Combat Sales Prop Up General Dynamics

First-quarter earnings beat estimates and revenue increases 11%.
By Robert Holmes ,

General Dynamics

(GD) - Get Report

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) - Get Report

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) - Get Report

was up 0.6%,

L3 Communications

(LLL) - Get Report

was climbing 0.5%,

Northrop Grumman

(NOC) - Get Report

was tacking on 0.4% and

Alliant Techsystems

(ATK)

was flat.

Boeing

(BA) - Get Report

was higher by 2.7% at $80.69 after

beating analysts' bottom-line expectations

thanks to hefty demand for its airplanes.

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