RTX Corp. and Lockheed Martin have emerged as standout performers this week, riding a wave of investor enthusiasm following strong second-quarter 2026 earnings reports.
Both defense giants delivered results that exceeded Wall Street expectations, raised their full-year outlooks, and reported record contract backlogs that signal durable demand for years ahead.
RTX posted double-digit revenue and earnings growth across all three of its major business segments, including Collins Aerospace, Pratt and Whitney, and Raytheon, benefiting from strength in both commercial aviation and defense markets.
The company generated $2.9 billion in free cash flow during the quarter, supported by $3.55 billion in operating cash flow, while its total backlog surged 22% year-on-year to a record $289 billion.
That backlog figure includes $170 billion in commercial orders and $119 billion in defense contracts, with RTX adding $43 billion in new bookings during the quarter alone.
RTX raised its full-year 2026 revenue forecast to a range of $95 billion to $96 billion, up from a prior estimate of $92.5 billion to $93.5 billion, reflecting growing confidence in its business pipeline.
“Raytheon booked nearly $20 billion of awards, resulting in a book-to-bill in Q2 of 2.4. These bookings included over $5 billion of GEM-T Patriot effectors driven by international customers and our first domestic GEM-T production order in over 30 years. Raytheon’s bookings also included over $4 billion of classified and confidential awards as well as $1.8 billion for AMRAAM,” said RTX CEO Christopher Calio during the Q2 earnings call.
RTX stock gained roughly 8% over the course of the week, adding another 0.3% in overnight trading heading into Friday’s session.
Lockheed Martin also delivered a strong quarterly performance, reporting $65 billion in new orders, higher revenue, improved profits, and a sharp reversal from the $150 million cash outflow recorded in the prior year’s second quarter.
The company generated $2.9 billion in free cash flow backed by $3.2 billion in operating cash flow, while its total backlog climbed to a record $230 billion, bolstered by major contract wins including expanded THAAD interceptor production and a $10.5 billion logistics agreement with U.S. Special Operations Command.
“These awards are less about any single program than about what they were building in aggregate. Together, they strengthen the nation’s production base, adding resilience along with more manufacturing capacity, more sources of supply and greater surge capability, all at a time when these very attributes have become a strategic imperative for the country,” said Lockheed CEO James Taiclet during the Q2 earnings call.
LMT stock surged more than 11% for the week despite edging 0.2% lower in overnight trading ahead of Friday.
The broader defense sector received an additional boost after the U.S. House advanced a proposed $1.15 trillion National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2027, reinforcing expectations that military funding will remain a sustained political priority.
Retail sentiment on Stocktwits reflected the bullish mood, with both RTX and LMT registering in “extremely bullish” territory, an upgrade for LMT from simply “bullish” the prior day.
One retail trader on the platform captured the sentiment bluntly, writing: “Lockheed $LMT – co-manufacturer of F22 Raptor – Stock Soars. Defense Is a Bipartisan Issue.”
Another user pointed to a broader sector recovery underway, saying: “It hasn’t been a great year since February for this sector, but now there is new funding coming in and other factors — this sector is going to see some love.”
For the year to date, RTX has gained 14% while LMT has climbed 17%, cementing both stocks as top performers within the defense and aerospace investment landscape.
