Lockheed Martin shares reach a fresh all-time high on Tuesday, quarterly earnings exceed expectations on strong F-35 sales

Lockheed Martin Corporations (LMT) quarterly earnings exceeded market expectations, supported by higher sales of the companys F-35 fighter aircraft. In addition, Lockheed revised up its full-year earnings forecast.

Lockheed Martin shares closed lower for the first time in the past four trading sessions on Tuesday. It has also been the biggest daily retreat since June 29th. The stock went down 0.59% ($1.70) to $286.79, after touching an intraday high at $292.97 and also a fresh all-time high. In the week ended on July 16th the shares of the global security and aerospace company added 1.03% to their market value compared to a week ago, which marked a second consecutive period of gains. Due to yesterdays retreat, the stock has trimmed its advance to 3.31% so far during the current month, following a 1.25% slump in June. The latter has been the first monthly retreat since last December, but yet, the smallest one since December 2015. For the entire past year, Lockheed Martin shares gained 15.10%.

Net income was reported to have increased 5% year-on-year to $942 million ($3.23 per share) during the latest quarter. In comparison, the median forecast by analysts had pointed to earnings of $3.11 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

At the same time, Lockheeds net sales grew 9.6% year-on-year to $12.69 billion during the same period, while also outstripping the median analyst estimate ($12.40 billion).

Sales at aeronautics, Lockheeds largest segment, focused on manufacturing of F-35 jets and C-130 aircraft, were reported to have surged 19.4% during the latest quarter.

The US Defense Department said earlier this month that 13 jets would be added to the planned purchase of F-35s. However, no delivery schedule has so far been announced.

Lockheed also revised up its full-year 2017 earnings forecast to a range of $12.30-$12.60 per share. The prior forecast had pointed to full-year earnings within the range of $12.15-$12.45 per share.

Additionally, the companys full-year 2017 sales forecast was revised up to a range of $49.80-$51.00 billion from a range of $49.50-$50.70 billion previously.

According to CNN Money, the 16 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Lockheed Martin’s stock price, have a median target of $288.00, with a high estimate of $330.00 and a low estimate of $240.00. The median estimate is a 0.42% surge compared to the closing price of $286.79 on July 18th.

The same media also reported that 10 out of 20 surveyed investment analysts had rated Lockheed Martin Corporation’s stock as “Hold”, while 9 – as “Buy”.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, today’s levels of importance for the Lockheed Martin stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $287.43
R2 – $288.06
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $288.70
R4 (Long Breakout) – $290.61
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $292.84
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $293.75

S1 – $286.15
S2 – $285.52
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $284.88
S4 (Short Breakout) – $282.97
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $280.74
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $279.83

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $287.04
R1 – $289.86
R2 – $291.59
R3 – $294.41
R4 – $297.23

S1 – $285.31
S2 – $282.49
S3 – $280.76
S4 – $279.03