General Dynamics (GD) Stock Jumps 10% After Q1 Earnings Beat

TLDR

• GD reported Q1 EPS of $4.11 vs. $3.67 expected, and revenue of $13.5B vs. $12.7B expected
• Marine Systems revenue surged 21%, driven by Virginia and Columbia class submarine volumes
• Total estimated contract value hit $188B, up 33% year over year
• GD outperformed sector peers Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, which fell 5–7% after their own Q1 results
• Stock was up over 10% on Wednesday; GD had been down 12% since the start of fighting in Iran

General Dynamics posted a clean earnings beat in Q1 2026, sending the stock sharply higher and giving the broader defense sector a rare piece of good news.

The company reported earnings per share of $4.11 on revenue of $13.5 billion. Wall Street had expected $3.67 EPS and $12.7 billion in sales. A year ago, GD earned $3.66 per share on $12.2 billion in revenue.

Net profit came in at $1.13 billion, up from $994 million in the same quarter last year.

General Dynamics Corporation, GD

The stock jumped more than 10% on Wednesday. Coming into the session, GD had been down 12% since the start of fighting in Iran, trailing the S&P 500 by roughly 15 percentage points.

Total orders in Q1 reached $26.6 billion. The total estimated contract value — a forward-looking measure of future business — ended the quarter at $188 billion, a 33% increase year over year. The backlog stood at $130.8 billion.

Marine Systems Leads the Way

The standout segment was Marine Systems, which grew 21% and generated $4.34 billion in revenue. The jump was driven by higher production volumes of Virginia and Columbia class nuclear-powered submarines.

Aerospace revenue, which includes Gulfstream business jets, rose 10%. Combat Systems, home to tanks and armored vehicles, grew 5%. Defense Technologies was up 4%.

Vertical Research Partners analyst Rob Stallard called it a “clean beat” in a note Wednesday morning.

GD did not update its full-year guidance. In January, the company guided for annual EPS of $16.10 to $16.20, with revenue between $54.3 billion and $54.8 billion.

Standing Out From the Pack

The results are a contrast to what defense investors have seen recently. Lockheed Martin fell around 5% after its Q1 report. Northrop Grumman dropped about 7%. Both struggled to reassure investors worried about peak defense spending and the potential impact of a Democrat-controlled Senate following the midterm elections.

GD’s quarter cut through some of that noise.

The company carries a GF Score of 95 out of 100, with profitability and growth both rated 9 out of 10. Its trailing P/E ratio sits at 20.3x.

One item worth watching: insiders sold $19.5 million worth of stock over the past three months, with no insider buying reported in the same period.

GD’s market cap stands at approximately $84.96 billion. The stock was trading at $329.91 in premarket, up 5.2% at that point, before extending gains further once the regular session opened.

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