Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (HII Quick QuoteHII - Free Report) is set to report first-quarter 2019 results on May 2, before the market opens.

 

This military shipbuilder has outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters, the average positive surprise being 13.14%.

 

The company’s Newport News segment is likely to reflect rising demand for aircraft carriers and submarine support services in the upcoming quarterly results. 

 

Let’s discuss the factors influencing Huntington Ingalls’ first-quarter results.

 

 

Huntington Ingalls’ Newport News is the nation's sole designer, builder and refueler of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Notably, this division generates more than 50% of the company’s total revenues. We expect higher sales volumes for aircraft carriers and navy nuclear support services to consistently drive revenues for this segment, which should get reflected in the upcoming quarterly result. 

 

In line with this, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter revenues is pegged at $1,125 million, implying a 4% improvement from the yar-ago quarter’s reported figure.

 

 

Huntington Ingalls has been making strategic investments in its Ingalls business division, which has acquired certain key contracts in the past few quarters. Led by higher volumes in the LPD, LHA and DDG programs, this division is expected to reflect solid revenue growth in the upcoming quarterly results

 

In line with this, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter revenues at the company's Ingalls division is pegged at $600 million, indicating a 19% improvement from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.

 

 

A steady inflow of orders from the Pentagon has continued to provide significant impetus to the company. Such key contracts strongly position the company to witness steady revenue growth in the to-be-reported quarter. In sync with this, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter revenues stands at $1.94 billion, suggesting an increase of 3.5% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

 

However, additional costs associated with the launch and subsequent delivery of SSN 791 Delaware along with delayed schedules for SSN 794 Montana may weigh on Huntington Ingalls’ bottom line in the to-be reported quarter. 

 

Considering these, the consensus mark for first-quarter earnings is pegged at $3.27 per share, calling for a decline of 6% from the figure reported in the year-ago period.

 

 

Huntington Ingalls possesses the right combination of two key ingredients — a positive Earnings ESP  and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or higher — that increases the odds of an earnings beat in the fourth quarter. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

 

Huntington Ingalls has an Earnings ESP of +3.71% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

 

Conversely, we caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 or 5 (Sell rated) going into an earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.

 

 

Textron Inc. (TXT Quick QuoteTXT - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2019 earnings from continuing operations of 76 cents per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 70 cents by 8.6%.

 

Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT Quick QuoteLMT - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2019 earnings of $5.99 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.29 by 39.6%.

 

General Dynamics Corporation (GD Quick QuoteGD - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2019 earnings from continuing operations of $2.56 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.38 by 7.6%.

 

 

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