Summary
- The EPS in 2019 is expected to fall between the range of $19.15 and $19.45.
- In 2018, Lockheed Martin bought back 4.7 million shares for $1.5 billion.
- In 2018, Lockheed Martin marked its 16th consecutive year of rising dividend rates and that too by a double-digit percentage.
- The F-35’s backlog has risen to nearly 400 fighter jets.
- Interest rate risk poses a major threat to the firm’s future price performance and earnings.
In my last article on January 21st, I had looked at the fundamental news affecting the defense sector in 2019. However, in this article, I shall solely focus on Lockheed Martin (LMT) as I believe the stock is at a crossroad where there exists the possibility of an upside or downside move. Nevertheless, I am leaning towards the bulls winning the race as the odds seems to be stacked in their favor. Hence, to establish the most likely scenario, I shall look at the fundamentals of the stock, whilst also analyzing the charts using technical analysis tools.
Fundamental facets that matter:
Future earnings:
One of the factors that I believe will slightly neutralize the bullish sentiment present in the equity is the recently released earnings report. The results were largely positive; however, the outlook for 2019 will surely dampen investor sentiment. CEO Marillyn Hewitt stated that she expects the EPS in 2019 to fall between the range of $19.15 and $19.45. Hence, I expect this to dampen investor sentiment as the analyst forecast for the EPS is $19.55.
