play Live Sign upShow navigation menuplay Live Click here to searchsearchSign upEconomy|MilitaryWar-driven demand boosts profits for weapons and aircraft manufacturersBoeing sees reduced first-quarter loss as defence earnings rise amid $2.3bn Pentagon contract.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoWhile demand for military aircraft has surged, supply chain strains have weighed on growth for US defence giants [File: Leon Neal/Getty]By Al Jazeera Staff and ReutersPublished On 23 Apr 202623 Apr 2026Geopolitical conflicts, including the United States and Israel’s war on Iran and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, have fuelled surging demand for US defence companies as the Pentagon races to replenish weapon and aircraft stockpiles.
First-quarter results posted this week from Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX Corporation and Boeing saw limited growth as supply chain and production delays weighed on the industry.
Lockheed Martin, which reported its first-quarter earnings on Thursday, fell short of analysts’ expectations, reporting lower first-quarter profit. Net earnings in the first quarter of 2026 came in at $1.5bn, marking a decline from $1.7bn in the first quarter of 2025.
The Bethesda, Maryland-based defence giant said its aeronautics segment was hit by delays in F-16 fighter jet development, which tied flight test issues as supply chain strains weigh on the company’s C-130 transport aircraft.
“The combined cost of the rework and schedule extension ran through our programme estimate,” an executive said on Lockheed’s earnings call.
Sales tumbled as volumes on classified programmes slowed down by $325m from the previous quarter. However, losses were offset by growing sales of F-35 fighter jets.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has proposed purchasing 85 new F-35 jets in 2027.
“We aren’t surprised, given management’s desire to be aligned with the customer’s agenda,” said Seth Seifman, an analyst at JP Morgan.
Lockheed’s stock is tumbling in midday trading, down 5.1 percent since the market opened Thursday, and is down more than 12 percent over the last five days.
Boeing, on the other hand, reported on Wednesday a first-quarter loss of $7m, a reduction from the $31m loss a year earlier. The Arlington, Virginia-based aeronautics giant is trying to recover from several years of turmoil.
Defence and space earnings ticked up 50 percent to $233m in the first quarter. In late March, Boeing was awarded $2.3bn from the US Department of Defense to add onto an existing $4.9bn contract from December.
Space travel drove some of Boeing’s success in the first quarter amid NASA’s successful Artemis II mission around the moon. The effort was part of a joint venture with Northrop Grumman.
The company also saw its highest first-quarter deliveries since 2019 in its commercial aircraft unit. Revenue for the unit rose by 13 percent to $9.2bn for the quarter.
However, those gains were offset by $1.5bn cash burn as it increased production capacity and ramped up certification programmed for 737 MAX variants and the 777X aircraft.
Boeing’s stock is up in midday trading by 0.4 percent, continuing an upward trend over the last five days at 4.1 percent.
Northrop Grumman, which reported its earnings on Tuesday, showed higher first-quarter revenue, which ticked up 4.4 percent to $9.88bn compared to the same period last year. The Falls Church, Virginia-based defence contractor attributed it to surging demand for its long-range stealth bomber, the B-21 aircraft.
In January, a US spending bill included $1.9bn for funding the B-21 raider, and in February, the company garnered an agreement with the US Air Force that would expand production capacity of the aircraft by 25 percent.
Northrop posted a 10 percent increase in organic sales to $1.9bn in its defence systems segment, helped by a ramp-up in the Sentinel programme, its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
Northrop’s stock remained relatively flat in midday trading on Thursday, up by 0.1 percent, following a nearly 12 percent decline over the last five days.
Meanwhile, the RTX Corporation, the parent company of Raytheon, in its first-quarter earnings report released on Tuesday, raised both its full-year profit and revenue forecasts after the Arlington, Virginia-based defence giant’s results saw a bump driven by demand for its missile systems.
Revenue surged 9 percent in the first quarter $22.08bn compared to the same quarter this time last year. Sales in RTX’s Raytheon unit reported a 10 percent increase because of higher demand for both air and missile defence systems.
In April, RTX secured a contract to supply Patriot GEM-T interceptor missiles worth $3.7bn to Ukraine.
RTX stock is down 0.7 percent in midday trading and has tumbled 8.1 percent over the last five days.
