Combat Sales Prop Up General Dynamics
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.