Defense Contractor Earnings Not Hurt by Lower Budgets
Defense contractors General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman both reported first-quarter results before markets opened on Wednesday.
Defense contractors General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) and Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) both reported first-quarter results before markets opened on Wednesday.
General Dynamics posted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.14 on revenues of $7.78 billion, compared with year-ago EPS of $1.71 and $7.27 billion in revenues. Analysts had estimated EPS of $1.94 on revenues of $7.38 billion.
Northrop Grumman posted adjusted diluted EPS of $2.41 on revenues of $5.96 billion, which compares with year-ago EPS of $2.63 and $5.85 billion in revenues. Analysts had estimated EPS of $2.27 on revenues of $5.76 billion. The company’s EPS adjusted for after-tax pension expenses totaled $2.14.
Funded backlog at General Dynamics totaled $56 billion at the end of the quarter and its total backlog totaled $70.5 billion. The company repurchased 4.65 million of its outstanding shares in the first quarter, and in March the board of directors increased the company’s quarterly dividend to $0.69 per share.
General Dynamics CEO Phebe Novakovic said:
Looking ahead, we remain confident that General Dynamics is well-positioned for growth as we maximize the value of our strong backlog and continue to focus on program execution, operations and increasing return on invested capital.
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Over at Northrop, the company said it repurchased 5.3 million shares common stock for $859 million in the first quarter of 2015. As of March 31, 2015, Northrup had repurchased 47.5 million shares toward a previously announced buyback goal of 60 million shares by the end of 2015.
Northrop reported total backlog of $38.4 billion at the end of the first quarter, compared with $38.2 billion at the end of December. New awards posted in the first quarter of 2015 totaled $6.1 billion, and the book-to-bill ratio was 103%.
The company raised its full-year EPS guidance from a prior range of $9.20 to $9.50 to a new range of $9.40 to $9.50. Otherwise, guidance remained at the levels the company announced in January. Sales are projected in a range of $23.4 billion to $23.8 billion for the year. Consensus estimates for the second quarter call for EPS of $2.35 on revenues of $5.92 billion. For the full year, analysts are looking for EPS of $9.48 on revenues of $23.63 billion.
At General Dynamics, the consensus estimates for second quarter EPS are $2.01, on revenues of $7.62 billion. For the full year, analysts expect EPS of $8.35 on $31.37 billion in revenues.
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Shares of General Dynamics traded up about 4% early Wednesday morning, at $138.94 in a 52-week range of $107.84 to $146.13. The consensus price target on the stock is $157.93.
Northrop Grumman traded up about 0.7%, at $161.59 in a 52-week range of $117.50 to $172.30. The consensus price target is $164.38.
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Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.