Sifting through countless of stocks in the Aerospace & Defense industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Lockheed Martin Corporation or Northrop Grumman Corporation because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Lockheed Martin Corporation and Northrop Grumman Corporation compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Lockheed Martin Corporation and Northrop Grumman Corporation

Lockheed Martin Corporation, an aerospace and defense company, engages in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of technology systems, products, and services in the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Aeronautics; Missiles and Fire Control (MFC); Rotary and Mission Systems (RMS); and Space. The Aeronautics segment offers combat and air mobility aircraft, unmanned air vehicles, and related technologies. The MFC segment provides air and missile defense systems; tactical missiles and precision strike weapon systems; logistics; fire control systems; mission operations support, readiness, engineering support, and integration services; and ground vehicles. The RMS segment offers military and commercial helicopters, surface ships, sea and land-based missile defense systems, radar and laser systems, sea and air-based mission and combat systems, command and control mission solutions, cyber solutions, simulation and training solutions, and services and supports surface ships. The Space segment provides satellites; space transportation systems; strategic, advanced strike, and defensive systems; and classified systems and services in support of national security systems. This segment also provides network-enabled situational awareness and integrates space and ground global systems to help its customers gather, analyze, and securely distribute critical intelligence data. It serves primarily serves the U.S. government and international customers, as well as foreign military sales contracted through the U.S. government. The company was formerly known as The Lockheed Corporation and changed its name to Lockheed Martin Corporation in March 1995. Lockheed Martin Corporation was founded in 1912 and is based in Bethesda, Maryland.

Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense technology company in the United States, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Aeronautics Systems, Defense Systems, Mission Systems and Space Systems. The Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, produces, integrates, sustains, and modernizes aircraft systems. This segment also offers unmanned autonomous aircraft systems, including high-altitude long-endurance strategic, surveillance and reconnaissance systems; and strategic long-range strike aircraft, tactical fighter and air dominance aircraft, and airborne battle management and command and control systems. Its Defense Systems segment designs, develops, integrates, and produces strategic deterrent systems, tactical weapons, and missile defense solutions; and provides sustainment, modernization, and training services for manned and unmanned aircraft and electronics systems. This segment also offers strategic missiles; integrated all-domain command and control systems; precision strike weapons; tactical solid rocket motors, and high-speed air-breathing and hypersonic systems; high-performance gun systems, ammunition, precision munitions, and advanced fuzes; and sustainment, operation, and modernization. The Mission Systems segment provides command, control, communication and computer, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems; radar, electro-optical/infrared, and acoustic sensors; electronic warfare systems; advanced communications and network systems; microelectronics; navigation and positioning sensors; maritime power, propulsion, and payload launch systems; cyber solutions; and intelligence processing systems. Its Space Systems segment offers satellites, spacecraft systems, subsystems, sensors, and payloads; ground systems; missile defense systems and interceptors; and launch vehicles and related propulsion systems. The company was founded in 1939 and is based in Falls Church, Virginia.

Latest Aerospace & Defense and Lockheed Martin Corporation, Northrop Grumman Corporation Stock News

As of April 28, 2026, Lockheed Martin Corporation had a $118.1 billion market capitalization, compared to the Aerospace & Defense median of $4.3 million. Lockheed Martin Corporation’s stock is up 4.6% in 2026, down 8.9% in the previous five trading days and up 7.25% in the past year.

Currently, Lockheed Martin Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 24.8. Lockheed Martin Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $75.1 billion with a 6.4% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 0.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $29.870 per share for the current fiscal year. Lockheed Martin Corporation currently has a 2.7% dividend yield.

As of April 28, 2026, Northrop Grumman Corporation had a $82.1 billion market cap, putting it in the 96th percentile of all stocks. Northrop Grumman Corporation’s stock is up 0.6% in 2026, down 2.7% in the previous five trading days and up 22.11% in the past year.

Currently, Northrop Grumman Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 18.1. Northrop Grumman Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $42.4 billion with a 10.8% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 4.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $27.933 per share for the current fiscal year. Northrop Grumman Corporation currently has a 1.6% dividend yield.

How We Compare Lockheed Martin Corporation and Northrop Grumman Corporation Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Lockheed Martin Corporation and Northrop Grumman Corporation’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Lockheed Martin Corporation and Northrop Grumman Corporation Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
Lockheed Martin Corporation	LMT	B
Northrop Grumman Corporation	NOC	B

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Lockheed Martin Corporation has a Growth Score of 73, which is Strong. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a Growth Score of 73, which is Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Growth Grade breakdown above, both Lockheed Martin Corporation and Northrop Grumman Corporation have a grade of B. For investors who focus solely on a company’s upward growth, further research should be conducted into both companies’ other financial metrics before deciding whether to invest.

Lockheed Martin Corporation and Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Lockheed Martin Corporation	LMT	A
Northrop Grumman Corporation	NOC	A

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Lockheed Martin Corporation has a Quality Score of 81, which is Very Strong. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a Quality Score of 88, which is Very Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Quality Grade breakdown above, both Lockheed Martin Corporation and Northrop Grumman Corporation have a grade of A. For investors who focus solely on a company’s overall quality, you will need to conduct further research into both companies to see if they are a good fit for your portfolio. As a good rule of thumb, you should always analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before choosing a company to invest in.

Lockheed Martin Corporation and Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Lockheed Martin Corporation	LMT	D
Northrop Grumman Corporation	NOC	C

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Lockheed Martin Corporation has a Earnings Estimate Score of 35, which is Negative. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a Earnings Estimate Score of 42, which is Neutral.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Lockheed Martin Corporation or Northrop Grumman Corporation has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade that could be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Lockheed Martin Corporation or Northrop Grumman Corporation is the better investment when it comes to estimate revisions.

Other Lockheed Martin Corporation and Northrop Grumman Corporation Grades

In addition to Quality, Growth and Estimate Revisions, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Momentum.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Lockheed Martin Corporation and Northrop Grumman Corporation pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Lockheed Martin Corporation or Northrop Grumman Corporation Stock?

Overall, Lockheed Martin Corporation stock has a Growth Score of 73, Estimate Revisions Score of 35 and Quality Score of 81.

Northrop Grumman Corporation stock has a Growth Score of 73, Estimate Revisions Score of 42 and Quality Score of 88.

Comparing Lockheed Martin Corporation and Northrop Grumman Corporation’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.