission performance on a continuous basis by combining proven systems like Aegis, F-35, and Hellfire with the latest digital technologies including AI and Autonomy. We are doing this by integrating our internal innovative solutions with those of start-ups, new entrants into our industry, and commercial technology leaders.”
Looking forward, Lockheed Martin has raised its full-year net sales guidance to between $80bn and $82bn, compared to its previous range of $79.75bn to $81.75bn.
The full-year operating profit forecast was also adjusted upward, now expected between $8.575bn and $8.675bn.
Diluted earnings per share guidance increased notably to $30.35 to $30.75, up from $29.95 to $30.65. Capital expenditure guidance was narrowed to $2.1bn to $2.3bn.
“The sustained financial momentum across our portfolio gives us confidence to increase our outlook for sales, earnings per share and free cash flow, the second consecutive quarter we have raised our financial guidance,” Jim Taiclet added.
Recently, the US Department of War and Lockheed Martin unveiled a proposed 10-year framework covering the production and sustainment of 850 US F-35 Lightning II aircraft.
