Lockheed Martin, one of the Pentagon’s prime nuclear arsenal-modernization contractors, saw its stock price take a tumble Tuesday after its third-quarter earnings came in lower than analysts expected. The stock dropped 2.36 percent, to $313.15, at the end of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Bethesda, Md.-based contracting titan turned in earnings per share of $3.24 for the quarter ended Sept. 24, down 10 percent year over year, excluding discontinued operations. That missed Wall Street’s consensus by 2 cents a share. Quarterly revenue rose about 5 percent to $12.7 billion, which still missed Wall Street’s forecast by $640 million.
Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson emphasized the company’s winning record in the quarter in a press release published Tuesday.
“Our continued focus on operational performance and meeting our delivery commitments has enabled us to increase our financial guidance and post a record [$104 billion] backlog that supports long term growth,” Hewson said.
In the quarter, Lockheed bagged one of the Pentagon’s big nuclear modernization contracts. Along with Raytheon, Lockheed will develop technology for a next-generation air-launched nuclear-tipped cruise missile known as the Long-Range Standoff weapon under a three-year contract worth about $900 million. The missile, which will be tipped with W80-4 warheads furnished by the Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration, will fly aboard the Air Force’s B-52, B-2 Spirit, and B-21 aircraft.
In the year-ago quarter, Lockheed had a greater presence in the DOE nuclear complex through its Information Systems and Global Solutions (IS&GS) business: the major partner on Hanford Site support contractor Mission Support Alliance. Lockheed transferred IS&GS to Leidos in August 2016.
The deal cost Leidos lost a chance to manage the agency’s Nevada National Security Site. When Leidos acquired IS&GS, it also inherited Nevada Site Science Support and Technologies Corp.: a bidder for the Nevada site prime contract that initially won the competition. DOE revoked that award in August 2016 after learning of the change of ownership. The department in May awarded the contract, worth up to $5 billion over 10 years, to a partnership of Honeywell, Jacobs Engineering, and Stoller Newport News Nuclear.
