Al Root
Investors want to see Lockheed Martin's earnings, due Tuesday morning, as well as to understand how the changes unleashed by the Trump administration will affect the company in 2025 and beyond.
According to FactSet, the consensus forecasts on Wall Street are for an operating profit of $2.1 billion, earnings per share of $6.34, and sales of $17.8 billion. A year ago, Lockheed reported an operating profit of $2 billion and EPS of $6.33 from sales of $17.2 billion.
What management says about the outlook will matter, too. In January, Lockheed said sales in 2025 should land between $73.8 billion and $74.8 billion, a range whose midpoint, $74.3 billion, was higher than the $73.1 billion Wall Street projected. Operating-profit margins, however, were expected to be just below 11%, a touch below the figure for 2024 and narrower than Wall Street had anticipated.
Beyond all that, investors want clarity on military spending and priorities at the Pentagon, to the extent the company can provide it.
Every new administration brings change, but the early days of the Trump administration have been relatively chaotic. Over the weekend, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth came under scrutiny for a second instance in which he used the Signal app, rather than secure government channels, to discuss a military strike on Houthi rebels. President Donald Trump defended Hegseth on Monday, saying he is "doing a great job."
At the same time, investors are trying to discern the president's spending priorities as Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency looks to cut waste. Musk has also been critical of manned fighter jets like Lockheed's F-35, which can cost some $100 million per plane.
Lockheed expects to deliver between 170 and 190 F-35 jets in 2025.
Coming into Tuesday trading, Lockheed stock was down about 16% since the Nov. 5 presidential election, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen 11% and 10%, respectively. The declines left the stock trading for about 17 times the earnings per share expected for 2025, down from about 18 times a year ago.
Options markets imply shares will move about 4%, up or down, following earnings. Shares have moved about 5% following the prior four earnings reports, falling three times and rising once over that span.
Management hosts a conference call at 11 a.m. Eastern time to discuss the results.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 21, 2025 16:26 ET (20:26 GMT)
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