Lockheed Martin Quarterly Sales Rise 3.2%

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT), the Pentagon's No. 1 weapons supplier, reported better-than-expected quarterly sales, helped by higher demand for its F-35 fighter jets, and said it expects full-year revenue at the higher end of its forecast.

Revenue at Lockheed's aeronautics division increased about 11 percent to $3.92 billion in the third quarter.

The business makes the F-35 fighter jets, which is the world's most expensive weapons program with an estimated cost of $400 billion.

The quarter got a boost from net sales of about $500 million for F-35 contracts.

The company said it expects 2015 sales of $45 billion. It had earlier forecast sales of $43.5 billion-$45 billion.

Analysts on average had expected 2015 sales of $44.82 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

For the quarter ended Sept. 27, total net sales rose to $11.46 billion from $11.11 billion a year earlier.

Net income fell to $865 million, or $2.77 per share, in the third quarter, from $888 million, or $2.76 per share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected a third-quarter profit of $2.72 per share on revenue $11.14 billion.

Up to Monday's close, Lockheed's stock had risen 9.4 percent this year, compared with a 1.5 percent decline in the Dow Jones U.S. Aerospace & Defense Index.

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)