Lockheed Martin Corp. , the No. 1 U.S. defense contractor, Tuesday said quarterly profit rose 27 percent, helped by strong sales at its electronic systems and space systems units, and raised its full-year outlook.
The Bethesda, Maryland-based company, whose weapons and aircraft are staples of the U.S. military, reported first-quarter profit of $369 million, or 83 cents per share, compared with $291 million, or 65 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.
Special items, including the gain on the sale of its Intelsat investment and a loss to write down the value of a satellite, on a net basis added 3 cents a share to earnings.
Analysts had expected the company to earn 75 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Sales rose 2 percent to $8.5 billion, slowed by a decline in aeronautics, compared with analysts’ forecasts of $8.69 billion.
Looking ahead, Lockheed, which makes F-16 fighters and C-130 J transport planes, raised its 2005 full-year outlook to earnings of $3.35 to $3.55 per share, on revenue of $36.5 billion to $38.0 billion.
It had previously forecast earnings of $3.05 to $3.30 per share. Wall Street was forecasting earnings of $3.34 per share.
Lockheed shares have outperformed the Amex Defense index by about 6 percent so far this year.