Lockheed Martin revenue beats, profit to rise in 2018

A man looks at a Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) Missile model by Lockheed Martin at an international military fair. Lockheed, like its peers in the US, is expected to gain from an increase in defense spending under President Donald Trump’s administration. (Reuters)

NEW YORK: Lockheed Martin Corp. reported fourth-quarter revenue on Monday that beat Wall Street estimates, helped by higher sales from the F-35 fighter jet program, while also forecasting a rise in earnings in 2018.
Shares of the US defense contractor rose 2.4 percent to $353.15 in premarket trading.
The US defense contractor took a $1.9 billion charge in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, mainly due to the change in US tax law.
Net sales rose to $15.14 billion from $13.75 billion a year earlier, beating Wall Street estimates of $14.72 billion.
Lockheed, like its peers in the US, is expected to gain from an increase in defense spending under President Donald Trump’s administration.
The US Defense Department expects to spend some $391 billion over 15 years to develop and buy 2,456 of the supersonic warplanes.
Lockheed said sales in its aeronautics business, its biggest, grew 11.8 percent to $6.05 billion.