US defence contractor Lockheed Martin reported a 41 per cent rise in quarterly profit today to beat Wall Street forecasts.
The company reported third-quarter earnings of $307 million, or 69 cents per share, up from $217 million, or 48 cents per share, a year earlier as demand soared for its combat aircraft and information technology services.
Lockheed, which makes the F-16 fighter plane and commercial and government satellites, said revenue rose 4 per cent to $8.44 billion.
Lockheed raised its outlook for 2004 but issued forecasts for 2005 that were lower than Wall Street estimates.
Lockheed forecast 2004 sales of $34.4 billion to $34.8 billion, and 2005 sales of $34.5 billion to $36 billion. Analysts' average forecasts are $34.72 billion and $36.28 billion, respectively.