Lockheed Martin Could Lose Altitude While Waiting for F-35 to Soar

Lockheed Martin Could Lose Altitude While Waiting for F-35 to Soar

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) delivered an unpleasant third-quarter surprise, missing on both sales and profit estimates. Much of the issue appears to be timing, and after dropping 2.36% on Tuesday following the announcement, the shares were green a day later. But if nothing else, the results are a reminder of the risks associated with a company increasingly reliant on one single, massive program, no matter how promising that program is.

The F-35 flies its aerial demonstration debut at the 2017 Paris Air Show. Image source: Lockheed Martin via Flickr.

Lockheed generated income of $939 million, or $3.24 per share, on sales of $12.2 billion, falling short of consensus expectations of $3.26 per share in earnings on $12.81 billion in revenue. The company did increase its full-year 2017 sales forecast to $51.2 billion, from $50 billion, and said it ended the quarter with a record $104 billion backlog of future business.

Continue reading

Source: Fool.com