Bethesda, Md. – Defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. said today its third-quarter profit rose 39 percent, buoyed by sales gains across all its business segments.
The company also increased its outlook for 2005 earnings to reflect a gain from a stock sale.
Net income for the quarter ended Sept. 30 rose to $427 million, or 96 cents per share, from $307 million, or 69 cents per share, in last year’s third quarter.
Sales totaled $9.2 billion, up 9 percent from third-quarter 2004 sales of $8.44 billion.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial forecast, on average, earnings of 90 cents per share on sales of $9.36 billion.
Cash from operations for the third quarter was $893 million, down from $1.04 billion last year.
For 2005, Lockheed Martin now expects to earn $3.85 to $3.95 per share, better than Wall Street estimates of $3.79 per share, according to Thomson Financial. In July, the company forecast a full-year profit of $3.60 to $3.70 per share.
The higher projection is primarily due to a gain of 12 cents per share from the sale of about 16 million shares of satellite company Inmarsat. The stock sale occurred this month, and the gain will be reflected in fourth-quarter results.
The Bethesda-based company narrowed its sales range for the year to between $37 billion and $37.5 billion from a range of $36.5 billion to $38 billion provided in July.
Lockheed Martin’s Space Systems unit is based in Jefferson County, Colo., with about
5,500 employees. It manufactures rockets, NASA and government spy satellites, and ground-based
systems, including tracking systems. The company also is involved in the design of NASA’s
next-generation space shuttle.
Lockheed also expects 2006 earnings per share of between $4 and $4.25, bracketing the Thomson estimate of $4.22.
