Which Is a Better Investment, General Dynamics Corporation or Lockheed Martin Corp Stock?

By Cynthia McLaughlin
February 04, 2026
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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 General Dynamics 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 General Dynamics Corporation compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Lockheed Martin Corporation and General Dynamics 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.

General Dynamics Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment produces and sells business jets; and offers aircraft maintenance and repair, management, aircraft-on-ground support, customer support and custom completion services, modifications, upgrades, and lifecycle sustainment support services. The Marine Systems segment designs and builds nuclear-powered submarines, surface combatants, and auxiliary ships for the United States Navy and Jones Act ships for commercial customers, as well as provides maintenance, modernization, and lifecycle support services for navy ships; offers and program management, planning, engineering, and design support services for submarine construction programs. The Combat Systems segment manufactures land combat solutions, such as wheeled and tracked combat vehicles, Stryker wheeled combat vehicles, piranha vehicles, weapons systems, energetics and munitions, mobile bridge systems with payloads, tactical vehicles, main battle tanks, and armored vehicles; and offers modernization programs, support and sustainment services, and development programs. The Technologies segment provides information technology solutions and mission support services; mobile communication, computers, and command-and-control mission systems; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance solutions to military, intelligence, and federal civilian customers; cloud services, cybersecurity, network modernization, artificial intelligence; machine learning; application development, high-performance computing, and 5G and advanced communications services; and unmanned undersea vehicle manufacturing and assembly services. The company was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.

Latest Aerospace & Defense and Lockheed Martin Corporation, General Dynamics Corporation Stock News

As of February 3, 2026, Lockheed Martin Corporation had a $144.6 billion market capitalization, compared to the Aerospace & Defense median of $5.3 million. Lockheed Martin Corporation’s stock is up 24.9% in 2026, up 1.1% in the previous five trading days and up 35.71% in the past year.

Currently, Lockheed Martin Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 29.2. Lockheed Martin Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $75.0 billion with a 6.7% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 9.1%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $29.864 per share for the current fiscal year. Lockheed Martin Corporation currently has a 2.2% dividend yield.

As of February 3, 2026, General Dynamics Corporation had a $95.9 billion market cap, putting it in the 97th percentile of all stocks. General Dynamics Corporation’s stock is up 5.5% in 2026, down 0.4% in the previous five trading days and up 38.26% in the past year.

Currently, General Dynamics Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 23.0. General Dynamics Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $52.6 billion with a 8.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 7.8%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $16.378 per share for the current fiscal year. General Dynamics Corporation currently has a 1.7% dividend yield.

How We Compare Lockheed Martin Corporation and General Dynamics 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 General Dynamics Corporation’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Lockheed Martin Corporation and General Dynamics Corporation Stock Value Grades

Company Ticker Value
Lockheed Martin Corporation LMT D
General Dynamics Corporation GD D

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.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Lockheed Martin Corporation has a Value Score of 27, which is Expensive. General Dynamics Corporation has a Value Score of 37, which is Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Lockheed Martin Corporation or General Dynamics Corporation has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Lockheed Martin Corporation or General Dynamics Corporation is the better investment when it comes to value.

Lockheed Martin Corporation and General Dynamics Corporation Growth Grades

Company Ticker Growth
Lockheed Martin Corporation LMT B
General Dynamics Corporation GD A

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 76, which is Strong. General Dynamics Corporation has a Growth Score of 100, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: General Dynamics Corporation

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, General Dynamics Corporation has a more attractive growth grade than Lockheed Martin Corporation. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, General Dynamics Corporation could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Lockheed Martin Corporation and General Dynamics Corporation’s Momentum Grades

Company Ticker Momentum
Lockheed Martin Corporation LMT B
General Dynamics Corporation GD B

Momentum grades help to 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. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Lockheed Martin Corporation has a Momentum Score of 77, which is Strong. General Dynamics Corporation has a Momentum Score of 63, which is Strong.

The Momentum Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Momentum Grade breakdown above, both Lockheed Martin Corporation and General Dynamics Corporation have a grade of B. For those who focus solely on a company’s momentum, further research will need to be conducted into both companies to see if they fit your individual needs as an investor.

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Other Lockheed Martin Corporation and General Dynamics Corporation Grades

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

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

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite 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 F-Score.

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 General Dynamics 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 General Dynamics Corporation Stock?

Overall, Lockheed Martin Corporation stock has a Value Score of 27, Growth Score of 76 and Momentum Score of 77.

General Dynamics Corporation stock has a Value Score of 37, Growth Score of 100 and Momentum Score of 63.

Comparing Lockheed Martin Corporation and General Dynamics 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.

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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.



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