Lockheed Martin’s Q2 Earnings Boosted by Federal Government Policies

Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT | LMT Price Prediction) reported second-quarter results before markets opened Tuesday. The country’s largest defense contractor reported earnings per share (EPS) of $5.79 on sales of $16.2 billion. In the year-ago quarter, Lockheed reported EPS of $5.00 and sales of $14.43 billion. Analysts had forecast EPS of $5.72 and sales of $15.23 billion for the quarter.

After outlining the “challenges” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on the company’s business, Lockheed commented that “favorable contract award timing and strong performance more than offset the impacts of COVID-19 on the corporation’s financial results in the first half of 2020.”

Operating cash flow in the second quarter includes an accelerated payment of $930 million from the U.S. government, the deferral of $400 million in estimated federal tax payments until the third quarter and a $160 million in deferred payroll taxes for 2021 and 2022.

Cash from operations rose from $1.67 billion in 2019 to $2.18 billion in the quarter, and for the first half of the year, operating cash flow rose from $3.33 billion a year ago to $4.50 billion.

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In its financial outlook for the year, Lockheed raised sales guidance from a prior range of $62.25 billion to $64 billion to a new range of $63.50 billion to $65.00 billion. Operating profit guidance rose from $6.80 billion to $6.95 billion to a new range of $6.90 billion to $7.05 billion. Diluted EPS guidance was lifted by a dime at both ends to a new range of $23.75 to $24.05, and estimated cash flow from operations rose from a previous estimate of at least $7.6 billion to at least $8 billion.

Analysts have forecast third-quarter EPS of $6.13 on sales of $16.01 billion. For the full year, consensus estimates call for EPS of $24.17 and sales of $63.45 billion.

Lockheed reported cash and equivalents totaling $2.9 billion, nearly double the company’s cash position at the end of December 2019. Total debt is essentially unchanged at $12.67 billion, but the company extended maturities on roughly $1.25 billion of previously current debt.

The company paid $671 million dividends in the quarter and repurchased 700,000 shares of stock for $259 million.

Lockheed stock traded up about 3.6% in Tuesday’s premarket, at $379.00 in a 52-week range of $266.11 to $442.53. The consensus 12-month price target on the stock is $432.72. Lockheed pays a dividend yield of 2.63% ($9.60 annualized).

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