RTX (NYSE: RTX) posted $19.7 billion in fiscal 2024 second-quarter sales, up 8 percent from the prior-year period, and saw its adjusted earnings per share for the period rise 9 percent to $1.41.
The Arlington, Virginia-based aerospace and defense contractor said Tuesday its total backlog reached $206 billion at the end of the quarter with the defense segment accounting for $77 billion of that backlog.
The company realized $120 million in incremental gross cost synergies and reported $2.7 billion in Q2 operating cash flow and $2.2 billion in free cash flow.
Financial Results of 3 Business Segments
The defense contractor’s Collins Aerospace business saw its Q2 sales rise 10 percent to $6.9 billion driven by increases in defense and commercial aftermarket sales.
Pratt & Whitney reported $6.8 billion in revenue during the quarter, up 19 percent from the same period last year. The growth was attributed to the increase in military and commercial sales.
The company’s Raytheon business reported a 3 percent decline in Q2 sales to $6.5 billion “as higher volume on land and air defense systems including Global Patriot, counter-UAS programs and Stinger was more than offset by the divestiture of the Cybersecurity, Intelligence and Services business completed in the first quarter of 2024.”
Innovating for Future Growth
At an earnings call Thursday, RTX President and CEO Christopher Calio discussed the company’s top three priorities: executing on its customer commitments, innovating for future growth and leveraging the breadth and scale across the company to drive value for stakeholders.
To advance the second priority, RTX is implementing its cross-company technology roadmap to build differentiated platforms across various areas, including advanced propulsion, hypersonics, connected battlespace, next-generation sensing and sustainability.
“This year alone, we will spend over $7.5 billion on company and customer-funded research and development to mature and introduce new capabilities to our customers and fill our product pipeline,” Calio told analysts.
The chief executive noted that the company continues to invest in artificial intelligence and digital transformation.
“This year, we are adding an additional 30-plus use cases that generate incremental productivity and cost savings across RTX using advances in artificial intelligence and deep learning. In total, we have over 200 AI use cases currently deployed across various internal functions,” Calio stated.
“Our AI investments are also enabling new and improved capabilities in our products, such as predicting equipment failures and aiding human operators in executing complex tasks,” he added.
Updated Outlook for Full Year 2024
RTX has increased its full-year 2024 adjusted sales outlook to between $78.75 billion and $79.5 billion, up from the previous range of $78 billion to $79 billion.
The company also expects to record adjusted EPS of $5.35 to $5.45, up from the prior range of between $5.25 and $5.40.
