Street consensus for Lockheed Martin (LMT, Financial) calls for EPS of $6.52 on sales of roughly $18.6 billion, implying an 8% bottom-line decline but 2% top-line growth versus the prior year. The stock has trailed the market year to date, and it trades closer to its 52-week low than its highs. It has consolidated around the same level since last quarter's call, so Tuesday's earnings release could finally set a new trend.
Lockheed reaffirmed full-year mid-single-digit sales growth with an 11% segment operating margin, so free-cash-flow cadence will matter as investors gauge whether it can hit the promised $6.6 to $6.8 billion for 2025. Investors will also watch whether management can accelerate F-35 deliveries after supply-chain hiccups trimmed Q1 deliveries, while missile programs and the Pentagon's emerging “Golden Dome” homeland-defense push could lift orders. Lastly, investors will listen for updates on Lot 18 definitization, TR-3 stability, the $173 billion backlog trajectory, and tariff-cost recovery.
Watch also for color on export authorizations, parts inflation and the timing of the next dividend hike.
