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Huntington Ingalls to Post Q3 Earnings: What's in the Cards?

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Key Takeaways

  • HII's Q3 earnings are expected to rise 19.8% to $4.41 per share, with sales seen rising 6.1% to $3.39B.
  • Higher amphibious ship, submarine and aircraft carrier volumes are expected to support HII's revenues.
  • HII's cash flow faces pressure from shipyard investments and possible payment delays.

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (HII - Free Report) is scheduled to release third-quarter 2026 earnings on Oct. 29, 2026, before market open. The company delivered an earnings surprise of 38.68% in the last reported quarter.

Let’s discuss the factors that are likely to be reflected in the upcoming quarterly results.

Factors Likely to Affect HII’s Q3 Results

Higher sales volume from amphibious assault ships is likely to have boosted the Ingalls segment’s top line in the third quarter.

Higher sales volumes from submarine and aircraft carrier programs are likely to have boosted the Newport News segment’s revenue performance.

Major submarine program contracts, including Virginia-class and Columbia-class work, provide long-term demand visibility and support future shipbuilding activity. The company also expects to deliver five ships over the following 12 months. Continued progress on these programs is expected to have supported third-quarter performance.

Cash generation remains a key concern for HII. Management reiterated its full-year free cash flow outlook, with a significant portion of the expected cash generation weighted toward the fourth quarter. Consequently, third-quarter cash flow is likely to have remained constrained if customer payments or contract advances are delayed, while continued investment in shipyard capacity is expected to have put additional pressure on cash generation.

Q3 Estimates for HII Stock

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HII’s third-quarter sales is pegged at $3.39 billion, which indicates an increase of 6.1% from the prior-year number.

The consensus estimate for HII’s earnings is pegged at $4.41 per share, which indicates a year-over-year increase of 19.8%.

What the Zacks Model Unveils for HII

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for HII this time. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat, which is not the case here, as you will see below.

Earnings ESP: Huntington Ingalls has an Earnings ESP of -0.74%. You can uncover the best stocks before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: HII currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Stocks to Consider

Below, we have mentioned a few players from the same sector that have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings in the upcoming releases:

General Dynamics (GD - Free Report) is set to report its third-quarter 2026 earnings on Oct. 30, before market open. It has an Earnings ESP of +0.77% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GD’s earnings is pegged at $4.14 per share. The consensus estimate for its sales is pegged at $13.69 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 6%.

BWX Technologies (BWXT - Free Report) is expected to report its third-quarter 2026 earnings on Nov. 2, after market close. It has an Earnings ESP of +0.22% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present.

The consensus estimate for BWXT’s earnings is pegged at $1.19 per share. The consensus estimate for its sales is pegged at $992.4 million, indicating year-over-year growth of 14.6%.

CurtissWright (CW - Free Report) is set to report its third-quarter 2026 earnings on Nov. 4, 2026, after market close. It has an Earnings ESP of +0.23% and a Zacks Rank of 2 at present.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CW’s earnings is pegged at $3.76 per share. The consensus estimate for its sales is pegged at $937 million, indicating year-over-year growth of 7.8%.

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