Northrop Grumman revealed strong performance in Q2, as 2021 sales guidance has been raised from $35.8 Billion to $36.2 Billion and transaction-adjusted EPS Guidance from $24.40 to $24.80.
The Q2 sales results show an increase of 3% to $9.2 billion. This rise has been attributed to increased sales at Space Systems and Mission Systems, whereas Defence Systems has seen a lower level of sales.
The transaction-adjusted net earnings have increased from $1.03 billion in Q1 to $2.12 billion in Q2, this is a rise of 13% when compared to Q2, 2020 which reported earnings of $1.87 billion.
Net awards this quarter are valued at $6.5 billion with a backlog of $76 billion – an increase of 5% in 2021. Significant new awards include $0.4 billion for F-35, $0.3 billion for GMLRS, $0.3 billion for E-2 Hawkeye and $0.2 billion for Global Hawk.
The effective tax rate has increased from 16.5% to 20.4%, primarily due to a change made in tax revenue recognition on certain long-term contracts.
While performance has been strong, there are still many issues that are considered as risks for the future such as Covid-19, dependence on the US government for business and significant delays or reductions in appropriations for programmes