LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - US aerospace and defence firm Northrop Grumman saw profits soar in the third quarter, leading the S&P 500-listed outfit to up its earnings guidance for 2018.
Northrop Grumman turned in a profit of $1.14bn for the three months ended 30 September - a 78% improvement against the same quarter a year earlier. Earnings per share came in at $6.54 per share - a marked improvement on the $3.67 seen at the same time in 2017.

Analysts on the Street were expecting to see earnings of $4.37 per share and adjusted earnings of $4.36.

Northrop Grumman's sales increased 23% to $8.09bn, also ahead of analysts' expectations of an $8.01bn result, on the back of its acquisition of Innovation Systems and higher sales at its Aerospace Systems and Mission Systems units. However, these improvements were also partially offset by lower sales in the group's Technology Services wing.

As a result of the earnings beat, Northrop Grumman increased its profit expectations for the full-year to somewhere between $18.75 and $19 per share. It had previously expected earnings to be in the range of $16.60 and $16.85 a share.

Chairman and chief executive Wes Bush, said: "Our third quarter results demonstrated solid growth and strong performance from our operations, including the first full quarter of Innovation Systems, as we continue to position the company for long-term profitable growth."

Northrop Grumman has topped consensus revenue estimates in each of the last four quarters.

As of 1440 BST, Northrop Grumman shares had ticked up 0.48% to $305.58 each.

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