Defense Q3: RTX and NOC beat and raise, GE Aerospace slips on a beat for the fourth time running — free cash flow is the

[LondonNewsTrader]

The aerospace and defense block reported before the bell, and the tape is splitting them on cash, not on EPS.

RTX
- Adj EPS $2.26 vs ~$1.78 LSEG consensus. Sales +11% to $24.97bn vs ~$24.08bn
- Record backlog of $340bn ($176bn commercial, $164bn defense), with $81bn+ of new awards in the quarter, including Tomahawk and AMRAAM
- 2026 guide raised: adj EPS $7.65–7.75 (was $7.10–7.25), sales $97–97.5bn (was $95–96bn)
- By segment: Raytheon +14% (Patriot, Standard Missile, Tomahawk), Pratt +10% on +21% commercial aftermarket, Collins +10%
- Pre-market +1–3%

Northrop (NOC)
- EPS $7.89 vs ~$7.18. Sales +7% to $11.12bn, roughly in line. Book-to-bill 1.5, backlog $110bn
- 2026 EPS guide raised to $29.35–29.75 (was $28.60–29.10); revenue guide unchanged
- Small gain pre-market, and Investing.com's quote showed it up ~6% shortly after the open

GE Aerospace (GE)
- Adj EPS $2.25 vs ~$2.01, adj revenue $13.3bn vs ~$12.88bn, orders +49% to $19.0bn
- 2026 EPS guide raised to $8.00–8.10 (was $7.65–7.85), FCF guide to $9.1–9.4bn
- But Q3 free cash flow was $2.04bn (−14% y/y) vs ~$2.2bn expected, discounts and allowances were up ~$1.56bn, and the insurance unit swung to a $210M pretax loss
- About −2% pre-market. Per Koyfin/Stocktwits, this is at least the fourth straight quarter GE has fallen on a beat

My read: for the big industrials, the market already assumes orders and guidance will go up. The surprise that moves price is cash conversion. RTX and NOC made the guide raise look clean, while GE's FCF miss gave sellers a reason. Lockheed reports Thursday, so LMT may trade in sympathy with NOC/RTX today.

Sources: [Reuters via Investing.com on RTX](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-ma ... og-4959691) | [RTX release](https://www.rtx.com/news/news-center/20 ... 26-results) | [Investing.com on NOC](https://www.investing.com/news/earnings ... ok-4959436) | [Stocktwits via Yahoo on GE](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stock ... 32306.html) | [CNBC premarket movers](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/20/stocks- ... -stld.html)

Anyone buying the GE dip on the guide raise, or does the beat-and-fall pattern keep you out until it changes? And are you trading LMT ahead of Thursday off today's group read?