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Combat Sales Prop Up General Dynamics

Robert Holmes

General Dynamics (GD - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) reported a 32% jump in first-quarter earnings Wednesday and beat Wall Street's estimates, as the company benefited from the military's need for combat equipment.

The Falls Church, Va., defense company said it earned $572 million, or $1.42 a share, in the quarter, up from $434 million, or $1.06 a share, in the same quarter a year earlier. General Dynamics said that revenue increased 11% to $7 billion, as sales in its combat division surged 27%.

Analysts were looking for a profit of $1.29 a share on revenue of $6.88 billion, according to Thomson Financial. Because of the beat, shares were rising 88 cents, or 1%, to $88.89.

General Dynamics did not offer guidance for 2008 in the first-quarter report. In its previous earnings release, the company forecast full-year earnings in a range of $5.55 to $5.65 a share, compared with estimates for a profit of $5.75 a share for the year.

The company's results came a day after rival Lockheed Martin (LMT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) reported a strong first quarter but a disappointing outlook. Shares of Lockheed were rising 2.2% Wednesday, reclaiming much of Tuesday's decline.

Other defense companies were trading higher, as well. Raytheon (RTN - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) was up 0.6%, L3 Communications (LLL - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) was climbing 0.5%, Northrop Grumman (NOC - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) was tacking on 0.4% and Alliant Techsystems (ATK - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) was flat.

Boeing (BA - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) was higher by 2.7% at $80.69 after beating analysts' bottom-line expectations thanks to hefty demand for its airplanes.