Northrop posts beat

Northrop Grumman opened 2026 with a revenue beat, reporting $9.9 billion in first-quarter sales as production picked up on some of its biggest U.S. defense programs. (investor.northropgrumman.com) The company said on April 21 that sales rose 4% from $9.5 billion a year earlier to $9.881 billion, while diluted earnings per share increased to $6.14 from $3.32. It reaffirmed its full-year 2026 guidance for sales, segment operating income, adjusted earnings per share and free cash flow. (investor.northropgrumman.com) Wall Street had been looking for about $9.75 billion in revenue and $6.06 in earnings per share, according to MarketBeat’s consensus figures, so Northrop cleared both marks. The company’s operating margin also improved to 10.0% from 6.1% a year earlier. (marketbeat.com, investor.northropgrumman.com) The biggest growth came from Aeronautics Systems, where sales rose 17% to $3.283 billion. Northrop linked that quarter to agreements with the U.S. Air Force to increase B-21 production capacity and speed up Sentinel’s initial operating capability. (investor.northropgrumman.com) That matters because Northrop sits at the center of two of the Pentagon’s most expensive modernization efforts: the B-21 stealth bomber and the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program. In its earnings materials, the company said demand stayed strong enough to produce $9.8 billion in net awards and leave backlog at $96 billion. (investor.northropgrumman.com, finance.yahoo.com) Northrop’s other businesses were steadier. Defense Systems sales rose 5% to $1.899 billion, Mission Systems increased 2% to $2.861 billion, and Space Systems slipped 3% to $2.480 billion. (investor.northropgrumman.com) Chief Executive Kathy Warden said the quarter showed “mid-single-digit organic sales growth” and “solid operating performance” in what she called an “unprecedented global demand environment.” The company’s investor site also flagged recent updates on the B-21 Raider and Sentinel program alongside the earnings release. (investor.northropgrumman.com, investor.northropgrumman.com) Northrop also filed its quarterly report and earnings release with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 21, putting the numbers into the formal reporting record. For investors, the next test is whether the company can keep converting that $96 billion backlog into higher-margin production through the rest of 2026. (sec.gov, investor.northropgrumman.com)