Latest news with #GPSIIISV08
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lockheed Launches SV08 GPS III Satellite: Time to Buy the Stock?
Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT has recently launched its eighth GPS III satellite (SV08) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. These satellites, enabled to provide enhanced positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services for both civilian and military users, support a range of critical applications, including aviation, maritime navigation, land transport, and search and rescue. The rising demand for secure, high-precision navigation, communications, and defense systems is accelerating satellite deployment and fueling the expansion of the global space economy. In this evolving landscape, Lockheed is well-positioned to benefit, particularly following its successful GPS III SV08 launch, which showcases its ability to rapidly deliver mission-critical space assets. The company offers end-to-end space solutions, from human spacecraft to advanced space-enabled defense technologies, and continues to innovate to maintain a competitive edge. Recently, Lockheed has enhanced the GPS ground segment by integrating M-Code Early Use, enabling secure military communications for U.S. and allied forces worldwide. As investor interest in space stocks grows, driven by the increasing relevance of satellite-based services and defense technologies, Lockheed stands out as a strong contender for portfolio inclusion. However, while the company's recent achievements and strong position in the space sector are noteworthy, prudent investors should avoid making decisions based solely on a single event. A comprehensive evaluation of Lockheed's long-term growth potential, stock market performance, valuation, and possible risks is essential. Let's take a deeper look at these factors to assess whether Lockheed offers a compelling investment opportunity right now. For defense contractors like Lockheed, order flow for its combat-proven weapons from the Pentagon and other U.S. allies remains a major growth driver for its operational results. Notably, the company was successful in securing a handful of multi-million-dollar contracts in the first quarter of 2025, which culminated in a record backlog count worth $173 million as of March 30, 2025. Such a solid backlog count bolsters LMT's long-term revenue prospects. On the other hand, an expansionary defense budget also plays a vital role in bolstering U.S.-based defense stocks like Lockheed. To this end, it is imperative to mention that in May 2025, a White House report revealed President Trump's proposal for a 13% rise in U.S. defense spending to $1.01 trillion for fiscal 2026, emphasizing space dominance, nuclear deterrence, and the development of a next-gen missile defense system — the Golden Dome. As a key player in space and missile defense, Lockheed stands to benefit significantly from this increased budget, which is expected to drive strong revenue growth in the coming quarters through expanded government contracts. The aforementioned factors thus position Lockheed for robust long-term growth, which is further reflected in the Zacks Consensus Estimate for LMT's long-term (three-to-five years) earnings growth rate of 10.5%. Now let's take a quick sneak peek at its near-term estimates to check if those mirror a similar growth story. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LMT's 2025 and 2026 sales implies an improvement of 4.6% and 3.8%, respectively, year over year. However, its 2025 earnings estimates suggest a dismal performance. Nevertheless, LMT's 2026 earnings estimate calls for a rise of 9.4%. On the other hand, the near-term annual bottom-line estimates suggest upward movement over the past 60 days. This indicates analysts' increasing confidence in the stock's earnings-generating capabilities. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Shares of Lockheed have lost 1.2% in the year-to-date period, underperforming the Zacks Aerospace-Defense industry's growth of 19% and the broader Zacks Aerospace sector's rise of 18%. The stock has also lagged the S&P 500's return of 0.4% during the same period. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research On the contrary, LMT's industry peers, The Boeing Company BA and Embraer S.A. ERJ have gained in the year-to-date period. Shares of ERJ rose 25.3%, while those of BA grew 20.6%. In terms of valuation, LMT's forward 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) is 16.93X, a discount to its peer group's average of 17.35X. This suggests that investors will be paying a lower price than the company's expected earnings growth compared to its peers. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Despite its strong position as a defense contractor, Lockheed faces notable challenges, particularly from labor shortages that affect the broader aerospace-defense industry. According to the 2024 "On the Horizon" Workforce Study by the Aerospace Industries Association and PwC, the sector is grappling with high attrition rates, averaging 13% over the past two years, significantly above the national average of 3.8%. This talent drain, driven by rising retirements, raises concerns over production delays and quality control. As aircraft manufacturers ramp up output post-pandemic, staffing gaps risk disrupting supply chains and timelines. For prominent defense contractors like Lockheed, Boeing and Embraer, such labor constraints could hinder delivery targets, potentially affecting operational performance and placing downward pressure on their share price if milestones are missed. Moreover, LMT's long-term debt-to-capital ratio is higher than the industry average (as one can see below). Such a high debt-to-capital ratio suggests that the company relies more heavily on debt financing compared to its industry, indicating a higher financial risk and a greater burden on cash flow due to interest payments. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research To conclude, investors interested in Lockheed should wait for a better entry point, as its poor 2025 earnings expectation, dismal performance at the bourses, and a relatively high debt load warrant caution despite offering a more favorable P/E ratio than its peers. However, those who already own this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock may choose to stay invested, as the company's upbeat sales estimates, recent satellite launches and growing space economy offer solid long-term growth opportunities. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report The Boeing Company (BA) : Free Stock Analysis Report Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Embraer-Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica (ERJ) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
Business Insider
31-05-2025
- Automotive
- Business Insider
Lockheed Martin-built GPS III satellite launches into orbit
Lockheed Martin (LMT) announced the eighth GPS III space vehicle, designed and built by the company, successfully launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, at 1:37 p.m. EDT. GPS III SV08 executed an accelerated launch call-up in just over three months. The company stated these GPS III satellites provide accurate and resilient positioning, navigation, and timing capabilities for civilian and military users. GPS III SV08 is now under operational control at Lockheed Martin's Denver Launch & Checkout Operations Center. Confident Investing Starts Here:
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Another Lockheed Martin-Built GPS III Satellite Lifts Off into Orbit
CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, Fla., May 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- At 1:37 p.m. EDT today, the eighth GPS III space vehicle—designed and built by Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) —successfully launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. It achieved signal acquisition shortly thereafter. Similar to its rapid response predecessor in December 2024, GPS III SV08 executed an accelerated launch call-up, shipping from its cleanroom in Colorado and undergoing launch preparations in Florida in just over three months, compared to the typical timeframe of several months. "Our team is thrilled to support another launch of a critical GPS satellite, just five months since the last liftoff," said Malik Musawwir, vice president of Navigation Systems for Lockheed Martin Space. "This demonstrates Lockheed Martin's ability to rapidly launch and deploy national security space assets, and we look forward to putting the next two GPS III satellites on orbit to further enhance this critical constellation." These GPS III satellites will play a vital role in providing accurate and resilient positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) capabilities to both civilian and military users, enabling critical applications such as aviation, maritime, and land transportation, plus search and rescue operations. For military users, the advanced security features and anti-jamming capabilities of GPS III – and the follow-on GPS IIIF – satellites are particularly crucial, as they will ensure uninterrupted access to precise navigation and timing data, even in contested or denied environments, thereby supporting national security and defense operations. SV08 is now under operational control at Lockheed Martin's Denver Launch & Checkout Operations Center until its official acceptance into the current operational GPS network. Ground Operations for Space SecurityIn addition to building the spacecraft at its Littleton, Colorado facility, and providing early on-orbit operations, Lockheed Martin plays a major role in the continuation and maintenance of the modernized GPS ground segment—also known as the Architecture Evolution Plan. This architecture is core to operating the 31 active GPS satellites on orbit, enabling them to provide life-changing PNT capabilities that our modern world relies. The ground segment underpinned by Lockheed Martin is responsible for monitoring and controlling the GPS satellite constellation, as well as providing navigation data to its users. It consists of a network of monitoring stations, master control stations, and ground antennas located around the world. Most recently, Lockheed Martin has further enhanced GPS' ground segment by incorporating M-Code Early Use into the system, which allows for worldwide use of a specialized, secure military communications signal by American and allied troops. Once declared operational, GPS III SV08 will be the eighth GPS III satellite in space with boosted M-code, strengthening navigation, precision and anti-jamming for critical military operations. Lockheed Martin was also recently awarded a contract modification for two additional future GPS IIIF satellites to further enhance the constellation. About Lockheed MartinLockheed Martin is a global defense technology company driving innovation and advancing scientific discovery. Our all-domain mission solutions and 21st Century Security® vision accelerate the delivery of transformative technologies to ensure those we serve always stay ahead of ready. More information at View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Lockheed Martin
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SpaceX aiming for record-breaking 170 orbital launches in 2025
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. SpaceX will end up launching an orbital mission nearly every other day in 2025, if all goes according to plan. "We're targeting 170 launches by the end of the year," Anne Mason, director of national security space launch at SpaceX, said during a call with reporters on Wednesday (May 28). That would shatter the company's single-year record of 134 orbital liftoffs, which was set just last year. "I always find it amazing that this cadence has become somewhat normal," Mason added during Wednesday's call, which served to preview SpaceX's planned Friday (May 30) launch of the GPS III SV08 satellite for the U.S. Space Force. "But if we look back just five years ago, in 2020 when we launched roughly 25 times, which is still a healthy rate at twice a month, and now launching on average every two to three days — I think this demonstrates how Falcon's reusability and reliability, plus the hard work and dedication of the SpaceX team, has been critical to supporting assured access to space," she said. SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket performed 132 of last year's orbital liftoffs. The other two came courtesy of the company's powerful Falcon Heavy. Both Falcons feature reusable first stages — three of them in the Heavy's case — which is a big factor in SpaceX's impressive launch cadence, as Mason noted. The upper stages of both Falcons are expendable, but SpaceX has gotten very good at churning out that complicated piece of hardware. "We have a second stage coming off the production line every two and a half days," Mason said. Related stories: — SpaceX: Facts about Elon Musk's private spaceflight company — SpaceX's last launch of 2024 puts Starlink satellites into orbit (video) — Falcon 9: SpaceX's workhorse rocket About two-thirds of last year's orbital launches were dedicated to building out SpaceX's Starlink broadband constellation in low Earth orbit. Starlink is the largest satellite network ever assembled; it consists of more than 7,500 active spacecraft at the moment. Starlink is also growing all the time, as this year's statistics show: SpaceX has launched 64 orbital missions so far in 2025 (all of them with the Falcon 9), and 48 of them have been Starlink flights. That works out to a rate of 0.43 launches per day. This means SpaceX will have to pick up the pace a bit to reach the target Mason mentioned: 170 launches in one year would equal about 0.47 launches per day. These numbers refer only to orbital launches, so they don't count the suborbital test flights of Starship, the megarocket SpaceX is developing to help humanity colonize Mars. The company launched four Starship test flights in 2024 and has conducted three so far this year, most recently on Tuesday (May 27).
