General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) today reported quarterly net earnings of $992 million, up 4.2% from the year-ago quarter, or $3.58 diluted earnings per share (EPS), up 5.6% from the year-ago quarter. Revenue of $10.9 billion was up 5.4% over the year-ago quarter.
For the full year, net earnings were $3.4 billion, up 4.1% from 2021, or $12.19 per diluted share, up 5.5% from 2021. Full-year revenue was $39.4 billion, a 2.4% increase from 2021. Operating margin was 11.3% for the quarter and 10.7% for the full year.
“We enjoyed a strong fourth quarter, capping a good 2022,” said Phebe N. Novakovic, chairman and chief executive officer. “We had good backlog growth, with robust demand at Gulfstream. Operating performance was solid, led by excellent execution at Combat Systems. We also had another very strong cash year.”
Cash
Net cash provided by operating activities in the quarter totaled $669 million. For the year, net cash provided by operating activities totaled a record-high $4.6 billion, or 135% of net earnings. During the year, the company reduced debt by $1 billion, invested $1.1 billion in capital expenditures, paid $1.4 billion in dividends, and used $1.2 billion to repurchase shares, ending 2022 with $1.2 billion in cash and equivalents on hand.
Backlog
Orders remained strong across the company with a consolidated book-to-bill ratio, defined as orders divided by revenue, of 1.2-to-1 for the quarter and 1.1-to-1 for the year. Backlog of $91.1 billion was the highest in the company’s history. In addition to backlog, estimated potential contract value, representing management’s estimate of additional value in unfunded indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts and unexercised options, was $36.6 billion at year end. Total estimated contract value, the sum of all backlog components, was $127.7 billion at the end of the year.
In the Aerospace segment, backlog grew in the quarter to $19.5 billion, up 19.8% from the year-ago quarter. Aerospace book-to-bill was 1.2-to-1 for the quarter and 1.5-to-1 for the year.
Significant awards in the quarter for the three defense segments included $5.1 billion from the U.S. Navy for Columbia-class submarine advance procurement, advance construction, submarine industrial base development, maintenance and support, and options totaling $585 million of additional potential contract value; an IDIQ contract from the U.S. Army with a maximum potential value of $580 million to develop and field adversarial electronic warfare threat systems and capabilities in support of the Army’s test and training communities; $535 million from the Navy for lead yard support, development studies and design efforts related to Virginia-class submarines, and options totaling $320 million of additional potential contract value; $320 million to upgrade Ulan tracked vehicles for Austria; $260 million for various munitions and ordnance; and $525 million for several key classified contracts and options.
About General Dynamics
Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, General Dynamics is a global aerospace and defense company that offers a broad portfolio of products and services in business aviation; ship construction and repair; land combat vehicles, weapons systems and munitions; and technology products and services. General Dynamics employs more than 100,000 people worldwide and generated $39.4 billion in revenue in 2022. More information is available at www.gd.com.
