Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) shares advanced more than 1% in premarket trading on Tuesday after the US defence contractor reported third-quarter earnings above analyst expectations and increased its full-year 2026 earnings guidance.
The company reported earnings of $7.89 per share, exceeding the analyst consensus estimate of $7.18. Quarterly revenue increased 7% year over year to $11.12 billion, broadly in line with market expectations.
Operating income rose 2% to $1.27 billion, while the company’s operating margin stood at 11.4%. The segment operating margin was 12.1% during the quarter.
Northrop Grumman reported $16 billion in net contract awards, representing a book-to-bill ratio of 1.5 times. The company’s order backlog increased to $110 billion.
Across its operating divisions, Aeronautics Systems recorded a 14% increase in revenue to $3.58 billion, representing the largest percentage increase among the company’s four reported segments.
Defense Systems revenue rose 12% to $2.31 billion, while Mission Systems reported a 2% increase to $3.16 billion.
Space Systems also recorded revenue growth of 2%, reaching $2.75 billion during the quarter.
Following the results, Northrop Grumman raised its full-year 2026 earnings guidance to a range of $29.35 to $29.75 per share, compared with its previous forecast of $28.60 to $29.10.
The revised guidance range was above the analyst consensus estimate of $28.98 per share.
The company also increased its full-year segment operating income guidance by $65 million at the midpoint, establishing a new forecast range of $4.94 billion to $5.04 billion.
Northrop Grumman maintained its annual revenue outlook of $43.75 billion to $44.25 billion, compared with the market consensus estimate of approximately $44.05 billion.
The third-quarter results showed revenue growth across all four operating segments, higher operating income and additional contract awards. The updated full-year outlook reflects management’s revised earnings and segment operating income expectations, while its revenue forecast remains unchanged.