RTX is set to report earnings on Tuesday before the market opens, and investors will be looking for another clean beat from the aerospace and defense company after a strong last quarter. Raytheon, which trades under NYSE:RTX, posted revenue of $24.24 billion last quarter, up 12.1% from a year earlier, and topped analysts’ organic revenue and EBITDA estimates.
This time, the market expects RTX revenue to rise 5.8% year on year, a slower pace than the 5.2% growth it posted in the same quarter last year. Analysts covering the stock have generally reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting little change in expectations heading into the report.
The setup is straightforward, but the comparisons are not. RTX has a history of exceeding Wall Street’s expectations, and recent results from peers show how quickly the market can reward or punish a company after earnings. AAR reported revenue growth of 24.6% and beat estimates by 4.1%, then traded up 9.9% after the report. Byrna, by contrast, posted revenue growth of 10.9% but missed estimates by 2.3%, and its shares fell 38.3% after results.
That backdrop matters because aerospace and defense shares have been moving together. Over the last month, stocks in the segment rose 10.3% on average, while RTX gained 1.2%. Even so, the company’s average analyst price target of $216.02 sits above its current share price of $197.10, leaving room for investors to focus on execution when the numbers land on Tuesday morning.
