AP Business Writer ? Defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Northrup Grumman reported surprisingly strong third-quarter earnings Wednesday. But executives at those companies used the same discouraging word to describe what the future will look like: Flat.
The companies warned that government spending cuts in 2012 will pinch future sales. The warnings dragged down the stock prices of defense contractors after they reported earnings.
"It's certainly going to be a more challenging environment," Northrup Grumman CEO Wes Bush told analysts during a conference call Wednesday morning. Lockheed Martin Corp. sent the same warning, saying its future revenue looked "flattish."
Congress has already agreed to cut $1.5 trillion in spending over the next decade. A so-called "super committee" of legislators is debating the specifics of where those cuts will be made. If the committee can't agree on targeted cuts by the end of this year, many of the cuts will automatically be made to defense spending. At the same time, Congress hasn't even agreed on a budget for 2012, and is funding operations through a temporary resolution.
That leaves investors guessing if next year's spending will change, said Wells Fargo analyst Sam Pearlstein.
"There is clearly support for defense spending. I think exactly how those events (in Congress) shake out is still unclear," Pearlstein said.
It appears that even Lockheed and Northrop Grumman were surprised by the extent of spending cuts now being proposed in Washington. Military contractors rely on billions in annual defense spending on everything from unmanned aerial drones to fighter jets and training equipment.
Bush told analysts that Northrop has been relying on forecasts of government spending that now appear too optimistic. Bush said that based on what the company know now, fourth-quarter revenue should be roughly even with last quarter's $6.6 billion, which was down 5 percent from the year before.
Falls Church, Va.-based Northrop said it earned $520 million, or $1.86 per share, in the July-September quarter. That was up from $497 million, or $1.67 per share, during the same period last year.
The company said much of its profit growth came from earnings on its pension program. Such gains are really just an accounting adjustment showing the surplus of pension funds Northrop has compared with its liabilities, Pearlstein said.
Revenue fell 5 percent in Northrop's biggest division, aerospace, and dropped 8 percent in its information systems and 22 percent in its technical services businesses. Revenue rose 2 percent in its electronic systems unit.
Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin said its third-quarter net income jumped 25 percent on higher sales and profits in its aeronautics division. The company reported net income of $700 million, or $2.10 per share, for the quarter. That's up from $560, or 1.54 per share, a year earlier.
Also Wednesday, defense contractor General Dynamics Corp. said its third-quarter profit was relatively flat on lower revenue. The Falls Church, Va.-based company said its net income of $652 million, or $1.80 per share, up less than a percent from $650 million, or $1.70 per share, in the same quarter last year.
Revenue fell 2 percent to $7.85 billion from $8.01 billion.
Analysts were expecting profit of $1.77 per share $8.34 billion in revenue, according to a FactSet poll.
Shares of Northrop Grumman fell $1.31, or 2.3 percent, to $55.26 in midday trading. Lockheed Martin dropped $2.59, or 3.3 percent, to $76.30. General Dynamics shares fell $1.65, or 2.5 percent, to $63.61.
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Find Christopher Leonard on Twitter at http://twitter.com/cleonardnews
Associated Press writer Tali Arbel in New York contributed to this report.
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