Lockheed earnings reach $1B in quarter
Lockheed Martin earned $1 billion in the second quarter, up from $929 million in the second quarter of last year, the Bethesda, Md., defense contractor said Tuesday.
Lockheed builds Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System rockets, the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launcher and the Tactical Missile System at its plant in East Camden. Lockheed has about 650 employees in East Camden.
Lockheed's Missiles and Fire Control division, which includes the Arkansas plant, generated $1.7 billion in sales in the second quarter, up from $1.6 billion in the second quarter last year.
Overall, the company had sales of $12.9 billion in the quarter, up from $11.6 billion in the same period last year. Lockheed projected sales of $51.5 billion for this year, up from projections in April of $50 billion for 2016.
Lockheed shares rose $2.67, or 1 percent, to close Tuesday at $258.96.
-- David Smith
6 black schools plan to boost startup help
Philander Smith College in Little Rock and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff are among six historically black universities in the region that are expanding their entrepreneurship programs for students.
The other schools are Grambling State University in Grambling, La.; Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, Miss.; Rust College in Holly Springs, Miss.; and Southern University in Baton Rouge.
The Delta Regional Authority and Allen Entrepreneurial Institute are assisting the schools.
Each school will receive up to $24,000 to host a two-day technical assistance and rapid acceleration workshop to teach student entrepreneurs about the skills and resources needed to start their businesses.
-- David Smith
Index loses ground as 4 stocks fall 2%
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 1.20 to 338.67 Tuesday.
Five index stocks declined and 12 advanced.
Shares of Murphy Oil, Dillard's, ArcBest and USA Truck fell more than 2 percent. Shares of Tyson Foods rose 1.2 percent, and P.A.M. Transportation rose 2.1 percent.
Total volume for the index was 16.5 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 07/20/2016