News · Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) · Industrials

Lockheed Martin rises 7.0% after stronger-than-expected Q3 results and backlog update

Session of October 22, 2026 · Published October 23, 2026 · 4 min read

What happened

Lockheed Martin (LMT) rose 7.0% on October 22, 2026, because third-quarter results beat estimates and management raised the full-year outlook. The company reported third-quarter sales of $20.7 billion and earnings per share of $7.97, with net earnings of $1.8 billion, according to Reuters and Barrons. Management said sales rose 11% year over year. Lockheed Martin generated cash from operations of $3.4 billion in the quarter. Free cash flow was $3.0 billion. Executives pointed to a record backlog of $292.0 billion that included $52.5 billion tied to a multi-year PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement production award.

Closing price over the last 30 trading sessions. On October 22, 2026, LMT closed at $589.91, up 7.0% on the day and 12.5% higher than 30 sessions earlier.

How big was the move

The stock closed at $589.91, and the change on the day rose 7.0%. Trading volume was 2.6 times its 20-day average, signalling an active session. Over the last five sessions the stock rose 10.8% while the S&P 500 on the day fell 1.2% and fell 1.0% over five sessions. The stock outperformed the Industrials sector median, which fell 0.6%, by 7.6 percentage points. The day's move was 3.9 times a typical daily move for this stock. Its beta of 0.23 indicates the stock tends to move less than the market.

Each bar is one day's price change; the outlined bar is October 22, 2026. A typical daily move over the past year was 1.8%, so the latest move equals 3.8 times that. Moves outside the dashed lines (about 3.6%) are unusual.

The technical picture

The stock opened 5.1% above the previous close and finished 12.7% above its 20-day moving average. It was 9.2% above its 50-day moving average and 4.3% above its 200-day moving average. The 50-day average sits below the 200-day average, a sign of a weak longer-term trend even as the short-term trend has strengthened. The Relative Strength Index (14 days) was 75, a level often called overbought. Sixty-day volatility was 28% annualized, higher than 70% of its own readings over five years.

Closing price over the past year. LMT ends the period 12.8% below its 52-week high, above its 50-day average ($540.01) and above its 200-day average ($565.75).

Over one month the stock rose 12.4% and over three months it rose 1.3%. Over one year the stock rose 20.5%, which is 6.7 percentage points ahead of the S&P 500. The stock remained 14.8% below its 52-week high, leaving room for further gains before testing prior peaks.

Fundamentals and valuation

For the four quarters through September 27, 2026, Lockheed Martin reported revenue of $79.12 billion, which grew 7.9% from a year earlier. Diluted earnings per share were $28.15, with earnings per share growth of 57.2% from a year earlier. Gross margin improved to 11.7% from 8.2% a year earlier, and operating margin rose to 11.8% from 8.3%.

Quarterly revenue by period end. The latest quarter brought $20.7B, 11.3% more than the same quarter a year earlier.

Free-cash-flow margin was 10.6% and return on invested capital was 20.1%, metrics that underpin the company’s cash generation profile. The balance sheet showed net debt of 1.4 times EBITDA, and share count over one year decreased by 0.6%, reflecting modest buybacks or other capital actions.

On valuation, the stock traded at 21.0 times trailing earnings and 19.4 times expected earnings. Its free-cash-flow yield was 6.6%. The price to trailing earnings was higher than 57% of its own readings over the past five years, compared with a five-year median of 20.6 times earnings. Market value stood at $127.42 billion, and analysts' consensus price target was $623.73, which is 5.7% above the closing price.

Earnings and analyst expectations

The October 22, 2026, report showed earnings per share of $7.97 against $7.52 expected, 6.0% above estimates. That marked the second consecutive quarter of beats. Company management said the larger backlog underpinned the raised 2026 outlook. The next report is scheduled for February 4, 2027.

Diluted earnings per share by quarter. The latest quarter shows $7.97, against $6.95 in the same quarter a year earlier.

Over the last four reports the average surprise was 1.5% below estimates, and the typical two-day reaction after recent reports was a fall of 0.7%. Analyst coverage was broad, with 37 analysts providing ratings and 59% of those rating the stock Buy or Strong Buy. The consensus rating is Buy.

PromtFinance scores rank the company positively on several fronts within the Industrials sector: Value 76, Growth 72, Quality 73, Momentum 75 and Stability 93, while Revisions scored 27, flagged as very weak. The mixed revision score suggests analysts may be slow to lift forecasts even as results and backlog improved.

What to watch

February 4, 2027: next scheduled earnings report.
Progress on the Pentagon framework agreement covering production of 850 F-35 jets and any follow-up contract details.
Updates to the backlog and program awards, including funding tied to PAC-3 MSE and other missile programs.
Any changes in management guidance or capital allocation plans tied to the raised full-year 2026 outlook.

Full LMT analysis: scores, chart and financials →