A new McAleese & Associates report noted the fourth quarter 2020 financial performance of large prime defense contractors Boeing (NYSE: BA), General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII), Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT). Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) and Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX).
Jim McAleese, founder of McAleese & Associates and three-time Wash100 winner, summarized these six companies’ Q4 financial health as “strong.”
Boeing reported its defense, space and security revenue for its latest quarter rose 14 percent to nearly $6.8 billion, an increase the company attributed to higher volume across fighter aircraft programs.
General Dynamics posted a record-high quarterly backlog of $89.5 billion, up 9.8 percent from the prior-year period, with significant bookings such as a $9.5 billion contract option to build the U.S. Navy’s first two Columbia-class submarines and a potential $4.4 billion contract to help the Department of Defense implement cloud-based collaboration applications.
HII said its Q4 revenue jumped 14.3 percent to $2.8 billion and new contract awards for the quarter amounted to $3.5 billion.
L3Harris saw operating income for the quarter grow 7.2 percent to $209 million while its operating margin expanded 100 basis points to $14.3 percent, compared with the same period a year ago, partly driven by integration benefits. A prior McAleese report pointed to the company’s integrated mission systems and space and airborne systems businesses as its potential “growth engines.”
Lockheed earned $17 billion in Q4 sales, compared with $15.9 billion in the prior-year period and noted cash from operations for the quarter was $1.8 billion, compared with $1.5 billion in Q4 2019.
Northrop’s sales for its latest quarter jumped 17 percent to $10.2 billion and market to market-adjusted earnings increased 16 percent to $1.1 billion.
Raytheon said its defense segment accounted for $67.3 billion of the company’s total backlog at the end of Q4 while sales for the quarter $16.4 billion, compared with $11.7 billion in the same period a year ago.
