General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Releases FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) issued an update on its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 16.100-16.200 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 17.260. The company issued revenue guidance of $54.3 billion-$54.8 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $54.3 billion.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $355.76 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $347.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $334.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.41. General Dynamics has a 12-month low of $239.20 and a 12-month high of $369.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The aerospace company reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.11 by $0.06. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 18.27%. The business had revenue of $14.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. General Dynamics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.100-16.200 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 38.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $398.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group set a $393.00 price target on General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, VP David Paddock sold 20,360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.92, for a total transaction of $6,818,971.20. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 36,644 shares in the company, valued at $12,272,808.48. The trade was a 35.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key General Dynamics News

Here are the key news stories impacting General Dynamics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beats — GD posted $4.17 EPS on $14.38B revenue, topping consensus and showing year‑over‑year growth driven by Marine Systems and Combat Systems; results and segment strength support near‑term earnings visibility. Strong Marine Systems Performance Drives GD’s Q4 Earnings and Revenues
• Positive Sentiment: Backlog and orders — book‑to‑bill ~1.6x, backlog near $118B and $22.4B of orders in the quarter, plus a major Navy contract and strong cash from operations, which underpin multi‑year revenue visibility. General Dynamics Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2025 Financial Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Call & transcript available — management discussed growth opportunities and headwinds (supply chain, tariffs) on the earnings call; useful for longer‑term modeling but not new fundamental surprises beyond guidance. General Dynamics Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Guidance shortfall — GD set FY‑2026 EPS guidance of $16.10–16.20, notably below the consensus (~$17.26), which is the main driver of the stock weakness as investors repriced future earnings.
• Negative Sentiment: Tariff and cost pressures — management flagged a ~$41M tariff impact and ongoing supply‑chain/headwind commentary that could weigh on margins near term. Defense Giant General Dynamics Absorbs $41 Million Tariff Blow, Backlog Hits $118 Billion

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 118.3% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,847 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $567,372,000 after acquiring an additional 901,679 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 35.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,136,525,000 after purchasing an additional 863,392 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 831.1% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 737,259 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $251,405,000 after buying an additional 658,081 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 349.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 376,162 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $128,271,000 after buying an additional 292,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 73.2% in the 2nd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 461,585 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $134,626,000 after buying an additional 195,030 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

About General Dynamics

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.