(July 21): Northrop Grumman Corp raised its full-year sales and earnings outlook amid a flood of new orders that pushed the company’s backlog to record levels.

The defence contractor booked US$20 billion (RM81.79 billion) in new contracts during the second quarter, it said in an earnings release on Tuesday, helping expand its backlog to US$105 billion as sales accelerated across all business segments.

Second-quarter sales rose 10% from the previous quarter and 5% from a year earlier, the company said, as the wars in Iran and Ukraine fuelled demand.

The company now expects 2026 sales between US$43.75 billion and US$44.25 billion, an increase of US$250 million over previous estimates, and earnings per share between US$28.60 and US$29.10.

“Northrop Grumman achieved a new record backlog, driven by robust global demand for our products,” CEO Kathy Warden said in the earnings release.

The company made US$7.68 a share in the second quarter, higher than the adjusted and diluted earnings per share of US$6.83 analysts polled by Bloomberg expected on average.

Major awards in the second quarter included a US$7.6 billion deal for the Sentinel programme, the Air Force’s replacement for the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile.

The company also netted a US$1 billion contract for work related to the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jet within its aeronautics and mission systems divisions and US$800 million for the development of the Glide Phase Interceptor, meant to defeat hypersonic missile threats. Northrop won another US$4.3 billion for restricted programmes.

Sales increased in the second quarter by US$525 million from a year earlier, driven by growth across all business segments including a 13% increase in its aeronautics division.

The increase in the aeronautics sector is primarily due to higher production volume on its new bomber, the B-21 Raider.

Operating income totalled US$1.1 billion for the quarter with an operating margin of 10.1%.

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