Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) investors will be delighted, with the company turning in some strong numbers with its latest results. The company beat expectations with revenues of US$17b arriving 7.5% ahead of forecasts. Statutory earnings per share (EPS) were US$6.39, 9.8% ahead of estimates. Following the result, the analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. We've gathered the most recent statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their earnings models, following these results.

Following last week's earnings report, Lockheed Martin's 23 analysts are forecasting 2024 revenues to be US$69.5b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are expected to reduce 7.4% to US$26.15 in the same period. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$69.3b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$26.04 in 2024. So it's pretty clear that, although the analysts have updated their estimates, there's been no major change in expectations for the business following the latest results.

There were no changes to revenue or earnings estimates or the price target of US$487, suggesting that the company has met expectations in its recent result. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. There are some variant perceptions on Lockheed Martin, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$546 and the most bearish at US$378 per share. There are definitely some different views on the stock, but the range of estimates is not wide enough as to imply that the situation is unforecastable, in our view.

Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. We would highlight that revenue is expected to reverse, with a forecast 0.3% annualised decline to the end of 2024. That is a notable change from historical growth of 3.2% over the last five years. Compare this with our data, which suggests that other companies in the same industry are, in aggregate, expected to see their revenue grow 2.6% per year. It's pretty clear that Lockheed Martin's revenues are expected to perform substantially worse than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most obvious conclusion is that there's been no major change in the business' prospects in recent times, with the analysts holding their earnings forecasts steady, in line with previous estimates. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply they will perform worse than the wider industry. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

Following on from that line of thought, we think that the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. We have forecasts for Lockheed Martin going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

You should always think about risks though. Case in point, we've spotted 2 warning signs for Lockheed Martin you should be aware of.

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