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Rising tensions in Europe, the South China Sea and the
Indo-Pacific region have translated to more orders for
Lockheed's F-35 fighter aircraft, missiles and other defense
equipments, driving quarterly net sales of $15.13 billion above
estimates of $15.03 billion.
The Pentagon's $858 billion defense budget for 2023 has also
resulted in multiple contract wins for U.S. defense firms such
as Lockheed, Raytheon Technologies and Northrop Grumman Corp,
which count the U.S. Department of Defense as their biggest
customer.
Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed's adjusted earnings per share
of $6.43 beat analysts' expectations of $6.06 in the first
quarter ended March 26, according to Refinitiv data.
During the quarter, Australia said it would buy 40 Black Hawk
military helicopters made by Lockheed from the U.S. for about
$1.96 billion as it boosts defense spending over issues with
China's presence in the Indo-Pacific region.
Lockheed had also finalized a deal to sell 88 F-35 jets to
Canada in a $14.2 billion project to replace the country's aging
fleet of fighter aircraft.
Supply-chain issues stemming from the pandemic are still hurting
F-35 production volumes though, pulling down sales at the
company's aeronautics unit - its largest - by about 2.1% to
$6.27 billion in the quarter.
Lockheed's order backlog also fell to $145.1 billion as of
quarter-end from $150 billion at the end of 2022.
The missiles maker reaffirmed its full-year outlook, projecting
net sales in the range of about $65 billion to $66 billion and
profits between $26.60 per share and $26.90 per share.
(Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika
Syamnath)
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