Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) reported first-quarter earnings prior to opening bell, coming out ahead of consensus and sending shares jumping in pre-market trades. Shares were up as much as 5 percent pre-market.
The company posted a 14.8 percent net income increase. Cash from operations was reported to be $2.1 billion, which is a significant increase from $458 million in the same quarter a year ago. Net sales declined slightly to $11.1 billion, compared to $11.3 billion in the same quarter a year ago. The company’s net first-quarter earnings were $761 million or $2.33 per diluted share. Analysts had been expecting earnings per share of $2.04 on revenue of $10.33 billion.
The weapons supplier warned that its annual revenues would likely be at the low end of guidance because of military budget cuts in the U.S. Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) is the biggest weapons supplier for the Pentagon.
The company said it expects full-year revenue of around $44.5 billion. It said U.S. budget cuts will likely trim its net sales by approximately $825 million. However it maintained its full-year operating profit and earnings per share guidance.
Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) bought back 5.1 million of its shares for a total of $461 million during the March quarter. That’s compared to 2.7 million shares at a total purchase price of $242 million in the same quarter year ago.
In three of its five divisions, revenues rose. However, earnings fell at three of the five divisions. The company’s largest division is aeronautics, and it posted a 14 percent decrease in sales, mostly because of reduced deliveries of Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT)’s F-16 fighter jets. Fire control and missiles sales increased 13 percent, mostly offsetting the decrease in aeronautics sales.
