Raytheon Co. posted higher fourth-quarter sales and profits on Thursday, but its shares fell after the defense contractor issued a 2015 profit forecast that fell short of Wall Street estimates.
Raytheon’s Tucson-based Missile Systems unit reported 5 percent increases in both fourth-quarter sales and operating income, but sales and income for all of 2014 were down 4 percent from 2013.
The parent company said it expects to earn between $6.20 and $6.35 per share from continuing operations in 2015, and it forecast $22.3 billion to $22.8 billion in revenue. That means it believes revenue will fall as much as 2 percent.
FactSet says analysts were projecting net income of $6.88 per share and $22.59 billion in revenue on average.
Raytheon shares were down about 3 percent in late-afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
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The stock has risen 17 percent in the last 12 months, but as of Wednesday’s close the shares were down 3 percent this year, about the same as the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.
The parent company reported net income from continuing operations of $582 million, or $1.86 per share, for the fourth quarter. After pension-cost adjustments, quarterly earnings were $1.71 per share. The Waltham, Massachusetts-based company said its revenue rose to $6.14 billion.
Anlyasts tracked by Zacks Investment Research expected earnings of $1.78 per share and $6.06 billion in revenue.
For the full year Raytheon said it earned $2.2 billion, or $6.97 per share, from continuing operations as net sales declined about 4 percent to $22.8 billion.
Raytheon Missile Systems, one of four Raytheon business units that report operating results, posted net sales of $1.7 billion in the fourth quarter, up from $1.6 billion in the same period in 2013, as operating income rose 5 percent to $212 million.
But for all of 2014, Missile System’s sales fell 4 percent to $6.31 billion while net income fell to $800 million.
Raytheon said the increase in quarterly sales was mainly driven by higher sales on the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) and Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) programs, while blaming the drop in annual operating income on lower sales volumes.
During the quarter, Raytheon said, Missile Systems booked $509 million in revenue for AMRAAM and $146 million for ESSM.
Assistant Business Editor David Wichner and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Assistant Business Editor David Wichner and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
David Wichner
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