-- L3Harris Technologies (LHX) raised its full-year earnings outlook Thursday after reporting stronger-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results amid sales growth across segments.
The aerospace and defense technology company now expects 2026 earnings of $11.40 to $11.60 a share, compared with its prior guidance range of $11.30 to $11.50. Analysts in a FactSet poll are looking for $11.59. L3Harris continues to expect full-year revenue between $23 billion and $23.5 billion, while Wall Street is projecting $23.44 billion.
"We delivered a strong start to the year, with robust orders and revenue growth, coupled with progress across our strategic priorities," Chief Executive Christopher Kubasik said in a statement.
For the quarter ended April 3, EPS rose to $2.72 from $2.04 a year earlier, surpassing the consensus of $2.53. Revenue grew 12% to $5.74 billion, also ahead of the Street's $5.42 billion views.
Sales in the space and mission systems division jumped 24% to $2.99 billion, while the missile solutions unit saw an 18% increase to $990 million. The communication and spectrum dominance unit's revenue grew 3% to $1.86 billion.
"The global security environment is evolving rapidly, and the implications for our customers are increasingly clear," Kubasik said on an earnings conference call, according to a FactSet transcript. "Across the Middle East, Europe and the Indo-Pacific, the threat environment is driving greater urgency around readiness, resilience and modernization."
Late Wednesday, L3Harris said it confidentially filed a draft registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a planned initial public offering of its missile solutions business. The IPO's size and pricing details have yet to be determined. Earlier this year, the company said the US government planned to invest $1 billion in the missile solutions unit.
"The IPO monetizes the Aerojet acquisition while creating a pure-play missile/propulsion vehicle with an unprecedented (Department of War) anchor investment," Wedbush Securities said in a note to clients Thursday. "We view this as incrementally positive; the stock should benefit as IPO pricing visibility improves and the market assigns sum-of-the-parts value to (missile solutions) separately."
On Wednesday, General Dynamics (GD) raised its full-year earnings outlook after reporting fiscal first-quarter results above the Street's estimates. Recently, Lockheed Martin (LMT) logged March-quarter results that missed the Street's views, while fellow aerospace and defense companies RTX (RTX) and Northrop Grumman (NOC) delivered beats.
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