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Newport News, Virginia-based Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (HII) designs, builds, overhauls, and repairs military ships in the United States. With a market cap of $8.6 billion, Huntington Ingalls operates through the Ingalls, Newport News, and Mission Technologies segments.
The industrial major is set to announce its first-quarter earnings before the markets open on Thursday, May 1. Ahead of the event, analysts expect HII to report an adjusted EPS of $2.89, marking a notable 25.3% drop from $3.87 reported in the year-ago quarter. While the company has surpassed the Street’s bottom-line estimates twice over the past four quarters, it has surpassed the projections on two other occasions.
For the full fiscal 2025, analysts project HII’s earnings to come in at $13.85 per share, marginally down from $13.96 per share reported in fiscal 2024. While in fiscal 2026, its earnings are expected to rebound 18.1% year-over-year to $16.35 per share.
HII stock has tanked nearly 19.1% over the past 52 weeks, significantly underperforming the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLI) 3.5% gains and the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 5.4% returns during the same time frame.
Huntington Ingalls’ stock prices plummeted 18.3% after the release of its disappointing Q4 results on Feb. 6. Due to a drop in revenues across its segments, the company’s overall topline decreased 5.4% year-over-year to $3 billion, falling short of Street expectations. Meanwhile, the company experienced a steep decline in its margin, leading to a massive 54.3% year-over-year decline in earnings to $3.15 per share. This figure missed the consensus estimates by nearly 4%. Furthermore, the company’s free cash flows came in at $40 million for the whole year, down from $692 million in fiscal 2023, which unsettled investor confidence.
Analysts remain cautious about HII’s prospects, the stock holds a consensus “Hold” rating overall. Of the 10 analysts covering the stock, opinions include two “Strong Buys,” seven “Holds,” and one “Moderate Sell.” As of writing, the stock is trading notably above its mean price target of $206.73.
