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FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: A RAF Lockheed Martin F-35B fighter jet taxis along a runway after landing at the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford, Britain July 8, 2016. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: A RAF Lockheed Martin F-35B fighter jet taxis along a runway after landing at the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford, Britain July 8, 2016. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo/File Photo
By Aishwarya Nair and Mike Stone
(Reuters) -U.S. weapons maker Lockheed Martin Corp on Tuesday said its quarterly revenue fell while quarterly profits dropped 5.7% as supply chain woes triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic were compounded by inflation pressure.
The company reaffirmed its full-year revenue outlook of about $66 billion which is in line with analysts estimates.
U.S. President Joe Biden's record peacetime national defense budget request of $813 billion was unveiled in March as Russia's invasion of Ukraine has spurred demand for more military spending globally.
The pandemic crippled many aerospace companies' ability to procure as well as supply parts needed to produce products, creating shortages, reducing inventories and hammering profits amid a period of rising inflation. Lockheed's dual-use suppliers that cater to both commercial aviation and defense markets have also been impacted.
"The result should bring a focus to defense supply chain concerns, which may be evident elsewhere this quarter as well, though there did not seem to be major issues. In addition, management did not change 2022 guidance and with defense budget support and the war in Ukraine" raising defense spending appetite, temporary challenges could be limited, JP Morgan analyst Seth Seifman said in a note.
Shares in Lockheed were up $2.17, or less than 1%, at $469.61 in early trading.
Lockheed's Aeronautics unit, its biggest, which makes F-35 fighter jets saw its revenue rise 2% compared to the same quarter a year ago, but profits fell by 2% to $697 million.
Lockheed reported 26 F-35 jet deliveries in the quarter compared with 17 a year earlier
Net earnings fell to $1.73 billion, or $6.44 per share, in the first quarter ended March 27 from $1.84 billion, or $6.56 per share, a year earlier.
Net sales fell about 8% to $14.96 billion in the quarter.
During the quarter Lockheed abandoned its proposed $4.4 billion purchase of rocket engine maker Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc after antitrust regulators sued to block the deal.
In February Lockheed named Jesus "Jay" Malave, who was senior vice president and CFO at L3Harris, as the company's chief financial officer.
(Reporting by Mike Stone and Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Mark Porter)