Lockheed Martin held strong in the fourth quarter of 2008, posting earnings and sales increases as the U.S. economic recession deepened.
“Our results for 2008 reflect excellent operational and financial performance across all areas, despite the difficult economic environment,” Bob Stevens, Lockheed’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. “Our 146,000 dedicated employees demonstrated their unwavering commitment to making Lockheed Martin the world’s premier global security company.”
The Bethesda-based global security firm’s fourth quarter profit increased 3 percent to $823 million from $799 million. Net sales were $11.1 billion in the quarter, up from $10.8 billion in the same period last year, as the firm’s technology-based segments offset a slump in aeronautics and space systems. For the year, Lockheed’s net earnings were $3.2 billion, up from $3 billion in 2007, while net sales were $42.7 billion, up from $41.9 billion.
The company last week also revised its 2009 outlook, lowering its estimated range for per-share earnings to reflect higher costs in its pension program, but slightly raising its projections for net sales. For 2009, Lockheed forecast earnings of $7.05 to $7.25 a share, down from a range of $7.65 to $7.90 a share it set out last October.
Lockheed also adjusted its 2009 sales forecast to a range of $44.7 billion to $45.7 billion, compared to between $44.25 billion and $45.25 billion previously.
Lockheed stock, like other companies’ share prices, didn’t get the boost expected from the optimism surrounding President Barack Obama’s inauguration. The Dow Jones industrial average actually lost 4 percent of its value Tuesday, the worst Inauguration Day performance in more than a century, according to Bill Stone, chief investment strategist for PNC.
“The weakness likely has less to do with the president than with the continued uncertainty around two major issues — economic weakness and the financial sector,” Stone said.
Lockheed Martin is part of The Examiner Top 10, a portfolio of some of the largest publicly traded companies with headquarters in the Baltimore region.
