Defense Stocks In Focus
Much of the market-centric talk this morning centers around President Trump’s corporate tax reform unveiling. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has even been priming the pump ahead of the announcement, assuring that everything promised will not only be delivered, but with fiscal responsibility.
In the meantime, another mainstay of federal Republican political interest — the Defense industry — has Q1 earnings releases from 4 of its biggest players. Each one of these companies managed to beat earnings estimates for the quarter, but revenues were more of a mixed bag:
Aerospace/defense major Boeing BA, a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock, beat earnings estimates by a full dime, posting $2.01 per share for its Q1. Quarterly sales fell short of the Zacks consensus, reaching $20.98 billion as compared to the $21.44 billion expected. That said, fiscal guidance for full-year 2017 was bumped up a dime to a range of $9.20-9.40 per share. Boeing, with a Zacks Style Score (Value, Growth, Momentum) of A ahead of the earnings report, has now posted an earnings beat in each of its last 4 quarters. For more, click here.
Another Zacks Rank #3 company, United Technologies UTX, easily topped estimates on both its top and bottom lines: $1.48 per share on $13.82 billion in revenues outperformed the $1.39 and $13.32 billion expected, respectively. It’s at least UTX’s 5th straight earnings beat, though the company is staying put with fiscal 2017 guidance of $6.30-6.60 per share. For more, click here.
General Dynamics GD, a Zacks Rank #3 stock with a Zacks Style Score of D ahead of its earnings announcement, put up $2.48 per share, beating the Zacks consensus by 16 cents. However, Q1 sales fell short of estimates to $7.44 billion from $7.60 billion anticipated. Pre-market traders are underwhelmed to this point, sending shares down 0.75% directly following the company’s Q1 release. For more, click here.
And Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) defense major Northrop Grumman NOC soared past the bottom-line consensus of $2.90 by posting $3.63 per share for Q1. Sales also outpaced estimates to $6.27 billion from the $6.12 billion expected. Northrop put some sunshine of its fiscal 2017 guidance as well, bumping up its range from $11.30-11.60 per share ahead of its quarterly report to $11.80-12.10 this morning. Shares in the pre-market are climbing for NOC. For more, click here.
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Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC): Free Stock Analysis Report
Boeing Company (The) (BA): Free Stock Analysis Report
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United Technologies Corporation (UTX): Free Stock Analysis Report
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