RTX raises sales forecast to $97.0–97.5 billion as backlog hits record
Key Facts
RTX raised its 2026 adjusted sales forecast to $97.0–97.5 billion, according to its third-quarter earnings statement released on October 20, alongside increases to its annual earnings and cash flow forecasts. The company had forecast adjusted sales of between $95.0 billion and $96.0 billion when it reported second-quarter results, before the latest revision. It also raised its annual adjusted earnings per share forecast to $7.65–7.75 from a previous range of $7.10–7.25. The upgrade included its annual free cash flow forecast, now between $9.0 billion and $9.2 billion. The previous range, announced with second-quarter results, was between $8.50 billion and $8.75 billion.
The company's third-quarter sales totaled about $25.0 billion, according to the earnings statement, while quarterly adjusted earnings per share reached $2.26. Adjusted earnings per share rose 33% from the same period a year earlier. That figure included a benefit of $0.25 per share from the recovery of costs related to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the company said. Earnings per share under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles were $1.89 for the period. The company generated quarterly free cash flow of $2.1 billion.
Backlog reached a record $340 billion at the end of the third quarter, according to the company's statement, with new orders in both its commercial and defense businesses. Chief Executive Chris Calio said new contracts during the quarter exceeded $81 billion. Backlog had stood at $289 billion at the end of the second quarter, according to the company's previous results. That quarter's backlog included $170 billion in commercial orders. Defense orders in the same backlog totaled $119 billion, before the new record total was announced in the third-quarter results.
In its missile business, the company announced in September that its Raytheon unit had secured a multiyear contract to produce AMRAAM missiles. The contract is worth up to $20.7 billion, according to the company's announcement, which identified that value as the agreement's ceiling. The company described its duration as "five years" under a multiyear production arrangement. The contract also includes two optional years in addition to its stated base term. The agreement supporting the contract targets production of at least 1,900 missiles annually under the program's production plan.
The series of forecast increases stretches back to April, when the company raised its annual revenue estimate to $92.5–93.5 billion, according to Reuters. In its coverage of the July results, Reuters linked the strength of the aircraft maintenance business to a shortage of new aircraft available to airlines. It noted that supply chain bottlenecks and delivery delays had affected the arrival of new aircraft at operators. Those conditions pushed airlines to rely on older fleets and keep them flying longer, according to Reuters. The news agency described those fleets as more costly in explaining the continued strength of aircraft repair and maintenance activity.
Following the earnings announcement, the company's shares rose 2.2% in premarket trading, according to Investing.com, in a response that followed the release of the figures and new forecasts. Before the announcement, Bernstein Societe Generale had cut its price target for the stock to $214 from $223 on October 15. The firm maintained its Market Perform rating, according to the website's account of its assessment ahead of the results. It pointed at the time to continued uncertainty over when funding would arrive to support expected growth in missile programs. The company's earnings call was scheduled for October 20, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.