Northrop Grumman (NOC) Earnings: Q3 2026 Results and Next Report Date

The quarter ended September 30, 2026 and Northrop Grumman published the results on October 20, 2026. Revenue and diluted EPS are shown against Q3 2025, the same quarter a year earlier, which takes seasonal swings out of the comparison.

• Northrop Grumman reports only GAAP diluted EPS for the quarter. MTM-adjusted EPS, its diluted EPS excluding the per share impact of MTM benefit (expense) and related taxes, is used for full-year guidance.
• Segment sales include intersegment sales, which are eliminated in total sales: $664 million in Q3 2026 and $569 million in Q3 2025.

Source: Northrop Grumman Q3 2026 results, October 20, 2026. Also in the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026. Figures as reported; checked against the release on November 10, 2026.

How Northrop Grumman splits revenue in its own release, under its own labels, for Q3 2026 against Q3 2025. Indented lines are parts of the line above them.

• Northrop Grumman's Aeronautics Systems revenue was $3.6 billion in Q3 2026, up 14% from $3.1 billion in Q3 2025, 32% of total revenue.
• Northrop Grumman's Defense Systems revenue was $2.3 billion in Q3 2026, up 12% from $2.1 billion in Q3 2025, 21% of total revenue.
• Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems revenue was $3.2 billion in Q3 2026, up 2% from $3.1 billion in Q3 2025, 28% of total revenue.
• Northrop Grumman's Space Systems revenue was $2.7 billion in Q3 2026, up 2% from $2.7 billion in Q3 2025, 25% of total revenue.

Segment lines are the figures writers cite most often, because they show where the growth in a quarter came from. Companies redraw their segments from time to time and restate the prior year to match, so a year-ago figure here can differ from the one printed a year ago. When that has happened, the note above says so.

From the earnings release

Northrop Grumman's 2026 guidance table, as of October 20, 2026, gives sales of $43,750 million to $44,250 million, segment operating income of $4,940 million to $5,040 million (prior $4,850 million to $5,000 million), MTM-adjusted EPS of $29.35 to $29.75 (prior $28.60 to $29.10) and adjusted free cash flow of $3,100 million to $3,500 million.

In its Q3 2026 release, Northrop Grumman said:

“Company raises 2026 guidance for key financial metrics”

“We are not assuming, and the company's financial guidance and outlook for 2026 and beyond do not reflect impacts on the company from, a prolonged government shutdown, or application of spending limits or other spending cuts.”

Source: Northrop Grumman Q3 2026 release, Oct 20, 2026.

This is the company's own guidance as of Oct 20, 2026, quoted as given. Walnut does not make forecasts of its own. Analyst estimates for the coming quarters are on the NOC forecast page.

Revenue and diluted EPS for the last 5 quarters. Each date links to that quarter's release.

Total sales and diluted EPS, each as first reported in that quarter's release.

Northrop Grumman's next report is expected around January 26, 2027, a date estimated from its reporting history that the company has not yet confirmed. This page will show Q3 2026 until those results are out and have been checked against the release.

Each quarter keeps its own page with the figures as reported, so a link to one stays pointed at the same numbers after the next report.

• Q3 2026 (this page), reported Oct 20, 2026

Northrop Grumman's total sales rose 7% to $11,122 million in Q3 2026, from $10,423 million a year earlier, an increase of $699 million with higher sales at all four sectors. Aeronautics Systems ($3,575 million) and Mission Systems ($3,155 million) are the largest, followed by Space Systems ($2,749 million) and Defense Systems ($2,307 million), less $664 million of intersegment eliminations. (Northrop Grumman Q3 2026 release, Oct 20, 2026)

Aeronautics Systems grew 14%, including a $195 million increase on F-35 from the timing of material costs on production lots and more sustainment work, plus higher B-21 sales and more B-2 sustainment. Defense Systems grew 12%, led by a $180 million increase on Sentinel as the program ramps and higher volume on GMLRS ER and tactical solid rocket motors. (Northrop Grumman Q3 2026 release, Oct 20, 2026)

Mission Systems and Space Systems each grew 2%. Space Systems had $136 million of lower sales on Commercial Resupply Service missions due to launch timing, offset by restricted space programs. Mission Systems grew on restricted airborne radar and marine systems programs, partly offset by lower volume on restricted advanced microelectronics. (Northrop Grumman Q3 2026 release, Oct 20, 2026)

The U.S. government is Northrop Grumman's main customer: $9,435 million, or 85%, of Q3 2026 sales, against 84% for all of 2025. International sales were $1,483 million (13%), down from $1,603 million. Fixed-price contracts were 53% of sales and cost-type contracts 47%. (Northrop Grumman Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Oct 20, 2026; Northrop Grumman Form 10-K, 2025, Jan 27, 2026)

Northrop Grumman reports only GAAP EPS for the quarter. Diluted EPS rose 3% to $7.89 in Q3 2026 from $7.67. Net earnings rose $24 million to $1,124 million, helped by $49 million less income tax expense and a $31 million larger non-operating FAS pension benefit, partly offset by an $86 million drop in Other, net, which the company attributed largely to favorable returns on marketable securities a year earlier. (Northrop Grumman Q3 2026 release, Oct 20, 2026)

The effective tax rate fell to 13.4% from 16.9%, principally on higher research credits. The FAS/CAS operating adjustment fell to $15 million from $67 million, and Northrop Grumman said that decrease was the main reason the operating margin rate slipped to 11.4% from 11.9%, while segment operating income rose 5% to $1,345 million. (Northrop Grumman Q3 2026 release, Oct 20, 2026)

Weighted-average diluted shares were 142.4 million against 143.5 million. Northrop Grumman made no share repurchases in Q3 2026, and $2.5 billion of its $3.0 billion authorization remained at September 30, 2026. (Northrop Grumman Q3 2026 release, Oct 20, 2026; Northrop Grumman Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Oct 20, 2026)

Diluted EPS divides net income by the weighted average number of shares outstanding in the quarter, plus the shares that options and other equity awards could add. Buybacks shrink that count and lift EPS for the same profit; share issuance and stock awards enlarge it.

Northrop Grumman gives annual guidance in its release and raised it with Q3 2026: segment operating income to $4,940 million to $5,040 million (prior $4,850 million to $5,000 million) and MTM-adjusted EPS to $29.35 to $29.75 (prior $28.60 to $29.10), an increase of $0.70 at the midpoint. Sales guidance is $43,750 million to $44,250 million and adjusted free cash flow $3,100 million to $3,500 million. (Northrop Grumman Q3 2026 release, Oct 20, 2026)

The guidance does not reflect a prolonged government shutdown or spending limits. By sector, it calls for Aeronautics Systems sales of about $14 billion and Space Systems about $11 billion. (Northrop Grumman Q3 2026 release, Oct 20, 2026)

A consensus figure is the average of the models published by the analysts who cover Northrop Grumman, collected by a data provider and revised up to the day of the report. A quarter that lands above it says how expectations were set as much as how the business did, and the share price on the day also reflects the guidance and the lines no consensus covers.

The consensus figures on this page are Yahoo Finance's, as pulled on the date shown. Each comes with the number of analysts behind it; the smaller that number, the more one revised estimate can move the average.

The figures below are the ones Northrop Grumman's own release and filings put weight on for Q3 2026, with the latest reported value for each.

What the quarter means for a holding is a separate question from what it reported. The case for and against owning NOC is on is NOC a buy or a sell?, what analysts expect next is on the NOC forecast, and what the company does is on the Northrop Grumman (NOC) stock page.

Every number on this page can be traced to a document Northrop Grumman published. Checking one takes a couple of minutes, and it is worth doing before you quote a figure anywhere.

• The results release is the document linked in the source line above. Companies publish it on their investor relations site at the moment results go out, and it carries the headline tables: revenue, operating income, net income and EPS for the quarter and the year-ago quarter.
• The same release is filed with the SEC as Exhibit 99.1 to a Form 8-K under Item 2.02, usually on the day of the report. The SEC copy does not change after the fact, which makes it the safer thing to link when you cite a number.
• The quarterly report (Form 10-Q) follows within a few weeks and carries the full financial statements, the segment note and management's discussion of what changed. The fourth quarter is covered by the annual report (Form 10-K) instead.
• Restated comparisons are flagged in the notes on this page. When a company redraws its segments or changes how it adjusts EPS, it restates the year-ago column, so the year-ago figure in a new release can differ from the one printed a year ago. This page always uses the comparison in the newer release, because that is the like-for-like one.

A walk-through of every line in a release, with what each one tells you, is in how to read an earnings report.