General Dynamics' Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y

General Dynamics Corporation GD reported first-quarter 2025 earnings per share (EPS) of $3.66, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.47 by 5.5%. The bottom line also increased 27.1% from $2.88 recorded in the year-ago quarter. (Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)

The year-over-year bottom-line appreciation can be attributed to revenue growth as well as an improvement in operating earnings.

Total Revenues of GD

Revenues of $12.22 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $11.95 billion by 2.3%. The top line also improved 13.9% from the prior-year figure.

The year-over-year improvement can be attributed to increased revenues from each of GD’s four business segments.

General Dynamics Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

General Dynamics Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | General Dynamics Corporation Quote

GD’s Segmental Performance

Aerospace: The segment reported revenues of $3.03 billion, up 45.2% year over year. Operating earnings of $432 million improved 69.4% year over year.

Marine Systems: This segment’s revenues rose 7.7% to $3.59 billion from the year-ago quarter’s level. Operating earnings of $250 million improved 7.8% year over year.

Technologies: The segment’s revenues improved 6.8% year over year to $3.43 billion. Operating earnings totaled $328 million, which improved 11.2% year over year.

Combat Systems: The segment’s revenues of $2.18 billion were up 3.5% from the year-ago quarter’s level. Operating earnings improved 3.2% year over year to $291 million.

Operational Highlights of GD

Operating earnings totaled $1.27 billion, up 22.4% from the year-ago quarter’s $1.04 billion.

Operating costs and expenses increased 13% year over year to $10.96 billion.

Interest expenses increased 8.5% year over year to $89 million.

GD’s Backlog

General Dynamics recorded a total backlog of $88.66 billion, lower than the fourth-quarter 2024 level of $90.60 billion. The funded backlog at the end of the quarter was $74.93 billion.

Our model projected a backlog of $91.86 billion for the first quarter.

Financial Condition of GD

As of March 30, 2025, cash and cash equivalents totaled $1.24 billion compared with $1.70 billion as of Dec. 31, 2024.

The long-term debt as of the same date was $7.26 billion, in line with the 2024-end level.

During the first three months of 2025, cash used by operating activities totaled $148 million compared with $278 million in the year-ago period.

GD’s Zacks Rank

General Dynamics currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Recent Defense Releases

Lockheed Martin Corporation LMT reported first-quarter 2025 earnings of $7.28 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.34 by 14.8%. The bottom line increased 15% from the year-ago quarter's reported figure of $6.33 per share.

The company’s net sales were $17.96 billion, which beat the consensus estimate of $17.76 billion by 1.1%. The top line also increased 4.5% from $17.20 billion reported in the year-ago quarter.

Northrop Grumman Corporation NOC reported first-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $6.06 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.21 by 2.4%.

NOC’s total sales of $9.47 billion in the first quarter missed the consensus estimate of $9.91 billion by 4.4%. The top line also declined 6.6% from $10.13 billion reported in the year-ago quarter.

RTX Corporation’s RTX first-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share of $1.47 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.35 by 8.9%. The bottom line also improved 9.7% from the year-ago quarter’s level of $1.34, driven by growth in adjusted segment operating profit.

Its first-quarter sales totaled $20.31 billion, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $19.71 billion by 3%. The top line also surged a solid 5.2% from $19.31 billion recorded for the first quarter of 2024.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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