General Dynamics Earnings: Profit Southbound for Fourth Straight Quarter

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) reported its results for the second quarter. General Dynamics offers products and services in business aviation, combat vehicles, weapons systems and munitions as well as information systems, technologies and services.

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General Dynamics Corporation Earnings Cheat Sheet

Results: Net income for General Dynamics Corporation fell to $634 million ($1.77 per share) vs. $653 million ($1.76 per share) a year earlier. This is a decline of 2.9% from the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue: Rose 0.5% to $7.92 billion from the year-earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: General Dynamics Corporation beat the mean analyst estimate of $1.75 per share. Analysts were expecting revenue of $7.93 billion.

Quoting Management: “General Dynamics’ operating results in the second quarter reflect our continued focus on disciplined execution and effective cash conversion across the corporation,” said Jay L. Johnson, chairman and chief executive officer. “Heading into the second half of 2012, I remain very confident in our continued ability to execute. However, given the impact of first-half award delays in IS&T’s tactical communications business, as well as the likelihood of further delays in the second half, I believe it is prudent to revise the full-year earnings guidance range downward to $7.00 to $7.10 per share, fully diluted.”

Key Stats:

The company has now seen net income fall in each of the last three quarters. In the first quarter, net income fell 8.7% from the year earlier, while the figure fell 17.3% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year.

The company has beaten estiamtes for two quarters in a row. In the first quarter, it topped expectations with net income of $1.70 versus a mean estimate of net income of $1.69 per share.

Revenue rose last quarter after seeing a drop the quarter before. Revenue fell 2.8% to $7.58 billion in the first quarter from the year earlier.

Looking Forward: The average estimate for the third quarter remains unchanged at $1.83 a share. At $7.17 per share, the average estimate for the fiscal year has fallen from $7.36 ninety days ago.

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(Company fundamentals provided by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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