HII Q2 Earnings Surpass Estimates, Revenues Increase Y/Y

New contract awards totaled $6.7 billion, lifting backlog to $57.3 billion.

Operational Performance

Huntington Ingalls reported segmental operating income of $224 million compared with $172 million in the second quarter of 2026. The segmental operating margin expanded 100 basis points from the prior-year figure to 5.6%.

HII Segmental Performance

Newport News Shipbuilding remained the largest revenue contributor. Revenues increased to $1.85 billion from $1.60 billion, driven by higher aircraft carrier and submarine volumes. Segment operating income rose to $111 million from $82 million, while margin improved to 6% from 5.1% on contract adjustments, incentives and stronger volumes.

Ingalls Shipbuilding revenues advanced to $845 million from $724 million, primarily due to higher amphibious assault ship volumes. Segment operating income increased to $58 million from $54 million, though margin declined to 6.9% from 7.5%.

Mission Technologies revenues fell to $760 million from $791 million. Lower All-Domain Operations and Global Security volumes more than offset growth in Warfare Systems and Unmanned Systems. Segment operating income improved to $55 million from $36 million, while margin expanded to 7.2% from 4.6% on higher equity income from nuclear and environmental joint ventures.

Financial Update

Cash flow remained pressured in the second quarter. Net cash used in operating activities was $31 million against net cash provided by operating activities of $823 million in the year-ago quarter. Free cash flow was negative $150 million against positive $730 million a year earlier. Net capital expenditures totaled $119 million in the quarter. 

On capital deployment, HII paid $55 million in dividends and did not repurchase shares during the quarter. The company ended June 2026 with $12 million in cash and cash equivalents and $1.7 billion in liquidity.

2026 Guidance

Management reaffirmed its full-year expectations and maintained its medium-term growth framework. For 2026, HII continues to project shipbuilding revenues of $10.20-$10.40 billion with a shipbuilding operating margin of 6.0-6.5%.

Mission Technologies revenues are still expected at $3.0-$3.2 billion, with segment operating margin around 5% and EBITDA margin of 8.4-8.6%.

The company also reiterated free cash flow guidance of $500-$600 million and capital expenditures of 4-5% of sales.

Zacks Rank

Huntington Ingalls currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). 

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Recent Defense Releases

Teledyne Technologies Inc. TDY reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $6.28 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.78 by 8.7%. The bottom line also improved 20.8% from $5.20 recorded in the year-ago quarter.

Total sales were $1.66 billion, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.57 billion by 5.9%. The top line also jumped 9.8% from $1.51 billion reported in the year-ago quarter.

Northrop Grumman Corporation NOC reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $7.68 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.84 by 12.3%. The bottom line, however, declined 5.8% from the year-ago quarter’s level of $8.15.

NOC’s total sales of $10.88 billion in the second quarter beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $10.80 billion by 0.7%. The top line also improved 5.1% from $10.35 billion reported in the year-ago quarter.

AAR Corp. AIR reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.53 per share, which topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.41 by 8.5%. The bottom line also improved 31.9% from the year-ago quarter’s level of $1.16.

In the fourth quarter, AAR generated net sales of $928 million. The reported figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $892 million by 4%. The figure also increased 23% from $754.5 million recorded in the year-ago quarter.

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