Lockheed Martin misses on earnings, but the stock soars on what's to come
The company reported record deliveries of its F-35 fighter jet and a 9.1% increase in sales, but investors are looking further out
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Geopolitical tensions are good for the bottom line at Lockheed Martin $LMT, though not quite as good as analysts were hoping for.
The aerospace and defense company reported earnings of $5.80 per share in the fourth quarter, which was slightly below the $5.85 analysts were expecting. Investors shrugged off the miss, though, and opted to focus on the company's 2026 outlook and other future business.
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Shares of Lockheed Martin spiked more than 5% in pre-market trading Thursday.
The company's 2026 outlook is projecting net sales of $77.5 billion to $80 billion, which is in range (and perhaps slightly above) consensus estimates of $77.9 billion. In a separate release, however, Lockheed announced an agreement with the Department of Defense to "quadruple the production of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors, from 96 to 400 interceptors per year.”
Terms of that deal were not announced, but Lockheed said it would spend billions of dollars over the next three years to expand production and modernize over 20 facilities.
THADD interceptors weren't the only source of good news. Lockheed said it saw record deliveries of its stealth F-35 fighter jets in the fourth quarter, which led to a 9.1% increase in sales. And investors seem encouraged after Donald Trump said the defense budget for fiscal 2027 could reach as high as $1.5 trillion.
Lockheed's earnings follow a quarterly sales jump of 57% at Boeing $BA, reported earlier this week. That airline manufacturer brought in $23.9 billion in the final quarter of 2025, a 57% increase over the same period in 2024 and delivered 600 airplanes last year, compared to 348 a year earlier.