Northrop Grumman Corporation NOC is scheduled to report first-quarter 2025 results on April 22, before market open.

The company delivered a four-quarter average earnings surprise of 8.13%. The strong revenue performance across three of its segments is likely to have contributed to its earnings. (Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)

Aeronautics Systems is Likely to Have Boosted the Top Line

Higher production volume of B-21 and F-35 aircraft, increased E-2 fleet sustainment and modernization work, higher Triton LRIP production volume and an increase in Global Hawk sustainment activities are likely to have boosted the first-quarter revenue performance of the Aeronautics Systems segment.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the segment’s revenues is pegged at $3,171.5 million, indicating a rise of 6.8% from the year-ago quarter’s figure.

Northrop Grumman Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

Northrop Grumman Corporation price-eps-surprise | Northrop Grumman Corporation Quote

Defense Systems Reflects Solid Growth Potential

Higher sales volumes from the Sentinel program and international ammunition sales, as well as ramp-up on the Stand-in Attack Weapon program and increased orders for the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System program, are likely to have aided the Defense unit’s revenue performance.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Defense Systems’ revenues is pegged at $1,886.1 million, indicating an increase of 33.6% from the year-ago quarter’s number.

Mission Systems to Remain Solid

Higher sales volume from restricted advanced microelectronics and technology programs, along with increased marine systems sales, is expected to have favorably impacted Mission Systems’ revenue performance.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Mission System’s first-quarter revenues is pegged at $2,763.4 million, indicating growth of 3.9% from the year-ago quarter’s actual.

Space Systems to Reflect Dismal Performance

The Space System segment’s revenues are likely to have been adversely impacted primarily due to the wind-down of the company’s work on the restricted space and NGI programs.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Space System’s revenues is pegged at $2,657.9 million, implying a decrease of 27.3% from the year-ago quarter’s number.

Backlog Projections

Our model estimates NOC’s first-quarter backlog to increase 16.5% year over year to $91.98 billion.

Q1 Estimates

With three of NOC’s segments likely to report a year-over-year improvement in sales, one can be optimistic about its top-line results. However, the decline in the Space Systems segment is likely to have had some adverse impact on its overall revenue performance.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for sales is pegged at $10.05 billion, indicating a slip of 0.8% from the prior-year figure.

Favorable operating margin performance expected from its business segments, backed by the continuation of NOC’s efficiency and productivity initiatives as well as international growth, is likely to have aided its first-quarter 2025 earnings performance.

However, lower FAS/CAS pension adjustment and higher corporate unallocated expenses are projected to hurt NOC’s overall bottom-line results.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NOC’s first-quarter earnings is pegged at $6.27 per share, indicating a drop of 0.8% from the prior-year figure.

What the Zacks Model Unveils

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for NOC this time. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat, which is not the case here, as you will see below.

Earnings ESP: NOC has an Earnings ESP of -2.74%. You can uncover the best stocks before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: NOC currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Stocks to Consider

Below, we have mentioned the following players from the same industry that have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings in the upcoming releases.

The Boeing Company BA is set to report first-quarter 2025 earnings on April 23, 2025, before market open. It has an Earnings ESP of +12.72% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BA’s loss is pegged at $1.56 per share. The consensus estimate for its sales is pegged at $19.15 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 15.6%.

General Dynamics GD is set to report its first-quarter 2025 results on April 23, before market open. It has an Earnings ESP of +0.83% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GD’s earnings is pegged at $3.47 per share, indicating year-over-year growth of 20.5%. The consensus estimate for its sales is pegged at $11.84 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 10.4%.

RTX Corporation RTX is set to report its first-quarter results on April 22, before market open. It has an Earnings ESP of +3.76% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RTX’s earnings is pegged at $1.34 per share. The consensus estimate for its sales is pegged at $19.76 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 2.4%.

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The Boeing Company (BA) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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