RTX reported fiscal 2024 third-quarter sales of $20.1 billion, 8 percent organic sales growth and $2 billion in free cash flow.
In an earnings report published Tuesday, the Arlington, Virginia-based aerospace and defense contractor posted a record backlog of $221 billion with the defense segment accounting for $90 billion of that backlog.
The company returned $1.1 billion of capital to shareholders, realized $90 million in incremental gross cost synergies and recorded an adjusted earnings per share of $1.45 in Q3, up 16 percent from the prior-year period.
Financial Performance of 3 Business Segments
RTX’s Collins Aerospace business reported $7.1 billion in Q3 sales, an increase of 7 percent from the same quarter the previous year. The growth was attributed to increases in defense and commercial aftermarket sales.
Pratt & Whitney saw its Q3 adjusted sales climb 14 percent to $7.2 billion, driven by increases in military and commercial sales.
The defense contractor’s Raytheon business reported a 1 percent drop in Q3 sales to $6.4 billion and a 16 percent rise in operating profit, recording $647 million for the third quarter. Excluding the impact of the divestiture of the cybersecurity, intelligence and services business, Q3 sales were up 5 percent compared with the prior-year period.
Update on Tech Roadmaps
At an earnings call Tuesday, RTX President and CEO Christopher Calio offered an update on the cross-company technology roadmaps as part of its “innovating for future growth” priority.
“We continue to execute on 14 cross technology road maps across RTX to develop next-generation technologies in domains that support our customers’ long-term needs. An example is our hybrid electric propulsion technology to improve fuel efficiency,” Calio told analysts.
“And as part of our Advanced Materials road map, Collins and Raytheon are working together to adapt commercial break carbon composite technology to hypersonic missile applications. Thermal management is a critical requirement given the high level speed and high temperature environments at play,” the RTX board member added.
The former Pratt & Whitney president noted that RTX continues to “invest heavily” in research and development and innovation roadmaps.
Through RTX Ventures, Calio said the company continues to invest in early-stage companies.
“There’s a few promising investments that we’ve made that we think will give us access to technologies that we can integrate into our established product portfolio to add capabilities and performance,” the chief executive added.
Full Year 2024 Outlook
RTX has raised its full-year 2024 adjusted sales outlook to between $79.25 billion and $79.75 billion, up from the previous range of $78.75 billion to $79.5 billion.
The company also expects to achieve free cash flow of about $4.7 billion and record adjusted EPS of $5.50 to $5.58, up from the prior range of between $5.35 and $5.45.
