What Just Happened To Lockheed Martin Stock?

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Lockheed Martin (LMT) shares added 5.1% on Monday, October 26, 2026, while the S&P 500 gained 0.7%. The defense contractor made no new announcements or filings that day. Monday marked the stock’s fifth straight gain, and its third since reporting third-quarter 2026 results on October 22. Four of its five peers also rose on Monday. So why was Lockheed still climbing two sessions after its quarterly results?

Why Lockheed Martin Kept Rising After Its Results

A news report on Monday linked the stock’s continued rise to a Morgan Stanley upgrade of the shares to overweight, and to growing sales of F-35 jets and missiles. Those sales occurred in the quarter Lockheed reported on October 22. Management said sales at the missiles unit rose 24% from a year earlier, as munitions production ramped up ahead of schedule. At the aircraft unit, sales rose 13%, driven by higher F-35 volume.

The quarter as a whole beat estimates on both lines. Earnings per share reached $7.97, against an estimate of $7.52, and revenue of $20.7 billion topped the $20.5 billion estimate. Management raised its 2026 sales outlook again, to between $80 billion and $82 billion. Lockheed also ended the quarter with a record $292 billion backlog, the orders it has won but not yet filled, up $113 billion from a year earlier. Management did trim its 2026 forecast for the aircraft unit slightly, because it now expects the next F-35 contracts to be awarded later.

Did Lockheed Martin’s Peers Rise As Much On Monday?

No, though most of them rose. Four of the five companies on Lockheed’s Trefis peer list gained, including RTX, up 3.4%, while Boeing was flat. The industrials sector fund, XLI, rose 1.4%. Lockheed moved with its peers and then went further, posting a gain larger than that of any company on the list.

How Big A Run Has Lockheed Martin Stock Had?

A rise like Monday’s is rare for Lockheed. In the 365 days before Monday, the stock rose this much in a session just twice, most recently on October 22.

Monday’s 5.1% gain followed rises of 7.0% on October 22 and 2.4% on October 23. Over twelve months, Lockheed returned 33.5%, against 15.3% for the S&P 500. The stock hit a closing low in that span of $439.19 on December 1, 2025. It later reached a closing high of $676.70 on March 2, 2026, and Monday’s close of $635.20 is still below that peak. In the past month alone, the stock returned 22.3%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.8%.

After that run, Lockheed trades at 1.9 times its sales over the past twelve months, against 3.2 times for the S&P 500.

Lockheed is expected to report its fourth-quarter 2026 results in January 2027. Management said it will give its outlook for 2027 that month. The 2027 sales forecast is the figure to watch.

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