Lockheed Martin Rockets 10%, RTX Jumps 7% on Beat-and-Raise Quarters and Record Backlogs

2 months ago 17

David Moadel

Thu, July 23, 2026 astatine 9:47 AM CDT 4 min read

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Lockheed Martin surged 10% and RTX ascended 7% Thursday aft beat-and-raise Q2 results drove some contractors' backlogs to all-time records.
Boeing remained unchanged connected the session, which is simply a affirmative motion erstwhile the banal marketplace is down overall; the ITA aerospace and defence ETF roseate alongside arsenic the defence rally dispersed sector-wide.
Both LMT and RTX shares person climbed much than 30% implicit the past year, meaning the casual wealth connected the archetypal net popular whitethorn already person been made.
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Defense primes are ripping higher Thursday greeting adjacent arsenic the broader marketplace sags. Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) banal is up 10% to $567.71, portion RTX (NYSE:RTX) shares are up 7% to $208.48. The S&P 500 is down 1.16%, making the divergence a standout communicative of today's session.

The determination follows beat-and-raise Q2 2026 results from some of these defence contractors, released earlier the open. Investors are treating the results arsenic confirmation that planetary rearmament is inactive translating into grounds backlogs and rising currency flow.

Beat-and-Raise Quarters With Record Backlogs

Lockheed Martin posted adjusted EPS of $7.94 connected gross of $20.1 billion, up 11% twelvemonth implicit year, versus astir $7.23 and $19.37 cardinal expected. The institution booked $65 cardinal of caller Q2 orders, including a multi-year $35 cardinal THAAD interceptor statement with the Missile Defense Agency, taking backlog to a grounds $230 billion.

Management raised Lockheed Martin's full-year 2026 guidance crossed the board, lifting EPS to $29.95 to $30.65, gross to $79.75 cardinal to $81.75 billion, and escaped currency travel to $7 cardinal to $7.2 billion. Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet, successful the company's 8-K filing, cited a "higher trajectory for our business." One nuance: the year-over-year nett plaything benefits from casual comps, since the prior-year play absorbed astir $1.6 cardinal successful losses tied to a classified programme and chopper contracts.

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Meanwhile, RTX's study was adjacent much striking connected the apical line. The institution delivered adjusted EPS of $1.89 connected gross of $24.7 billion, up 16% organically, its 5th consecutive beat. The company's backlog deed a grounds $289 cardinal ($170 cardinal commercialized aerospace, $119 cardinal defense), with Q2 escaped currency travel of $2.9 billion.

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