What Happened?
Shares of security and Aerospace company Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) fell 7% in the afternoon session after the company lost the contract to produce the next generation of fighter jets for the U.S. military, which was awarded to Boeing. The contract, known as Next Generation Air Dominance, or NGAD, is supposed to help build jets ( F-47) that will accompany a future fleet of drone aircraft to protect the US against its adversaries. According to the press release, the contract is worth an estimated $20 billion.
The shares closed the day at $439.84, down 5.7% from previous close.
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What The Market Is Telling Us
Lockheed Martin’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 3 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was about 2 months ago when the stock dropped 8.9% on the news that the company reported underwhelming fourth quarter results, with revenue and earnings both falling below Wall Street's expectations. Its full-year EPS guidance also missed significantly. Notably, this quarter's EPS fell short of Wall Street's estimates because the company recorded a $1.3 billion loss in its Missiles and Fire Control (MFC) business segment. Overall, these results could have been better.
Lockheed Martin is down 8.8% since the beginning of the year, and at $439.83 per share, it is trading 28.4% below its 52-week high of $614.61 from October 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Lockheed Martin’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,589.
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