Lockheed (LMT) Wins $870M Deal to Modify F-35 Aircraft

Lockheed Martin Corp.’s LMT business unit, Aeronautics, recently secured a modification contract involving the F-35A, F-35B and F-35C aircraft. The deal has been offered by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD.

Details of the Deal

Valued at $869.9 million, the contract is expected to be completed by December 2026. Per the terms of the deal, Lockheed will integrate mission and weapon systems capability development, including flight-test hardware, through system functional review to complete development tests on the F-35 aircraft.
The majority of the work related to this deal will be executed in Fort Worth, TX.

Benefits of the Deal

Supported by an international team of leading aerospace majors, F-35 enjoys a strong global presence, with the program having eight international partners, including Italy, Australia, Norway, Denmark and Canada. The company now has eight foreign military sales customers that are procuring and operating the F-35 — Israel, Japan, South Korea, Poland, Belgium, Singapore, Switzerland and Finland. This reflects on the huge demand that this jet program enjoys worldwide.
 
As a result, Lockheed is witnessing a consistent inflow of contracts for the production, delivery of associated spare parts and other deals related to the F-35 jet program. Such contract wins, including the latest one, are expected to boost Lockheed Martin's top line in the days ahead.

Growth Prospects

Per a Research and Markets report, the global combat aircraft market is expected to witness a CAGR of 4% during the 2020-2025 time period. Such growth can be attributed to a rise in global threats and geopolitical instabilities and increased spending on defense. These projections should benefit Lockheed along with other combat jet manufacturers like Northrop Grumman NOC, Boeing BA and Textron TXT.

Since its inception, Northrop Grumman has been a pioneer in the development of manned aircraft for combat. NOC also has a tradition of providing technological leadership in all aspects of military aviation and aircraft, such as manned, unmanned, targeting, surveillance and aircraft self-protection systems that enable warfighters to accomplish missions anytime, anywhere and under any conditions.

Northrop Grumman reported fourth-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings of $6 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.95 by 0.8%. NOC stock has gained 53.3% in the past year.

Boeing’s Defense, Space & Security segment’s primary products include fixed-wing military aircraft, F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, F-15 programs, P-8 programs, KC-46A Tanker and T-7A Red Hawk. The segment also produces rotorcraft and rotary-wing programs such as CH-47 Chinook, AH-64 Apache and V-22 Osprey.

Boeing’s backlog at the end of fourth-quarter 2021 increased to $377.50 billion from $363.40 billion at the end of 2020. BA stock boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 4%.

Textron’s business unit, Textron Aviation Defense, designs, builds and supports versatile and globally-known military aircraft preferred for training and attack missions. Some of Textron’s renowned products include Beechcraft T-6C trainer and AT-6 Wolverine.

Textron reported adjusted earnings of $3.30 per share in 2021, up from 2020 earnings of $2.07 per share. TXT stock has gained 36.6% in the past year.

Price Movement and Zacks Rank

Shares of Lockheed Martin have gained 34.1% in the past year against the industry's decline of 27.9%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Lockheed currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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