Lockheed Martin raised its full-year outlook after its second-quarter profit rose as the defense contractor continues to rapidly expand munitions production.

The company on Thursday posted a profit of $1.84 billion, or $7.94 a share, compared with $342 million, or $1.46 a share, a year earlier. Analysts polled by Factset expected earnings of $7.19 a share. The year-ago quarter was hurt by more than $1.7 billion in special charges.

Sales rose 11% to $20.06 billion compared with Wall Street estimates of $19.34 billion. Lockheed said it had higher volumes and munitions ramp ups across all its units, including aeronautics, missiles and fire control, space, and rotary and mission systems.

Lockheed said its backlog is at a record $230 billion, and it continues "to innovate at the speed our customers' missions demand." It also said it's strengthening its global defense manufacturing capabilities through its collaboration with General Motors Defense in the U.S. and its agreement with Rheinmetall to co-produce ATACMS in Europe.

In June, The Wall Street Journal reported that GM was in talks with Lockheed about making commonly used parts that could help Lockheed bolster munitions production. Overall, stocks of missiles and other critical weaponry have dropped because of the wars in Ukraine and Iran, The Journal said.

Looking ahead, Lockheed raised its full-year earnings expectations to $29.95 to $30.65 a share and sales outlook to $79.75 billion to $81.75 billion. Wall Street is modeling for earnings of $29.88 a share and sales of $79.17 billion.

Earlier this week, Lockheed said it would field a cheaper model of Patriot missile that could hit the battlefield faster, as global stockpiles of high-end interceptors dwindle, The Journal reported. The model will cost less than half of its bestselling version, which currently costs more than $4 million a round, according to Army documents. Both Lockheed and RTX, which makes the Patriot launcher system, have pledged to meet White House demands to triple or quadruple their output of some high-tech missiles over the coming years, the Journal said. But military officials have said they need low-cost and midrange defenses that can be delivered in months, rather than years.

Write to Josée Rose at josee.rose@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 23, 2026 06:29 ET (10:29 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.