Earnings rose in the fourth quarter (Q4) as revenue gains across marine systems, combat systems and technologies more than offset a decline in aerospace.
The OEM reported quarterly net earnings of $992m, up 4.2% from the same quarter in 2021, which came in at $3.58 diluted earnings per share (EPS) — up 5.6% from the Q4 2021. Revenue of $10.9bn was up 5.4% over Q4 2021.
“We enjoyed a strong fourth quarter, capping a good 2022,” said Phebe N. Novakovic, chairman and CEO. “We had good backlog growth, with robust demand at Gulfstream. Operating performance was solid, led by excellent execution at combat systems. We also had another very strong cash year.”
For the full year, net earnings came in at $3.4bn, up 4.1% from 2021. Full-year revenue was $39.4bn which represents a 2.4% increase from 2021. Operating margin was 11.3% for the quarter and 10.7% for the full year. In terms of revenues per segment: aerospace revenue slipped 4.3%, combat systems rose 16%, there was a 9.3% gain for technologies and 3.4% for marine systems.
Orders remained strong across GD with a consolidated book-to-bill ratio of 1.2-to-1 for Q4 2021 and 1.1-to-1 for 2022 in full. A backlog of $91.1bn is the highest in the company’s history.
Gulfstream delivered a 13.2% margin, up from the 12.9% it forecast. It delivered three fewer aircraft in Q4 than it hoped. This was mainly due to customers wanting to change deliveries and not supply issues, said the firm. Despite delivering just one more aircraft, its sales for 2023 were up $432m to $8.57bn from 2021, due to strong sales at Jet Aviation and Gulfstream services.
“Corporate America has been very active, both public and private companies and high net worth individuals. Europe remains slow but the Middle East has picked up. Southeast Asia – not China – has been increasingly active,” said Novakovic. “We have got good demand across all of our offerings in all of our aircraft.”
Looking to 2023, GD forecasts this year’s revenue to be somewhere in the region of $41.2bn to $41.3bn. Which is below previous expectations of $41.98bn. Profit is forecasted between $12.60 to $12.65 per share, compared with estimates of $13.91.
