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Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) specializes in manufacturing and designing fighter aircraft and missiles. It’s popularly known for its fighter aircrafts like the F-16 Falcon, F-22 Raptor, and F-35 Lightning. With a market cap of $104.2 billion, Lockheed Martin operates through Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control, Rotary and Mission Systems, and Space segments.
The defense giant has significantly underperformed the broader market over the past year. LMT stock prices have plummeted 19.9% over the past 52 weeks and 8.2% on a YTD basis, compared to the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 16.1% gain over the past year and 10% surge in 2025.
Narrowing the focus, LMT has also underperformed the sector-focused Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLI) 19.6% surge over the past 52 weeks and 16.2% gains in 2025.
Lockheed Martin’s stock prices plummeted 10.8% in the trading session following the release of its disappointing Q2 results on Jul. 22. The company’s topline for the quarter inched up by a modest 18 bps year-over-year to $18.2 billion, missing the Street expectations by 2.2%. Meanwhile, its net earnings declined by a massive 79.2% year-over-year to $342 million. Its free cash flows came in at negative $150 million, down from the positive $1.5 billion in the year-ago quarter.
On an even more concerning note, Lockheed Martin’s backlog in the aeronautics segment stood at $52.2 billion at the end of Q2, significantly down from $62.8 billion in the year-ago quarter.
For the full fiscal 2025, ending in December, analysts expect LMT to deliver an EPS of $27.66, down 2.9% year-over-year. The company has a solid earnings surprise history. It has surpassed the Street’s bottom-line projections in each of the past four quarters.
The stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating overall. Of the 24 analysts covering the stock, opinions include nine “Strong Buys,” 14 “Holds,” and one “Strong Sell.”
This configuration is notably less optimistic than two months ago, when 11 analysts gave “Strong Buy” recommendations on LMT.
On Jul. 24, UBS (UBS) analyst Gavin Parsons maintained a “Neutral” rating on LMT and lowered the price target from $498 to $453.
As of writing, LMT’s mean price target of $491.45 represents a 10.1% premium to current price levels. Meanwhile, the street-high target of $670 suggests a staggering 50.2% upside potential.
On the date of publication, Aditya Sarawgi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
