Lockheed Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates, Sales Increase Year Over Year

Lockheed Martin Corporation LMT reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $7.94 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.22 by 10%. The bottom line increased 8.9% from the year-ago quarter's reported figure of $7.29.

Operational Highlights of Lockheed

Net sales were $20.06 billion, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $19.34 billion by 3.7%. The top line inched up 10.5% from $18.16 billion reported in the year-ago quarter.

The year-over-year improvement was driven by higher sales growth registered by LMT’s business segments.

Lockheed Martin Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Lockheed Martin Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Lockheed Martin Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Lockheed Martin Corporation Quote

LMT’s Backlog

LMT’s backlog as of June 28, 2026, was $230.42 billion compared with $193.62 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025.

The Aeronautics segment accounted for $54.36 billion of the total backlog amount, while the Missiles and Fire Control segment contributed $87.88 billion. The Rotary and Mission Systems segment contributed $48.45 billion, while the Space unit accounted for $39.72 billion.

Lockheed’s Segmental Performance

Aeronautics: Sales increased 9.3% year over year to $8.11 billion. The increase was primarily driven by higher sales from the F 35 program.

The segment reported an operating profit of $760 million against the operating loss of $98 million in the year-ago quarter. The operating margin expanded 1070 basis points (bps) to 9.4%.

Missiles and Fire Control: Quarterly sales improved a solid 19.5% year over year to $4.10 billion. This was on account of higher sales from integrated air and missile defense programs, as well as tactical and strike missile programs.

The segment’s operating profit increased to $594 million from $479 million in the prior-year quarter. The operating margin expanded 50 bps to 14.5%.

Space: The top line improved 5.7% year over year to $3.50 billion, driven by higher sales from strategic and missile defense programs.

The segment’s operating profit increased to $371 million. The operating margin contracted 30 bps to 10.6%.

Rotary and Mission Systems: Quarterly revenues increased 7.8% to $4.35 billion on a year-over-year basis, driven by higher sales of Sikorsky helicopter programs.

The segment reported an operating profit of $437 million against the operating loss of $172 million in the second quarter of 2025. The operating margin contracted 1430 bps to 10%.

Financial Condition of LMT

Lockheed’s cash and cash equivalents totaled $3.79 billion as of June 28, 2026, compared with $4.12 billion at the end of 2025.

Cash from operating activities amounted to $3.46 billion as of June 28, 2026, compared with $1.61 billion a year ago.

Long-term debt as of June 28, 2026, totaled $20.54 billion compared with $20.53 billion at the end of 2025.

Lockheed’s 2026 Guidance

Lockheed expects to generate sales in the range of $79.75-$81.75 billion in 2026 compared with its previous guidance of $77.50-$80.00 billion. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $79.16 billion, which lies above the midpoint of the company’s sales guidance.

LMT expects to generate adjusted EPS in the range of $29.95-$30.65 compared with its previous guidance of $29.35-$30.25. The consensus estimate is currently pegged at $29.97 per share, which lies above the midpoint of the company’s guidance.

Lockheed expects to generate cash from operations in the range of $9.20-$9.40 billion.

It expects capital expenditure of approximately $2.00-$2.40 billion.

Lockheed expects to generate a free cash flow of approximately $7.00-$7.20 billion.

LMT’s Zacks Rank

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

Recent Defense Releases

Teledyne Technologies Inc. TDY reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $6.28 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.78 by 8.7%. The bottom line also improved 20.8% from $5.20 recorded in the year-ago quarter.

Total sales were $1.66 billion, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.57 billion by 5.9%. The top line also jumped 9.8% from $1.51 billion reported in the year-ago quarter.

Northrop Grumman Corporation NOC reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $7.68 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.84 by 12.3%. The bottom line, however, declined 5.8% from the year-ago quarter’s level of $8.15.

NOC’s total sales of $10.88 billion in the second quarter beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $10.80 billion by 0.7%. The top line also improved 5.1% from $10.35 billion reported in the year-ago quarter.

AAR Corp. AIR reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.53 per share, which topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.41 by 8.5%. The bottom line also improved 31.9% from the year-ago quarter’s level of $1.16.

In the fourth quarter, AAR generated net sales of $928 million. The reported figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $892 million by 4%. The figure also increased 23% from $754.5 million recorded in the year-ago quarter.

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Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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