Lockheed Martin shares hit a fresh all-time high on Monday as fourth-quarter revenue outstrips market expectations

Lockheed Martin Corporations (LMT) fourth-quarter revenue, reported on Monday, exceeded market expectations, driven by a strong performance in its aeronautics business. Lockheed also expects sound results during the current year.

Lockheed Martin shares closed higher for a fourth consecutive trading session on Monday. The stock went up 1.89% ($6.52) to $351.42, after touching an intraday high at $354.16 and also a fresh all-time high.

In the week ended on January 28th the shares of the global security and aerospace company added 3.89% to their market value compared to a week ago, which marked the fourth gain out of five weeks. It has also been the best performance since the week ended on May 28th 2017.

The stock has extended its advance to 9.46% so far during the current month, following a 0.60% increase in December. The latter has been a second consecutive month of gains.

For the entire past year, Lockheed Martin shares rose 28.45% following another 15.10% surge in 2016.

Lockheeds total net sales were reported to have surged to $15.14 billion during the fourth quarter ended on December 31st from $13.75 billion during the same period a year ago. In comparison, the median forecast by analysts had pointed to net sales of $14.72 billion.

Sales in Lockheeds aeronautics business rose 11.8% year-on-year to $6.05 billion during the latest quarter. At the same time, full-year 2017 sales at the division went up 13.6% year-on-year to $20.1 billion.

Lockheed Martin also said it had incurred a $1.9 billion charge during the past quarter, mostly because of overseas profit repatriation and future tax benefits value write-down following the recently-signed into law reform of the US tax code.

Meanwhile, the companys earnings per share, excluding a deferred non-cash gain of $122 million as well as the tax charge, were reported at $3.87 during the fourth quarter, thus, falling short of market consensus ($4.07 per share).

Lockheed now projects that its net sales for the full year 2018 to fall within the range between $50 billion and $51.5 billion, while its full-year earnings to be between $15.20 and $15.50 per share. These figures compare with a median analyst estimate, which points to full-year revenue of $51.2 billion and full-year earnings of $14 per share.

According to CNN Money, the 20 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Lockheed Martin’s stock price, have a median target of $338.50, with a high estimate of $382.00 and a low estimate of $284.00. The median estimate is a 3.68% decrease compared to the closing price of $351.42 on January 29th.

The same media also reported that 13 out of 22 surveyed investment analysts had rated Lockheed Martin Corporation’s stock as “Hold”, while 8 – as “Buy”.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, today’s levels of importance for the Lockheed Martin stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $352.51
R2 – $353.61
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $354.70
R4 (Long Breakout) – $357.99
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $361.82
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $363.68

S1 – $350.33
S2 – $349.23
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $348.14
S4 (Short Breakout) – $344.85
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $341.02
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $339.16

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $339.14
R1 – $350.87
R2 – $356.83
R3 – $368.56
R4 – $380.28

S1 – $333.18
S2 – $321.45
S3 – $315.49
S4 – $309.52