Northrop Grumman Corporation

NOC

Aerospace & Defense · Industrials

Price

$521.57

+2.92 (+0.56%)

Market Cap

$74.08B

Winston Score

Winston is serious

Mixed quality — meaningful strengths and weaknesses.

Share count falling — buybacks

−10.6% over 4y

The company has reduced its share count over this period, returning value to shareholders through buybacks.

Diluted shares outstanding: 160.9M (2021) → 143.8M (2025)

Northrop Grumman builds weapons, aircraft, and technology systems for militaries and governments. Its main products include stealth bombers like the B-21 Raider, missile defense systems, satellites, radar, and cybersecurity tools. The U.S. government is its largest customer by far, making Northrop one of the biggest defense contractors in the world.

The company earns money through long-term government contracts, often worth billions of dollars and lasting many years. It operates primarily in the United States but also sells to allied governments abroad. Its moat comes from being one of only a few companies with the technical expertise and security clearances needed to build complex, classified defense systems — making it very hard for new competitors to enter. The biggest risk is that U.S. defense budget cuts could reduce contract awards, while the key growth driver is rising global demand for advanced defense technology, including space systems and nuclear modernization programs.

Winston Score History

Politician Trades

5 trades / 12mo

1 Congressional buy and 4 sells on NOC in the last 12 months.

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Growth Profile

For growth stock investors

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+4.4% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Slow revenue growth

EPS Growth

+85.0% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

EPS growth accelerating

R&D Spend

$1.1B/ year

→ Flat (+0% vs prior year)

2.6% of revenue

Below sector average (4%)

Steady R&D investment year-over-year

Insider Activity

0.3%ownership

→ Flat

Insiders holding steady — not selling despite ability to

Cash Runway

~3 months

$2.1B cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

→ Burn rate stable

Short runway — potential dilution ahead through share issuance

Cash watch

Northrop Grumman Corporation has less than a year of cash at its current burn rate. Growth investors should watch for potential share dilution from future fundraising — that directly reduces your ownership.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

Each metric is explained in plain language so you know exactly what you're looking at. Start your free trial now.

Quality

Gross Margin

19.8%

Thin — 19.8% gross margin

Operating Margin

10.0%

Modest — 10.0% operating margin

ROCE

3.1%

Weak — 3.1% return on capital

ROIC between 0% and 5%. They earn a few cents back per dollar invested in the business.

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Growth

Sales YoY

+5.0%

Slow sales growth (5.0% YoY)

EPS YoY

+26.1%

Earnings growing fast (26.1% YoY)

Earnings growing 25%+ a year. The compounder zone.

EPS Consistency

8/8 quarters

Every recent quarter grew earnings vs last year

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Cash Flow

Cash Conversion

102%

Turns 102% of profit into real cash

FCF Margin

7.8%

Modest free cash flow (7.8%)

FCF margin between 0% and 10%. Some cash from sales, but not a lot.

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Stability

Debt / Equity

0.89

Moderate — manageable debt (0.89)

Interest Cover

7.00x

Adequate interest coverage (7.0x)

Interest coverage between 3 and 8. Profits cover interest several times over.

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Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

16.3x

Fair value — P/E 16.3

P/E in the normal range. Price is roughly $15 for every $1 of yearly profit.

P/E vs Forward

-0.5

SLOWING

Earnings expected to fall — forward P/E higher than today

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Dividends

Dividend Yield

1.71%

Small dividend — 1.71% yield

Modest yield. The bulk of any return needs to come from price appreciation.

Dividend Growth

+10.7%

Dividend growing fast (10.7% YoY)

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