RTX - Lockheed Martin leads defense sector lower after Russia-fueled run-up

Lockheed Martin (LMT -6.5%) ranks among the day's three biggest losers on the S&P 500 after Bloomberg reported the U.S. Department of Defense plans to buy fewer F-35 fighter jets in FY 2023. The U.S. has been taking 60-85 F-35s per year, and foreign governments could pick up any slack from reduced Pentagon requests, keeping F-35 production rates at expected levels, Capital Alpha analyst Byron Callan says, according to MarketWatch. "We strongly doubt that DoD or international customers want to see a significant decrease in the current production [of F-35 jets] because of the potential impact this could have on unit pricing and learning curve gains," Callan writes. The Russia-Ukraine war has lifted all defense sector stocks, and all are in decline in Wednesday's trading as the two countries talked yesterday and were due to speak again today; with Lockheed shares up 26% YTD, some basic profit-taking also could also be

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Lockheed Martin leads defense sector lower after Russia-fueled run-up