NOC - Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) Bernstein's 40th Annual Strategic Decisions Conference (Transcript)
2024-05-30 21:08:08 ET
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC)
Bernstein's 40th Annual Strategic Decisions Conference
May 30, 2024, 09:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Kathy Warden - Chairman and CEO
Conference Call Participants
Douglas Harned - Bernstein
Presentation
Douglas Harned
Okay. Let's get started. I'm really happy to have with us again, Kathy Warden, Chairman and CEO of Northrop Grumman. Kathy, you may have a few words to start out with here.
Kathy Warden
I do. Thanks, Doug. Thanks for having us again. I just want to start with a reminder that I may make forward-looking statements in my comments today, and those statements include risks and uncertainties, which you can find detailed in our SEC filings on our Investor Relations website.
I also -- so I just spent a few minutes making some opening comments to provide context on the company before I hand it over to Doug for Q&A. For those of you who don't track the company closely in our first quarter results, we did show that we're off to a strong start for the year once again. We had revenue sales increased 9%.
Our earnings up 10% and our free cash flow up 15% for the quarter, and we reaffirmed our company guidance, which is growth in the 4% to 5% range, and free cash flow growth in the midpoint, about 17%.
So really strong business growth that is fueling earnings enhancements as well as free cash flow delivery. We've been putting that capital to work. Many of you know that we have been investing in our company over the last several years to support the growth that I just outlined, and we continue to do that this year. But we also have a robust strategy for returning capital to shareholders. We recently increased our dividend another 10%.
This has been a consecutive trend for us for many years now, and we also have identified over $2 billion in share repurchases planned for this year. There are two programs that I am certain. Doug is going to ask about the B-21 and Sentinel, which we're proud to be executing to legs of the nation's strategic deterrent. But we also have thousands of other programs in the portfolio that are contributing to the strong organic growth within the organization. And it's really the diversity and breadth of that portfolio from space to armaments, to Integrated Air and Missile Defense and Mission Systems and microelectronics in general that are positioning the company, not only for the growth we're experiencing today but sustained growth into the future....
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) Bernstein's 40th Annual Strategic Decisions Conference (Transcript)