Northrop Posts $7.89 Q3 EPS, Lifts 2026 Guidance by $0.70
NOC is trading near its 52-week low of $470.06 (9.3% above the low).
Summary
Northrop reported third-quarter EPS of $7.89 on sales of $11.1B, up 7% year over year, and raised 2026 EPS guidance by $0.70 at the midpoint. Segment sales were $3.58B in Aeronautics Systems, up 14%, $2.31B in Defense Systems, up 12%, $3.16B in Mission Systems, up 2%, and $2.75B in Space Systems, up 2%, while net awards came in at $16.4B and adjusted free cash flow was $1.81B. That follows Q2's $7.68 EPS and $10.9B in sales, so the sequential step-up is modest but the guidance raise extends the upward revision trend from July. Backlog also grew, building on the record $105B booked last quarter. The quarter lands on top of a heavy contract run — a $4.8B CIRCM award in September, an $862.8M IDIQ and $508.5M MDA work in early September, and over $3B in framework agreements in August — which underpins the raised outlook. The one overhang remains the Navy's sixth-generation fighter loss to Boeing on September 30th, a program worth more than $20B.
At the time of this announcement, NOC was trading at $514.00 on NYSE in the Industrial Applications And Services sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $72.5B. The 52-week trading range was $470.06 to $774.00. This news item was assessed with positive market sentiment and an importance score of 8 out of 10. Source: Dow Jones Newswires.