Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) Stock Price & How to Invest

Lockheed Martin is the largest defense contractor in the world, generating the vast majority of its revenue from the US government and allied militaries. It is organized into four segments: Aeronautics (home of the F-35 Lightning II, F-22, and C-130, the largest segment), Rotary and Mission Systems (Sikorsky helicopters, combat systems, radar, and sensors), Missiles and Fire Control (precision missiles, HIMARS, PAC-3 interceptors, and hypersonics), and Space (satellites, missile-defense systems, and strategic and hypersonic programs). Lockheed designs, builds, and sustains some of the most advanced and mission-critical weapons systems in the world, including the F-35, its single largest program, which generates long-tail revenue from production, upgrades, and decades of sustainment. The company makes money under long-term government contracts, with a large multi-year backlog that provides revenue visibility. It pursues hypersonics, missile defense, and space as growth areas. As a flagship defense name, Lockheed is a steady cash generator that returns substantial capital to shareholders. Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.

The 2026 numbers show a business growing faster than its reputation suggests. Trailing twelve-month revenue is about $77 billion, and second-quarter 2026 revenue of roughly $20.1 billion rose about 10.5% year over year, with EPS of $7.94 beating the roughly $7.20 consensus after a first-quarter miss ($6.44 vs $6.69). In mid-October the company raised its dividend about 4.3%, to an annual rate of roughly $14.40 a share, and delivered a C-130J-30 to the US Navy for conversion into the E-130J, the future TACAMO nuclear command aircraft. The stock closed at about $545 on October 16, 2026, well below its 52-week high of $692, and third-quarter results are due October 22, 2026, with consensus near $20.46 billion of revenue and $7.52 of EPS.

Lockheed depends overwhelmingly on US and allied defense budgets, so spending cuts, continuing resolutions, shutdowns, or shifting priorities directly threaten revenue. Heavy concentration in the F-35 means program delays, cost overruns, or reduced order quantities have an outsized impact. Large fixed-price development and classified programs can incur losses, and Lockheed has taken charges on troubled contracts. Supply-chain constraints, engine and parts shortages, and procurement protests pressure deliveries. Defense stocks can de-rate on hopes of reduced geopolitical tension or budget pressure, and the business faces regulatory, political, and contract-concentration risk. The balance sheet carries about $20.5 billion of debt against about $3.8 billion of cash (mid-2026), and the shares have swung between roughly $437 and $692 over the past year, so even a defensive name has shown meaningful price risk. Analysts expect EPS of about $30.42 for 2026, a sharp rebound from 2025 when program charges weighed on earnings, which makes the October 22 report a check on whether charges stay contained.

21 analysts publish price targets on LMT, averaging $618.86 against a $552.09 price as of October 2026, or +12.1%. The published targets run from $486.00 to $756.00, a moderate spread, and the ratings split 10 buy, 12 hold, 1 sell. Over the last six months there have been 5 raises and 5 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full LMT forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on Lockheed Martin Corporation. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. The F-35 franchise. The F-35 Lightning II is the largest defense program in the world and Lockheed's flagship product. The most optimistic published target, $756.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. Lockheed depends overwhelmingly on US and allied defense budgets, so spending cuts, continuing resolutions, shutdowns, or shifting priorities directly threaten revenue. The most pessimistic target, $486.00, is roughly what LMT is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on LMT, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

No. Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) has not split its stock in the last 10 years. That is a statement about the window we check rather than about the company’s entire history, so an older split is possible. It also matters less than it once did: fractional shares mean a high price per share no longer keeps smaller investors out, which removed most of the practical reason to split.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Lockheed Martin Corporation's investor relations page or your broker.

• Revenue (TTM): ~$77 billion
• Q2 2026 revenue: ~$20.1 billion (up ~10.5% YoY)
• Q2 2026 EPS: $7.94 vs ~$7.20 est.
• Operating margin (TTM): ~12%
• Net income (TTM): ~$6.3 billion
• P/E (trailing / forward): ~20x / ~17x
• Dividend yield: ~2.7% (~$14.40/yr)
• Free cash flow (TTM): ~$5.6 billion
• Market cap: ~$126 billion

At about $545 a share on October 16, 2026, Lockheed trades near 20 times trailing and 17 times forward earnings, about 1.6 times sales, a defense-sector multiple supported by a large backlog, predictable government revenue and free cash flow that funds a growing dividend and buybacks. Trailing net income of about $6.3 billion is already above full-year 2025's $5.0 billion, and analysts expect about $30.42 of EPS for 2026 and $32.73 for 2027. The October 22 third-quarter report (consensus about $7.52 EPS on $20.46 billion revenue) is the next checkpoint, with program charges on fixed-price contracts the main swing factor.

If you want LMT exposure as part of a larger bundle rather than directly, these ETFs hold it meaningfully. Weights are approximate and refresh quarterly.

These are the investment theses LMT naturally fits into. Each links to a full theme guide listing every other stock that belongs and the ETFs commonly used as a passive proxy.

Other names that sit close to LMT: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get LMT exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it (XAR, PPA, ITA), which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so LMT sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where LMT fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

Lockheed Martin (LMT) is a backlog-rich defense prime whose F-35 sustainment annuity and missiles-and-space programs generate predictable, government-backed cash flow funding a growing dividend and buybacks. In a portfolio it behaves as a defensive, income-oriented aerospace-and-defense anchor whose main swing factor is defense-budget direction and program concentration, not the broad economic cycle.

Whether LMT is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is LMT a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the LMT stock forecast.

For income investors, whether LMT pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does LMT pay a dividend? And to weigh LMT against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: LMT vs NOC and LMT vs RTX.