Key Takeaways

  • First-quarter earnings per share reached $6.44, falling short of the $6.67 analyst consensus by approximately 3.47%
  • Quarterly revenue totaled $18.02 billion, landing 0.57% beneath Wall Street projections
  • Management maintained its fiscal 2026 revenue outlook at $77.5B–$80B without adjustment
  • Shares declined between 3.3% and 3.65% during Thursday’s trading session
  • Year-to-date performance shows gains of 14.8%–15.4%, significantly outpacing the S&P 500’s ~4.3% advance

Lockheed Martin’s first-quarter 2026 financial results fell short of analyst projections on Thursday, triggering a selloff in the defense contractor’s shares.

The aerospace and defense company delivered adjusted earnings of $6.44 per share, coming in below the Zacks consensus target of $6.67. This represents a shortfall of roughly 3.5% and marks a decline from the $7.28 per share figure reported during the same period last year.

Quarterly sales reached $18.02 billion, marginally trailing analyst expectations while showing only slight improvement from the prior-year figure of $17.96 billion.

Investors responded by pushing shares down approximately 3.3% to 3.65% during the trading day.


LMT Stock Card
Lockheed Martin Corporation, LMT

Unchanged Forecast Dampens Market Enthusiasm

The earnings shortfall alone wasn’t the primary concern weighing on investor sentiment.

Management’s decision to maintain existing projections proved more consequential. Lockheed left its complete fiscal 2026 outlook untouched, continuing to project revenue between $77.5 billion and $80 billion alongside free cash flow expectations of $6.5 billion to $6.8 billion.

Capital expenditure forecasts remained at $2.5 billion to $2.8 billion.

Investors had anticipated an upward adjustment to these figures, especially considering the robust defense spending backdrop and the company’s strong year-to-date stock performance.

The absence of raised guidance triggered a more cautious market reaction.

Wall Street interpreted the steady outlook as an indication that management sees limited near-term momentum to justify higher projections.

Performance in Context

The quarter’s disappointment exists alongside a generally positive recent history. Throughout the past four reporting periods, Lockheed has exceeded earnings expectations in three instances.

Most recently, the previous quarter saw the company deliver $7.43 per share against a consensus forecast of $6.24 — representing a substantial 19% upside surprise.

While the current quarter interrupts this positive momentum, the overall earnings execution pattern remains encouraging.

Company executives highlighted a robust order backlog and significant contract victories during the reporting period. These forward-looking metrics typically carry greater long-term significance than a single quarter’s earnings variance.

The company’s market capitalization currently stands at approximately $131.8 billion.

Wall Street’s Perspective

The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) designation entering this earnings release, reflecting positive estimate revision activity prior to the announcement.

Analyst projections for the second quarter call for earnings of $7.30 per share alongside revenue of $19.35 billion.

Full fiscal year expectations center on $29.97 in earnings per share with total revenue of $79.16 billion.

Year-to-date share appreciation totals roughly 14.8%, substantially ahead of the S&P 500’s 4.3% gain over the identical timeframe.

Market capitalization remains near $131.8 billion, while typical daily share volume averages around 1.6 million.