Key Takeaways
- Q1 earnings per share reached $6.44, falling short of the $6.67 analyst consensus — representing a -3.47% negative surprise
- Quarterly revenue totaled $18.02 billion, missing expectations by 0.57%
- Management maintained FY26 revenue guidance at $77.5B–$80B without raising projections
- Shares declined approximately 3.3%–3.65% during Thursday’s trading session despite robust backlog and contract awards
- Year-to-date gains remain strong at roughly 14.8%–15.4%, significantly outpacing the S&P 500’s ~4.3% advance
The aerospace and defense giant delivered first-quarter 2026 financial results that came up short of analyst projections, triggering a sell-off in shares during Thursday’s session.
The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $6.44, falling beneath the Zacks consensus forecast of $6.67. This represents approximately a 3.5% shortfall and marks a decline from the $7.28 per share recorded in the same period last year.
Quarterly revenue reached $18.02 billion. The figure came in marginally below analyst expectations while showing only a slight increase from the prior-year period’s $17.96 billion.
Shares tumbled between 3.3% and 3.65% as market participants digested the quarterly performance.
Lockheed Martin Corporation, LMT
Unchanged Forecast Disappoints Market Expectations
The primary concern for market participants extended beyond the earnings shortfall itself. The real disappointment centered on what management signaled moving forward.
Lockheed maintained its existing full-year 2026 projections without modification. The defense contractor continues to forecast revenue between $77.5 billion and $80 billion, with free cash flow expected in the $6.5 billion to $6.8 billion range.
Capital expenditure guidance also remained steady at $2.5 billion to $2.8 billion.
Investors had anticipated an upward adjustment to these targets — especially considering the favorable defense spending landscape and the company’s impressive year-to-date stock performance.
When that revision failed to materialize, market sentiment shifted negative.
The decision to keep guidance unchanged suggested to investors that management hasn’t yet observed sufficient business momentum to justify raising forecasts.
Performance Track Record Tells a Different Story
The quarterly miss doesn’t paint the complete picture. Looking at the trailing four quarters, Lockheed has exceeded EPS projections in three instances.
Most recently, the previous quarter saw the company deliver earnings of $7.43 per share versus an estimate of $6.24 — an impressive 19% positive surprise.
While Q1’s results interrupt that winning streak, the overall performance trajectory remains encouraging.
Management highlighted substantial backlog strength and notable program contract awards during the period. These forward-looking metrics typically carry more weight than any individual quarter’s bottom-line performance.
The company’s market capitalization currently stands at approximately $131.8 billion.
Wall Street Perspective
Notwithstanding the quarterly miss, the stock carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) classification entering this earnings release, supported by positive estimate revision momentum prior to the announcement.
Analyst consensus for the second quarter projects $7.30 in earnings per share on revenue of $19.35 billion.
For the complete fiscal year, Wall Street models anticipate $29.97 in EPS with revenue totaling $79.16 billion.
Year-to-date performance shows the stock climbing approximately 14.8%, substantially ahead of the S&P 500’s 4.3% gain during the identical timeframe.
Current market capitalization approximates $131.8 billion, with typical daily trading volume averaging around 1.6 million shares.
