Lockheed Martin beats Q3, raises full-year guidance; record $292B backlog on Iran-war demand; 10-year F-35 framework agreement
What happened
Lockheed Martin reported Q3 earnings of $7.97 per share, up 15% year over year and well above the $7.52 Wall Street consensus, on revenue of $20.71 billion (+11%), ahead of the ~$20.5 billion expected. The company raised full-year 2026 guidance to $80-$82 billion in sales (from $79.75-$81.75 billion) and EPS of $30.35-$30.75 (from $29.95-$30.65), and lifted its 2026 free-cash-flow forecast to $7.8-$8 billion from $7-$7.2 billion. Backlog jumped 27% sequentially to a record $292 billion, boosted by a $52.5 billion multi-year award for PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement interceptors, stockpiles of which were heavily drawn down by U.S. and allied forces in the Iran war. Separately, Lockheed and the Pentagon signed a new 10-year F-35 framework agreement covering 850 jets for the U.S. military plus hundreds more for international customers, locking in production at 156 jets per year.
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Start your free 14-day trialWho’s affected
- Lockheed Martin (LMT): beat + raised guidance + record backlog; +3.5-3.9% premarket
- Defense contractors broadly: RTX, Northrop Grumman also raised forecasts this week on munitions/air-defense demand
- U.S. industrials/aerospace: validates wartime procurement cycle and record order books