Lockheed Martin lifts 2024 sales target on fighter jet, missile demand
Adds shares in paragraph 2, estimates in paragraph 13
By Pratyush Thakur and Mike Stone
July 23 (Reuters) -U.S. defense company Lockheed Martin LMT.N raised its annual sales target on Tuesday, following the unexpected resumption of deliveries of its F-35 aircraft after Pentagon began accepting the jets last week.
Shares of the Bethesda, Maryland-based company were up 2.3% in premarket trading.
The U.S. resumed taking F-35 deliveries after a months-long pause on delays on its software upgrade. Lockheed has been upgrading the jets under Technology Refresh 3, or TR-3 program, that gives the F-35 better displays and processing power.
The delivery resumption includes incomplete software upgrade and Pentagon will withhold some payment, the details of which is unknown, until the remaining enhancements are finished.
Lockheed's F-35 is the world's largest defense program and contributes around 30% of the company's revenue.
"The F-35 remains a top priority, and we recently delivered the first TR-3-configured aircraft to the customer and anticipate deliveries for 2024 to meet our expected range of 75-110 F-35s," said CEO Jim Taiclet.
TR-3 involves both hardware and software improvements and is seen as a pillar of a wider upgrade to the stealth jet known as Block 4.
The enhancements "are critical steps in ensuring the F-35 remains the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world and the key air vehicle node in the DoD's joint all domain architecture", Taiclet said.
Lockheed, however, does not expect the full tech refresh package to be ready for months.
It expects 2024 sales to be between $70.5 billion and $71.5 billion, versus $68.5 billion to $70 billion forecast earlier.
The company also benefited from a $95-billion additional funding, which includes aid for Ukraine and Israel, approved by Congress.
Combat in Ukraine and Israel has consumed high volumes of munitions, including Lockheed-made Patriot air defense interceptors used to shoot down incoming hostile missiles.
Lockheed's second-quarter net income of $6.85 per share beat LSEG estimates of $6.46 per share. Total quarterly sales rose 8.5% to $18.12 billion, also above the $17.04 billion estimated.
Lockheed Martin revenue https://reut.rs/4dgLgGd
Reporting by Pratyush Thakur in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar
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