RTX (NYSE:RTX) Reports Upbeat Q2 2026, Shares Rise
Aerospace and defense company Raytheon (NYSE:RTX) reported second-quarter 2026 results that beat Wall Street’s earnings expectations, with sales rising 14.5% year over year to $24.71 billion. The company’s full-year revenue forecast of $95.5 billion at midyear was 1.5% higher than analysts’ estimates. Non-GAAP earnings of $1.89 per share were 13.7% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
Is it time to buy RTX? Find out in our full research report.
RTX (RTX) Key Specifications for Q2 2026:
Income: $24.71 billion vs. analysts’ estimates of $22.91 billion (up 14.5% year-on-year, 7.8% above)
Adjusted EPS: $1.89 vs. analysts’ estimates of $1.66 (13.7% increase)
Company raised its revenue forecast for the full year to $95.5 billion at the midpoint from $93 billion, an increase of 2.7%.
Control raised its adjusted earnings per share forecast for the full year to $7.18 at the midpoint, up 5.5%.
Operating Margin: 11.4% compared to 9.9% in the same quarter last year.
Free Cash Flow was $2.88 billion compared to -$72 million in the same quarter last year.
Market capitalization: $262.4 billion
Company overview
Originally focused on refrigeration technology, Raytheon (NSYE:RTX) provides a wide range of products and services to the aerospace and defense industries.
Revenue growth
Studying a company’s long-term performance can provide insight into its quality. Any business can last a good quarter or two, but the best ones grow consistently over the long term. Luckily, RTX sales have been growing at a respectable annual growth rate of 8.3% over the past five years. Its growth has been slightly above the industry average, which shows that its offerings are resonating with customers.
RTX Quarterly Revenue
Long-term growth is most important, but in industrial plants, a fifty-year historical review may miss new industry trends or demand cycles. RTX’s 9.6% annual revenue growth over the past two years is above the five-year trend, suggesting demand for it has accelerated recently.
RTX Revenue Growth YoY
For the quarter, RTX reported year-over-year revenue growth of 14.5%, and its revenue of $24.71 billion beat Wall Street estimates by 7.8%.
Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 4% over the next 12 months, a slowdown from the previous two years. This forecast doesn’t worry us and implies that its products and services will face some demand challenges.
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Operating margin
RTX has done a decent job of managing its cost base over the past five years. The company’s average operating margin was 8.4%, higher than the broader industrial sector.
Looking at profitability trends, RTX’s operating margin grew 3.3 percentage points over the past five years as rising sales gave it operating leverage.
RTX Trailing 12-Month Operating Margin (GAAP)
In the second quarter, RTX generated an operating margin of 11.4%, up 1.4 percentage points from last year. This increase was a welcome development and shows that it was more effective.
Earnings per share
Earnings trends explain a company’s historical growth, but the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) provides an indication of the profitability of that growth—for example, a company may be increasing its sales by spending excessively on advertising and promotion.
Over the past five years, RTX’s earnings per share grew 16.3% year over year, faster than the 8.3% year-over-year revenue growth. This tells us that the company has become more profitable per share as it has expanded.
RTX 12-Month Rolling EPS (Non-GAAP)
Looking at RTX’s earnings quality can help us better understand its performance. As we mentioned earlier, RTX’s operating margin has grown 3.3 percentage points over the past five years. At the same time, the number of its shares decreased by 5.4%. These are positive signals for shareholders, as improved profitability and share buybacks accelerate earnings per share growth relative to revenue growth.
Diluted RTX shares outstanding
As with revenue, we look at earnings per share over a shorter period to see if we’re missing changes in the business.
For RTX, the two-year annual EPS growth of 14.4% was below the five-year trend. We continue to believe its growth has been good and hope it can accelerate in the future.
For the second quarter, RTX reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.89, down from $1.56 in the same quarter last year. This print easily defied analyst estimates, and shareholders should be happy with the results. Wall Street expects RTX’s full-year earnings per share to rise 2.9% over the next 12 months, from $6.92 to $7.12.
Key Takeaways from RTX’s Q2 Results
It was a good quarter of a hit and raise. We were impressed by how significantly RTX beat analysts’ revenue expectations for the quarter. We were also pleased that full-year EPS guidance beat Wall Street estimates. Zooming out, we believe this was a strong result with some key areas of growth. Shares were trading up 5.2% at $204.90 immediately after the results were released.
RTX posted solid earnings, but one quarter doesn’t necessarily mean the stock is worth buying. Let’s see if this is a good investment. If you make this decision, you should consider the broader picture of valuation, business prowess, as well as recent earnings. We cover this in our full research report, which you can read here, it’s free.