L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (LHX) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Greetings, and welcome to the L3Harris Investor Update Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this call is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to turn over to Tony Calderon, Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Development.

Thank you, Tiffany, and good morning, everyone. Joining me are Chris, Ken and Dan Gittsovich, CFO of the Missile Solutions business. Earlier this morning, we announced the first-of-its-kind partnership with the Department of War to significantly increase capacity to build solid rocket motors that power vital U.S. and Allied Missiles. We scheduled this call to update you on this news. With that, let me turn it over to Chris.

Okay. Thanks, Tony, and good morning, everyone. Since the merger, we have been intentional about shaping L3Harris into a more national security-focused, agile and resilient enterprise. Our actions have been guided by a few clear objectives to concentrate on where we have the greatest ability to differentiate, to grow profitably and to deliver long-term shareholder value in an increasingly complex and dynamic global defense environment. Earlier this year, we announced 2 related and highly strategic actions that advance that objective. First, we entered into a transaction involving the sale of our civil space propulsion and power systems business while retaining a 40% equity stake. Second, we announced a realignment from 4 to 3 segments to align our capabilities and business models with the priorities of the Department of war. Missile production is one of those priorities, which is what we'll be focused on today. Together, these actions underscore our disciplined approach to portfolio management and provide greater transparency into where we are deploying capital, leadership attention and technology to drive the highest returns and the strongest competitive position. And earlier today, we announced a first-of-a-kind partnership with the Department of War for our Missile Solutions segment to raise demand signal creates clear financial visibility and predictability for this business. Over the last 2.5 years of sustained investment and operational improvement, Aerojet deliveries have significantly increased their output. We are taking the next step to build the arsenal of freedom through the creation of a pure-play missile solutions company. This expanded business will provide our nation and our allies sustained rocket motor capacity for decades to come. With that, I'll turn it over to Ken.

Thanks, Chris, and good morning, everybody. Our ability to translate strategy and discipline into strong outcomes is increasingly evident. The quality we've delivered, the capacity we've added and the execution rigor we've brought to transforming Aerojet Rocketdyne positions the realigned Missile Solutions business for this next phase of growth. Missile Solutions is a scaled, diversified missile systems and Effects business with over 7,000 employees across 11 states and 18 sites. We bring together propulsion, precision maneuvering, advanced effects, seekers and launch technologies with the manufacturing depth required to deliver at speed and scale. At its core, Missile Solutions includes missile propulsion and attitude control systems, supporting both offensive and defensive missile systems. Our solid rocket motors provide power, while our DACs deliver precision maneuverability that is critical to the success of our customers' missions. Advanced Effects extends this portfolio beyond propulsion, combining air launch effects, infrared seekers, missile ammunition release systems and other advanced technologies. Together, these capabilities form the innovation engine that differentiates Missile Solutions and enables us to deliver integrated high-performance missile subsystems rather than stand-alone components. Space propulsion includes launch engines and advanced power systems for national security and civil customers. While a portion of this business is included in the space propulsion and Power Systems majority stake sale announced on January 5, the RS-25 engine used by NASA for deep space missions will remain part of the Missile Solutions portfolio. Our investments plan to further scale the business and provide further upside for everyone involved, the war fighter, the government, the taxpayer and our shareholders. We are modernizing the whole propulsion production process, benefiting the entire solid rocket motor value chain. These investments fund the expansion and modernization of our factories in Camden, Arkansas, Orange, Virginia; Huntsville, Alabama; and Canoga Park, California. In Camden, construction is underway on our Arkansas advanced propulsion facility, over 30 buildings on 250 acres with the ability to produce medium and large-sized motors for interceptors critical to our homeland defense. In Orange, Virginia, we are building a ground-up advanced propulsion facility to provide a second source of production for critical missile programs. Our Canoga Park facility will expand DAC capacity, and our Huntsville factory will add to their inert component production volumes. Construction will occur in phases with full rate production expected by 2030. When we are done, we will have added over 60 buildings comprising 1 million square feet of new production space, including 8 automated factory areas and 6 casting lines. Taken together, our planned investments are expected to more than triple rocket motor production capacity for critical missile programs by the end of the decade. This new capacity is designed to respond to strong and sustained demand across multiple missile programs. Award timing will vary by program and customer, and our investment approach is structured to accommodate that variability while maintaining flexibility and discipline. The Department of Wars investment reflects a shared objective to expand industrial base capacity and reduce supply chain risk. Through its $1 billion preferred convertible investment, the Department of Water participates economically in the long-term success of the business with any conversion subject to future IPO and market conditions. Tiffany, let's go to Q&A.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Sheila Kahyaoglu with Jefferies.

Good morning, Chris and Ken. Busy start for 2026 for you guys. Maybe if you could talk about, Chris, how this came about? How this positions you with the administration and Department of War going forward? How this changes the growth profile of the business, given the investments you're making, tripling rocket motor capacity?

Yes. Thanks, Sheila. I'll take part of the question and then Ken can take the growth part. The Department of War has been meeting with the defense and industrial base, either collectively or individually starting back in the summer, talking about the need for speed and the need for capacity. November 7, when Hegseth gave you speech and they rolled out the arsenal of freedom, it further emphasized that point. And we've been having numerous meetings, dozens, if not more, at all levels with the Department of War, trying to collaborate and partner and figure out a path forward. And the teams came up with this idea, and we think it's a creative solution. Obviously, we need billions of dollars to meet this demand. We are already the premier solid rocket motor provider in the world, and we just need to increase our capacity. So we thought accessing the public markets and having the Department of War as our anchor investor made a lot of sense. And so we negotiated and executed that transaction. Ken?

Yes. Thanks, Chris. Sheila, in terms of the business, I would say we look at it having the potential to more than double in sales by the end of the decade, certainly, I think, a strong margin profile as we look at that business. when you bring Missile Solutions together, we'll kind of give you a full sense of what that business looked like in '25 and as we look forward in '26, but we certainly think it gives us solid margin expansion. And then certainly, it will take some investment, but there should be a significant opportunity to grow the free cash flow of this business as we look forward as well.

Your next question comes from the line of Gautam Khanna with Cowen.

Congrats, guys. I was wondering if you could give us any color on the percentage equity stake that LHX will retain? And how far along you are in some of your contract discussions that may follow as a result of this transaction?

Yes. Thanks for the question. L3Harris will own a majority of the Missile Solutions new company. We will also control that. And the Department of War has only an economic investment. They have no board seats. They have no influence with management or the day-to-day operations it's just an economic investment. I'll let Ken talk about the percent and the contract negotiations.

Yes. Thanks, Sheila. I'll take part of the question and then Ken can take the growth part. The Department of War has been meeting with the defense and industrial base, either collectively or individually starting back in the summer, talking about the need for speed and the need for capacity. November 7, when Hegseth gave you speech and they rolled out the arsenal of freedom, it further emphasized that point. And we've been having numerous meetings, dozens, if not more, at all levels with the Department of War, trying to collaborate and partner and figure out a path forward. And the teams came up with this idea, and we think it's a creative solution. Obviously, we need billions of dollars to meet this demand. We are already the premier solid rocket motor provider in the world, and we just need to increase our capacity. So we thought accessing the public markets and having the Department of War as our anchor investor made a lot of sense. And so we negotiated and executed that transaction. Ken?

Our next question comes from the line of Robert Stallard with Vertical Research.

Ken, this is probably one for you. I think previously, you've talked about Aerojet doubling its revenues by 2030. Does this $1 billion investment allow you to accelerate that growth and potentially more than double revenues by the time we get to 2030?

Yes. Thanks, Rob. Look, certainly, as we talked about this business previously, we certainly had expectations of where demand was. I do think this has the potential to accelerate revenue by the end of 2030, number one. so we could potentially more than double by that point in time. Number two, I think it enables us to continue to generate strong margins. And then I think maybe most importantly, these are investments for the durability of the business for the long term. We certainly see this demand well beyond 2030, and we're building for the long-term health of the business. This really is about taking a legacy business turning it into the modern solid rocket motor producer of the future, modern factories, modern facilities, ability to deliver, as you heard under Secretary Duffy say, with the speed and scale that the Department of Water needs and demands. And we feel like this is the right investment for us to get there. And it will take some time to build that capacity, get it qualified, bring it online. So we think there's some upside to 2030, but certainly, beyond 2030, this is great for the long-term health of the business.

Our next question comes from the line of John Godyn with Citigroup.

Congratulations. What I wanted to spend a second on is just understanding why this structure was necessary? What is unlocked in this structure that you guys couldn't do if these businesses were still in LHX consolidated. You could have increased CapEx, you could have increased investment. You could have even had an economic stake with the government, right? So why is this specific structure, the value maximizing structure out of curiosity?

Yes, John, I can answer that question. Look, as we've realigned the business into 3 segments, and I think Chris talked a little bit about that earlier, Space and Mission Systems, Communications and spectrum dominance and then Missile Solutions that we're talking about today. I think we've done a good job of aligning based on our capabilities, but also based on the business models. And as we looked at Missile Solutions, we believe that it's got certainly the most durable and rapid growth trajectory. And it's going to take some investment to get there and felt like this was the way to really ensure that our shareholders are able to participate in the strength and the durable growth in the business. And certainly, these companies that are growing like this based on the comps that we look at out there, we see it as having significant opportunity to create value for L3Harris shareholders in this structure.

Yes, John, I'll chime in. I don't disagree with you, but we've talked about $3 billion of free cash flow in 2026 for the L3Harris shareholders. I think taking 1/3 or 1/2 of that and investing in Aerojet Rocketdyne CapEx would not be viewed positively by our existing shareholder base. I think we're going to have maybe different types of investors in Missile solutions versus the core traditional L3Harris business. So we looked at a variety of alternatives, and we think a mid-cap solely focused missile solution business. This is more than SRMs, this has hypersonics, has fuses, has weapons relief, has the ability to unlock a lot of value for those shareholders and then, of course, for our L3Harris shareholders as majority owners. So it seem to be an attractive and unique way to take advantage of the market, the multiples and to generate enough cash through an IPO to fund this. And again, I could not think of a better anchor investor than the Department of War. And I think it's unique. I think it's first of a kind, and I think everybody benefits.

Our next question comes from the line of Myles Walton with Wolfe Research.

Maybe for Ken or Chris, I guess, is the management team that is currently aligned with Missile Solutions anticipated to be the publicly traded management team? And then vis-a-vis the LHX in light of the executive order and the corporate actions you're taking in '26, are you changing your anticipation of increasing share repurchase activity versus '25?

Yes, I'll take that one. The management team of Missile Solutions today is expected to be the management team of the company. Ken will be the CEO of Missile Solutions from the outside, inside, he'll be a segment President reporting to me like the other 2 segment presidents. We will take advantage of the L3Harris Enterprise when it comes to benefits, payrolls, supply chain and such. So again, we're a majority owner, a controlling owner, and that's how we're going to run the business to keep it efficient and cost effective. The executive order, as we read it, is focused on defense contractors that are not investing in growth or those that are not current and delinquent within their portfolio. So at this point in time, unless I'm told otherwise, I feel that we are not on that list and subject to those requirements. So we will evaluate our capital deployment consistent with past practice, and we'll be given further guidance on the 29th of January.

Our next question comes from the line of Kristine Liwag with Morgan Stanley.

So first, I just wanted to confirm, Chris, I think you mentioned earlier that the convertible securities will not have some sort of golden share or special rights. Can you just expand on that and confirm that's the case?

That is, in fact, the case, yes. Ken, anything you want to add to that?

Kristine, look, from a governance perspective, this is a financial investment. I think it aligns the interest of our customer into the outcomes of the product they want to get and the opportunity for some financial return for an investment there, and it very much aligns our incentives as well to get the factories built, get the product delivered and create returns for all of our shareholders. One of those being the Department of War in terms of their defense industrial base fund.

And I'll just say, as we negotiated the team negotiated this. At no point in time, ever in the conversation with a discussion about the Department of War, being on our board of Missile Solutions have anything to do with management for managing the business. Purely an economic investment with the hopes that they can get a good return for the U.S. taxpayers the same way we wake up every morning trying to get good returns for our shareholders.

Our next question comes from the line of Douglas Harned with Bernstein.

Chris, this is in this huge demand for missiles today, we know there's a shortage of growth in rocket motors. But if you look out over the last 30 years, we've seen periods of high growing demand, but we've seen other periods of overcapacity. I mean how do you look at this over the long term and ensure that you can manage the risks when we get out to 2030? Should we see a different demand environment than we see today?

Yes. Thanks, Doug. And that is what is different about this administration and this transaction because you're absolutely right. In the past, it was year-to-year, which is why nobody would invest the hundreds of millions or billions of dollars to expand and invest in capacity because 12 months later, you could be left holding the bag. There is a -- not only a demand signal, there is language in the NDAA that permits multiyear contracts up to 7 years. And as we've modeled the business case, we look at the investments that we are making in the factories and the equipment, factoring in the manufacturing efficiencies, we'll get the supply chain efficiencies. We believe that there is -- the next 7 years are pretty well set and committed based on the quantities we're in the process of negotiating. And we've had outside studies and reviews that would suggest that there will be demand for missiles and solid rocket motors well into the 2040s. Arguably, the quantities could come down, but there's more demand than there is supply. And I think this is going to be a great opportunity to create value for Missile Solutions shareholders and L3Harris shareholders.

Yes. Let me just add to that, and thanks for the question, Doug. Look, we're here to have an opinion, right? And we think this is the right thing to do. We think there's plenty of demand for the long run. But one of the things that we are doing, and I touched on this a little bit in the prepared remarks, is really changing how solid rocket motors are built. So to the extent there is a change in demand from product to product or to a next-generation missile or motor, we will be able to deliver those in the facilities that we are constructing because we're really working on more common production across motors as opposed to if you've been to Camden, you may have seen it's very program-specific historically. So we'll be able to reconfigure. We'll be able to put new motors to Monday or Tuesday, be pouring and casting for one program and Wednesday and Thursday for another. So we're pretty excited about the approach. We think it enables us to not only produce for the current demand and current programs, but have that flexibility to be able to surge across programs or bring in new as we see dynamics change. But again, our opinion is that there's going to be long-term demand for these products.

Our next question comes from the line of Noah Poponak with Goldman Sachs.

Yes. Just I guess, given the divergence in valuations in defense tech versus traditional defense, if you will, which I think is kind of behind this in large part. Are there other parts of the company where you might explore other creative strategies because there's other parts of L3Harris that look and sound or grow like defense tech. And Chris, I'm curious just -- I don't know how much you would be willing to answer this, but I'm just curious if you think others in the industry will start to follow this type of path. And then last thing I wanted to ask about is just how you thought through the structure? And does -- I guess, why not just let the whole thing go and does retaining a large stake plus a government stake risk not unlocking all of that valuation differential?

Yes. Noah, I'll start there, and then Chris can jump in as well. But look, as we look at this opportunity, we certainly feel like it's value creating for all of the L3Harris shareholders as well as the potential, ultimately, the investors in IPO down the road for Missile Solutions. We certainly think that if you think about a future IPO of this business and us retaining an interest, we've certainly evaluated the float, how those types of businesses trade in terms -- and then the benefits of staying within the L3Harris family in terms of our ability to get some of the work that we've done, some of the help that's been provided around kind of expanding capacity and expanding deliveries and all the efficiencies and production improvements that have been made since Aerojet Rocketdyne has been in the L3Harris family. So we think it makes a lot of sense. We think that there's good alignment there. In terms of the other businesses, look, we're very comfortable. I think this is a unique situation for Aerojet Rocketdyne. The other 2 businesses, I would say, are going to benefit in terms of -- we'll have the separate ultimate, if the IPO is successful, publicly traded company, we'll be able to continue to invest the profits of L3Harris and the cash flows of L3Harris to continue to grow communications and spectrum dominance in the space and Mission Systems segments as well. So we think it's a pretty symbiotic relationship overall. and we're pretty excited about it as we look forward. And again, we think this is the right approach.

Yes. Noah, I'll pile on. One of the -- as someone said, it's been a busy 2026 with 3 pretty significant announcements in 13 days. But one of the reasons we reorganized is really to get to your point of the difference in valuations. And look, I understand and appreciate it's hard to understand L3Harris, which has been a consistent feedback because of our diverse portfolio and maybe not a lot of big household name programs. So when we put these 3 together, we've talked a lot about Missile Solutions, so you understand what we're doing there. But with the communications and spectrum dominance, I mean, that's mainly commercial products. We're taking advantage of the commercial business model. We have commercial margins. I view that as being -- if you don't believe L3Harris is defense tech, it clearly is the defense tech piece of it. And then we have the Space and Mission Systems. So I think if you look at this on a sum of the parts, I'm hoping that the market appropriately values the 3 segments and the sum of the parts so we don't have to go off and we will not go off and sell or monetize different pieces the way we did here. This is a very unique situation, completely aligned with everybody at the DoW wants, which is we need more munitions faster. The selection criteria going forward is going to be speed and volume. We have the volume, we have the speed. We're going to have more volume and more speed. So I expect we're going to win a lot of new business in Missile Solutions business. and there will be competition, and it will be fair in arm's length. Relative to others in the industry, we're all different and unique, and we're all taking different approaches. You saw someone had a big announcement last week and structured a deal that they thought was best for them and their customer and shareholders. We thought this was best for us and our customers and shareholders. And I'm sure the other leaders are exercising their strategies as such. But I alluded to it, and then we'll wrap this up is it really does start potentially the deconsolidation of the industry. I think many people believed back in the '90s, the consolidation went too far and there wasn't enough competition. And to the extent others negotiate or take a similar approach. The best thing for the nation is we have more prime companies and public companies in the defense industrial base to move faster and provide more competition, which is good for the Department of War, good for the taxpayers. And I believe ultimately good for the shareholders. So I think with that, we're just going to wrap it up. I appreciate everybody calling in today. We'll be talking to you in a couple of weeks when we release our fourth quarter '25 results and provide guidance for 2026. So thank you for joining on short notice.