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.
$GD | General Dynamics Corporation, Q1-2026 Earning Report pic.twitter.com/mVStXL4sTf
— Hardik Shah (@AIStockSavvy) April 29, 2026
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.
