Oct 30 (Reuters) – General Dynamics raised its 2026 revenue and profit forecasts on Friday after reporting stronger-than-expected third-quarter results, helped by robust demand for Gulfstream business jets and submarine programs.
Rising military spending amid ongoing wars and resilient demand for private aviation helped drive orders across the company’s businesses.
General Dynamics booked nearly $99 billion in new orders during the quarter, including awards for five additional Columbia-class submarines and nine Virginia-class submarines, lifting backlog to a record $220.3 billion, more than double the levels seen a year earlier.
CEO Phebe Novakovic said during an earnings call on Friday that the company was seeing “significantly increased earned hours” at its shipyards, as prolonged supply-chain and labor bottlenecks ease.
General Dynamics said its aerospace orders totaled $5 billion during the quarter.
Quarterly Gulfstream deliveries rose to 40 aircraft from 39 a year earlier.
Shares of the company were up 2%.
The defense contractor forecast 2026 earnings-per-share to range between $17.20 and $17.30, up from its previous forecast of $16.80 to $16.90.
It expects annual revenue of $56.5 billion to $56.8 billion, up from about $55.7 billion previously.
The company’s third-quarter profit came in at $4.49 per share, above analysts’ average estimate of $4.13, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Its revenue rose nearly 13% from a year ago to $14.57 billion, topping estimates of $13.73 billion.
(Reporting by Aatreyee Dasgupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Shinjini Ganguli)
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