For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – January 23, 2017 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include BAE Systems plc (OTCMKTS: BAESY - Free Report ), Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC - Free Report ), Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT - Free Report ), Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT - Free Report ) and Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA - Free Report ).

Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free .

Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

Defense Stock Roundup: BAESY, NOC, LMT, TXT and BA

With the onset of the Q4 earnings season, we note that the magnitude of negative estimate revisions for the quarter has been lower than the previous quarters. For the aerospace and defense sector, earnings and revenue projections are quite positive. The picture is also relatively better than many other sectors like Energy, Retail/Wholesale, and Auto and Transportation.

Major indices for the Aerospace-Defense industry witnessed positive growth during the last five sessions. The sector benefitted from a generous flow of funds from the Pentagon. While the S&P 500 Aerospace & Defense (Industry) Index gained 0.7%, the Dow Jones U.S. Aerospace & Defense Index inched up 0.6% during this period.

The outlook for this industry improved significantly following Donald Trump’s victory on hopes that the new administration will stick to its campaign promise of ramping up military spending. Although, the plans haven’t been chalked out yet, Aerospace stocks have been scoring big gains since Nov 8.

Among last week’s highlights, defense majors BAE Systems plc (OTCMKTS: BAESY - Free Report ), Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC - Free Report ), Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT - Free Report ), Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT - Free Report ) and Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA - Free Report ) secured a number of orders from the Department of Defense’s (“DoD”) daily funding session.

Recap of the Week’s Most Important Stories

1. BAE Systems won a $177.8 million modification contract for the construction and commissioning of a new nitrocellulose facility at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant. The contract was awarded by the Army Contracting Command, Warren, MI.

Work is scheduled to be completed by Dec 31, 2018. The company will execute the work in Radford, VA. It will use fiscal 2015, 2016, and 2017 other funds.

BAE Systems currently has a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

2. Northrop Grumman won a $140.0 million modification contract for Battle Field Airborne Communication Node payload, operations and support. The contract was awarded by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, MA.

Work is scheduled to be completed by Jan 23, 2018. The company will execute the work in San Diego, CA, and various other locations across the globe. It will use fiscal 2017 overseas contingency operation; and operation and maintenance funds.

Northrop Grumman currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

3. Lockheed Martin’s unit, Rotary and Mission Systems, won a $120.9 million modification contract to procure Technical Insertion 16 Acoustic-Rapid-Commercial-Off- The-Shelf (COTS) Insertion (A-RCI) engineering services and the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS). The contract was awarded by the Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C.

A-RCI is a sonar system that integrates and improves towed array, hull array, sphere array and other ship sensor processing through rapid insertion of COTS-based hardware and software. IUSS provides the Navy with submarine detection, identification and classification services.

Work is scheduled to be completed by Dec 2017. The company will execute the majority of the work in Manassas, VA, and the rest in Clearwater, FL. It will use fiscal 2015 and 2016 shipbuilding conversion (Navy); fiscal 2016 and 2017 other procurement (Navy); and fiscal 2017 research, development, test and evaluation funds.

Lockheed Martin currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here .

4. Bell-Boeing, a strategic joint venture (JV) between aircraft majorBoeing and diversified U.S. conglomerate Textron’s wholly owned subsidiary, Bell Helicopter – won a $138.6 million modification contract from the U.S. Navy for the V-22 aircraft. The contract was awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MA.

Per the modification, the JV will procure non-recurring engineering for the development, qualification test, incorporation, airworthiness validation, flight test demonstration, verification and incorporation of the government of Japan configuration into the MV-22B Block C aircraft, and the MV-22 containerized flight training device. Moreover, the JV will procure kits for the Japanese government unique configuration. (Read more: Bell-Boeing Joint Venture Wins $137M Navy Contract for V-22 )

Both Boeing and Textron carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free .

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Bae Systems PLC (BAESY): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Textron Inc. (TXT): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Boeing Company (The) (BA): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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