Northrop Grumman Is Up 29% in 2026 With a $95.7 Billion Backlog and One Big Program Still in Limbo

1 hour ago 1

David Beren

Wed, March 18, 2026 astatine 8:04 AM CDT 4 min read

  • Northrop Grumman (NOC) closed FY2025 with a grounds $95.7 cardinal backlog, escaped currency travel up 26% to $3.3 billion, and Q4 gross maturation of 9.6% to $11.71 billion, though the banal present trades astatine 25x net supra the $724 expert statement target. Lockheed Martin (LMT) trades astatine astir 19x trailing earnings, highlighting the valuation premium investors are paying for Northrop’s maturation trajectory.

  • The hostility betwixt Northrop’s grounds backlog conversion imaginable and unresolved Sentinel ICBM programme costs volition find whether the 29% year-to-date rally is justified, with cardinal catalysts including Q1 2026 measurement trends and the program’s quality to support its 2027 trial formation schedule.

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One of the world's foremost defence and aerospace names, Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) has been 1 of the strongest-performing large-cap defence stocks of 2026, with shares up 29.07% twelvemonth to day to astir $735. That tally is built connected a existent foundation: a grounds $95.7 cardinal backlog, a Q4 net beat, and a CEO who described the existent situation arsenic "the astir robust request situation I've seen successful my career." But the banal present trades supra expert statement targets, and the Sentinel ICBM programme is inactive successful restructuring. The hostility betwixt a grounds backlog and unresolved programme costs is what investors are watching.

Northrop Grumman closed FY2025 with implicit $46 cardinal successful nett awards and a full-year book-to-bill ratio of 1.10x. Free currency travel for the twelvemonth roseate 26% to $3.3 billion, marking the 3rd consecutive twelvemonth of 25%+ growth. Q4 gross grew 9.6% twelvemonth implicit twelvemonth to $11.71 billion. CEO Kathy Warden described the 2026 outlook arsenic a "balanced approach," noting that portion accumulation is ramping up, large gross impacts from B-21 acceleration, Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), and munitions enlargement volition beryllium much pronounced successful 2027 and 2028.

The Sentinel ICBM remains a focal constituent of the restructuring, which is expected to reason successful precocious 2026. With a trial motorboat planned for 2027 and operational capableness targeted for the aboriginal 2030s, the programme is moving from integer plan to carnal reality; notably, the institution broke crushed connected a prototype silo successful Utah this February. Defense Systems gross grew 14% successful Q4, bolstered importantly by the ongoing Sentinel development.

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