Lockheed CEO: Aerojet Rocketdyne acquisition now expected to close in 2022

By Briana Reilly / October 26, 2021 at 12:55 PM

Lockheed Martin is now projecting its acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne will close in the first quarter of calendar year 2022, rather than the fourth quarter of this year, as previously expected.

CEO Jim Taiclet told investors during a quarterly earnings call today that the deal "continues moving through the regulatory approval process" as officials await the federal nod they anticipated would come before the close of this year.

The company’s news release unveiling the Q3 financial results note Lockheed's preliminary 2022 outlook doesn't incorporate the pending acquisition, adding that "changes in circumstances may require the company to revise its assumptions, which could materially change its current estimate of 2022 net sales, business segment operating margin, and cash flows."

The updated timeline comes as the company lowered its 2021 revenue expectations by 2.5%, to roughly $67 billion, and executives warned next year's could drop to $66 billion.

Still, Taiclet outlined multiple areas of growth for the company, including through existing programs, competition for new awards and ongoing work on six hypersonics programs. Once testing and evaluation activity wraps up, he said, "multiple programs are expected to enter production between 2023 and 2026."

He also identified work in "significant classified development programs," with those areas transitioning to production in the same 2023-2026 timeframe.

"Based on hypersonics, classified programs, programs of record like CH-53K and others, we do believe that we'll have a rebound to meaningful growth in 2023 and beyond, but again that's also dependent on a number of factors including the budget and such," Taiclet said.

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