If the global defence sector is undergoing a paradigm shift driven by geopolitical tensions and technological innovation, Wall Street-listed Lockheed Martin (LMT:NYSE) is a critical player, not that you would have guessed so by recent share price performance.

While European defence firms like Babcock (BAB) and BAE Systems (BA.) have been going gangbusters in 2025, Lockheed is down 3% year to date in spite of record US defence budgets. Compare that to the VanEck Defence (DFNG), the UK’s biggest sector-themed ETF, which has rallied 42% this year. Even by the standards of its US peer group Lockheed has been poor, with rivals RTX (RTX:NYSE) and Northrop Grumman (NOC:NYSE) up 26% and 10% respectively so far in 2025.

Quite why is a bit of a mystery, as we head towards second quarter earnings (22 July, the same day as its two peers, interestingly). True, much of Europe’s defence rally comes from US political pressure for nations like the UK, Germany and France, to close the defence spending gap (currently 1.9% to 2.3%) towards the US’s 3.4% of GDP and beyond.

First-quarter revenue and earnings beat analyst expectations in April, growth and margins were typically robust and there is some excitement around Lockheed’s Conventional Prompt Strike programme, a ground-based hypersonic missile system, to act as an important growth catalyst going forward.

Execution may be the perceived sticking point, and whether Q2 results will underscore its strategic positioning to capitalise on a decade of modernisation or face the slowing of growth through the second half of the year, as many analysts appear to predict, based on Koyfin consensus data. 

US UPDATES OVER THE NEXT 7 DAYS

QUARTERLY RESULTS

18 July: 3M, American Express, Charles Schwab, Schlumberger, Truist Financial

21 July: Domino’s Pizza, NXP, Roper Technologies, Verizon

22 July: Baker Hughes, Capital One Financial, Chubb, Coca Cola, Danaher, Equifax, General Motors, Lockheed Martin, Philip Morris, Texas Instruments

23 July: AT&T, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Freeport-McMoran, General Dynamics, Hasbro, Hilton Worldwide, IBM, Moody’s, Raymond James Financial, Rollins, ServiceNow, Tesla, Thermo Fisher Scientific 

24 July: Blackstone, Dow, First Solar, Honeywell, Intel, Keurig Dr Pepper, Mastercard, Nasdaq, VeriSign

‹ Previous2025-07-17Next ›