Buoyed by acquisitions, both General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman said they saw sales and profit boosts during their most recent quarter.
General Dynamics said today sales in its most recent quarter reached $9.1 billion, up 20 percent from the same three-month period a year earlier. The company's quarterly profit hit $851 million, up 11 percent from the prior year.
Sales were buoyed by GD's acquisition of CSRA; the company's IT unit, which absorbed CSRA, posted a 116 percent boost to quarterly sales. That said, sales were up in all five of the contractor's units.
Quarterly profit declined in GD's aerospace, combat systems and marine systems groups. The IT business posted a 55 percent improvement in profit, while the mission systems division recorded a nearly 18 percent increase in quarterly profit.
Phebe Novakovic, General Dynamics' chief executive, noted during a call with analysts this morning the company opted to sell GDIT assets to Maximus earlier this month.
"We are constantly looking for opportunities to shape our portfolio," she said. "In the case of the large public-safety call centers, they really have a better home with Maximus, which allows us to focus on our core."
Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman said today its quarterly sales reached $8.1 billion, up 23 percent from the same three-month period a year earlier. The contractor attributed the increase to its acquisition of Orbital ATK, which is now Northrop's innovation systems business.
Northrop noted quarterly sales increased in its aerospace systems and mission systems businesses, but declined in its technology services unit.
The contractor reported quarterly profit of $1.1 billion, up about 78 percent from the prior year. However, Northrop recorded a profit decline in its TS business.
Kathy Warden, Northrop's president and chief operating officer, said during a call with analysts today the company will consolidate its advanced defense services and systems modernization services businesses within TS, reducing its divisions from three to two.
She noted the company has "been on a journey" in recent years to eliminate the unit's commodity-based services work.
"We really see that we now have a services business that has a solid foundation for growth in the long-term and healthy program performance, so that's really what we're working to optimize," she said.