Northrop Grumman (NOC) Tops Q4 Earnings Estimates

Group 1: Earnings Performance - Northrop Grumman reported quarterly earnings of $6.39 per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of$ 6.27 per share, and showing an increase from $6.27 per share a year ago, representing an earnings surprise of 1.91% [1] - The company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates in all four of the last quarters [2] - The revenue for the quarter ended December 2024 was$ 10.69 billion, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.09%, but showed a slight increase from $10.64 billion year-over-year [2] Group 2: Stock Performance and Outlook - Northrop Grumman shares have increased by approximately 2.6% since the beginning of the year, compared to the S&P 500's gain of 2.7% [3] - The company's earnings outlook is crucial for investors, as it includes current consensus earnings expectations for upcoming quarters and any recent changes to these expectations [4] - The current consensus EPS estimate for the next quarter is$ 6.50 on revenues of $10.28 billion, and for the current fiscal year, it is$ 27.85 on revenues of $42.86 billion [7] Group 3: Industry Context - The Aerospace - Defense industry, to which Northrop Grumman belongs, is currently ranked in the bottom 40% of over 250 Zacks industries, indicating potential challenges for stock performance [8] - Empirical research suggests a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions, which can be tracked by investors [5] - The current estimate revisions trend for Northrop Grumman is mixed, resulting in a Zacks Rank 3 (Hold), suggesting the stock is expected to perform in line with the market in the near future [6]