Lockheed Martin Corp First Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT) will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, April 26, 2012. Lockheed Martin is a global security company that develops and manufactures advanced technology systems and products.

Lockheed Martin Corp Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average estimate of analysts is for net income of $1.70 per share, a rise of 9.7% from the company’s actual earnings for the same quarter a year ago. During the past three months, the average estimate has moved up from $1.67. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved up. It has risen from $1.68 during the last month. Analysts are projecting profit to rise by 4.5% versus last year to $7.86.

Past Earnings Performance: Last quarter, the company beat estimates by 59 cents, coming in at profit of $2.53 a share versus the estimate of net income of $1.94 a share. It marked the fourth straight quarter of beating estimates.

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Wall St. Revenue Expectations: Analysts predict a decline of 0.7% in revenue from the year-earlier quarter to $10.56 billion.

Analyst Ratings: Analysts seem relatively indifferent about Lockheed Martin with 14 of 18 analysts surveyed maintaining a hold rating.

A Look Back: In the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, profit fell 30.5% to $683 million ($2.08 a share) from $983 million ($2.71 a share) the year earlier, but exceeded analyst expectations. Revenue fell 4.6% to $12.21 billion from $12.79 billion.

Key Stats:

This results announcement is a chance to get momentum back after a revenue decline snapped a streak of consecutive quarters of revenue increases. Revenue rose 1% in the second quarter of the last fiscal year and 6.5% in the third quarter before falling in the fourth quarter.

Stock Price Performance: Between January 25, 2012 and April 20, 2012, the stock price rose $10.02 (12.4%), from $80.82 to $90.84. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between March 6, 2012 and March 14, 2012, when shares rose for seven straight days, increasing 3% (+$2.64) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between July 6, 2011 and July 18, 2011 when shares fell for nine straight days, dropping 5.1% (-$4.04) over that span.

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

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