New York, Jan 8, 2026, 04:58 EST — Premarket
- Lockheed Martin shares were up sharply in early premarket trade after a volatile Wednesday.
- Trump’s budget push lifted defense names after hours, even as an executive order targets buybacks and dividends.
- Investors now look to payout rules, Pentagon follow-through and Lockheed’s Jan. 29 results.
Lockheed Martin (LMT) shares jumped 7.6% in premarket trading on Thursday to $534.78. The stock closed Wednesday down 4.8% at $496.87 after dipping below $500 in the session.
Trump late Wednesday called for a $1.5 trillion U.S. military budget in 2027, far above the $901 billion Congress approved for 2026, a proposal that would still need lawmakers’ sign-off. Lockheed rose 6.2% in trading after the market closed, while General Dynamics gained 4.4% and RTX added 3.5%. Byron Callan, a defense analyst at Capital Alpha Partners, said the post left open “where the funds would be directed” and whether the sector could absorb a surge. Reuters
Hours earlier, Trump signed an executive order barring defense contractors from paying dividends — regular cash payouts — or buying back shares, when companies repurchase their own stock, until they deliver equipment “on time and on budget,” the order said. It gave Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth 30 days to identify contractors deemed to be underperforming and using buybacks, and directed the SEC to consider rules to implement the ban. Lockheed in October raised its quarterly dividend to $3.45 a share and authorised another $2 billion in repurchases, lifting its remaining buyback authorisation to $9.1 billion. Reuters
That mix — bigger spending talk, tighter payout rules — is the story now. Defense stocks can trade like policy headlines for a while, and Thursday looked like another one of those mornings.
Lockheed also pushed fresh program news into the tape, saying it delivered 191 F-35 fighter jets in 2025, up from 110 in 2024. The company said annual F-35 production is running at a pace five times faster than any other allied fighter in production, and the program contributes roughly a third of revenue.
The next hard datapoint for Lockheed Martin stock is Jan. 29, when the company plans to publish fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results before the market opens and hold a conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET. CEO Jim Taiclet and CFO Evan Scott are scheduled to speak.
But there’s plenty that can go sideways. A broad payout clampdown could face legal and political pushback, and the order leaves room for fights over what “underperformance” means on sprawling, multi-year programs.
