Raytheon beats 4Q earnings expectations, tops revenue forecasts

WALTHAM, Mass. – Shares of Raytheon Co. fell Thursday after the defense contractor's 2015 profit forecast was short of Wall Street estimates.

Raytheon said it expects to earn between $6.20 and $6.35 per share from continuing operations, and it forecast $22.3 billion to $22.8 billion in revenue. That means it believes revenue will fall as much as 2 percent.

FactSet says analysts were projecting net income of $6.88 per share and $22.59 billion in revenue on average.

Raytheon shares lost $4.34, or 4.2 percent, to $100.23 in midday trading.

The company reported net income from continuing operations of $582 million, or $1.86 per share. The Waltham, Massachusetts-based company said its revenue rose to $6.14 billion.

Zacks Investment Research says analysts expected earnings of $1.78 per share and $6.06 billion in revenue.

For the full year Raytheon said it earned $2.24 billion, or $6.97 per share, from continuing operations and revenue declined about 4 percent to $22.83 billion.

The company's stock is down 3 percent since the beginning of 2015, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has dropped almost 3 percent. The shares have risen 17 percent in the last 12 months.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on RTN at http://www.zacks.com/ap/RTN

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Keywords: Raytheon, Earnings Report