Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT) shares misfired on Tuesday, falling 4% pre-market to $483.3, after the defence giant's fourth-quarter earnings and guidance for 2025 were lower than analysts had expected.
Quarterly net sales came in at $18.6 billion, down 1.6% year-on-year and short of the average Wall Street forecast of $18.84 billion.
Net earnings for the fourth quarter were $527 million, or $2.22 per share, down sharply from $7.58 a year earlier and missing the consensus estimate of $6.63 per share.
Revenues from Aeronautics and Missiles & Fire Control both grew more than forecast, while Rotary & Mission Systems fell 10% and missed estimates and Space revenue fell 13% to also fall short of the Street consensus.
Earnings were hit by $1.7 billion of losses for classified programs or $1.3 billion or $5.45 per share after-tax, which was lower than a year earlier.
President and CEO Jim Taiclet called it a "successful and productive year", hailing a record year-end backlog of $176 billion that he said demonstrated "the enduring global demand for our advanced defense technology and systems".
Cash from operations was $7.0 billion, with Lockheed spending $3 billion of investment in research and development and returning $6.8 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.
Guidance for 2025 included net sales in a range of around $73.75-74.75 billion, which compared to consensus forecasts of around $74 billion.
The EPS outlook for 2025 is for roughly $27 to $27.30, which is below the current average estimate of $27.82.