Lockheed's Forecast Fails to Impress
Shares of
Lockheed Martin
(LMT) - Get Report
slipped during Tuesday's session after the defense company offered an outlook for the full year that, while higher than before, didn't satisfy Wall Street.
Although Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed upped its 2008 profit outlook by a dime to a range of $7.15 to $7.35 a share, the altered view falls short of analysts' expectations for a profit of $7.37 a share, according to Thomson Financial.
Additionally, the company's view that revenue for the year should be between $41.8 billion and $42.8 billion was near the low end of expectations.
Lockheed's stock was lower by $2.97, or 2.8%, to $103.60.
The forecast was delivered alongside Lockheed's first-quarter results. The company said it earned $730 million, or $1.75 a share, in the quarter, up 6% from a year earlier. Sales rose 10% to $9.98 billion. Analysts expected Lockheed to make $1.63 a share on revenue of $9.69 billion.
Electronic systems, space systems, and information systems and global services were strong, offsetting a loss in revenue from the company's aeronautics business. The decrease in aeronautic sales resulted from declines in combat aircraft.
Other defense companies were trading lower in sympathy.
Northrop Grumman
(NOC) - Get Report
and
Raytheon
(RTN) - Get Report
were down 1.3%, and
Alliant Techsystems
(ATK)
shed 0.8%.
L3 Communications
(LLL) - Get Report
was slipping 0.3%, and
General Dynamics
(GD) - Get Report
was lower by 0.1%.
Boeing
(BA) - Get Report
, which will report earnings Wednesday, was higher by 0.3% at $79.33.