After following similar path, defense contractors stake out different strategies
About five years ago, defense contractors all seemed to be working off the same playbook. Faced with a shrinking Pentagon budget, contractors from Lockheed Martin to Northrop Grumman were cutting their workforces and consolidating their facilities. They trimmed top executives and closed locations to find ways to preserve profit, even as sales dropped. And even in the face of sequestration, the largest defense contractors continued to post solid earnings reports, in many cases achieving profit gains despite revenue contraction. But...