Lockheed Martin vs Northrop Grumman

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KIRA’s take AI analyst

I put Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:

Lockheed Martin is the larger business, with $75.0B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $42.0B for Northrop Grumman, about 1.8 times as much.
Lockheed Martin grew revenue faster (5.6%, against 2.2%).
Lockheed Martin turned more of its sales into free cash flow (9.2% FCF margin, against 7.9%).
Lockheed Martin earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (27.1%, against 13.5%).
Investors pay more for each dollar of Lockheed Martin’s earnings: a P/E of 22.6x against 17.9x for Northrop Grumman.

Who comes out ahead

Of the 10 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.

Lockheed Martin

LMT

6/10

Revenue growth5-year growthFCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityNet debt / EBITDA

Northrop Grumman

NOC

3/10

Operating marginNet marginPiotroski F-score

Side by side

Best in the row

Latest fiscal year	LMT FY25	NOC FY25
Size
Market cap	$147.0B	$80.5B
Revenue	$75.0B	$42.0B
Free cash flow	$6.9B	$3.3B
Net income	$5.0B	$4.2B
Growth
Revenue growth	5.6%	2.2%
5-year growth	2.8%	2.7%
Share count change	−2.4%	−2.4%
Profitability
Gross margin	10.2%	—
Operating margin	10.3%	10.8%
Net margin	6.7%	10.0%
FCF margin	9.2%	7.9%
Return on capital	27.1%	13.5%
Return on equity	76.9%	26.2%
Balance sheet
Net debt	$17.6B	$11.3B
Net debt / EBITDA	1.9x	1.9x
Dividends and buybacks	$6.1B	$2.9B
Valuation & quality
P/E	22.6x	17.9x
Piotroski F-score	5	6

Ten years

Revenue

FY16

LMT $47.3B

NOC $24.7B

FY17

LMT $50.0B

NOC $26.0B

FY18

LMT $53.8B

NOC $30.1B

FY19

LMT $59.8B

NOC $33.8B

FY20

LMT $65.4B

NOC $36.8B

FY21

LMT $67.0B

NOC $35.7B

FY22

LMT $66.0B

NOC $36.6B

FY23

LMT $67.6B

NOC $39.3B

FY24

LMT $71.0B

NOC $41.0B

FY25

LMT $75.0B

NOC $42.0B

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

LMT NOC

Operating margin

FY16

LMT 12.5%

NOC 13.3%

FY17

LMT 13.5%

NOC 12.4%

FY18

LMT 13.6%

NOC 12.6%

FY19

LMT 14.3%

NOC 11.7%

FY20

LMT 13.2%

NOC 11.1%

FY21

LMT 13.6%

NOC 15.8%

FY22

LMT 12.7%

NOC 9.8%

FY23

LMT 12.6%

NOC 6.5%

FY24

LMT 9.9%

NOC 10.7%

FY25

LMT 10.3%

NOC 10.8%

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

LMT NOC

Free cash flow

FY16

LMT $4.1B

NOC $1.9B

FY17

LMT $5.3B

NOC $1.7B

FY18

LMT $1.9B

NOC $2.6B

FY19

LMT $5.8B

NOC $3.0B

FY20

LMT $6.4B

NOC $2.9B

FY21

LMT $7.7B

NOC $2.2B

FY22

LMT $6.1B

NOC $1.5B

FY23

LMT $6.2B

NOC $2.1B

FY24

LMT $5.3B

NOC $2.6B

FY25

LMT $6.9B

NOC $3.3B

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

LMT NOC

Return on capital

FY16

LMT 29.1%

NOC 25.5%

FY17

LMT 27.5%

NOC 20.7%

FY18

LMT 49.9%

NOC 20.3%

FY19

LMT 50.5%

NOC 16.9%

FY20

LMT 49.3%

NOC 16.9%

FY21

LMT 44.8%

NOC 20.7%

FY22

LMT 34.7%

NOC 12.6%

FY23

LMT 32.2%

NOC 8.7%

FY24

LMT 25.6%

NOC 13.8%

FY25

LMT 27.1%

NOC 13.5%

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

LMT NOC

Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.