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Bloomberg
Lockheed Martin Corp’s new chief executive officer, Jim Taiclet, is prowling for deals amid the coronavirus pandemic and economic downturn.
Just don’t expect the world largest military contractor to rummage for bargains in the distressed commercial aerospace industry, where Boeing Co and its suppliers are grappling with an unprecedented collapse in air travel.
“Pure-play defense is going to be the field we’re playing on,†Taiclet said in an interview after Lockheed exceeded Wall Street’s earnings estimates and raised its 2020 financial forecasts.
“But we may want to expand the edges of the field,†he said, pointing to artificial intelligence as the kind of area that might strengthen the company’s weapons line-up.
Taiclet’s priorities squelched earlier speculation that Lockheed would consider a commercial aerospace deal to counter the tie-up of Raytheon and United Technologies, which formed Raytheon Technologies Corp earlier this year.
The pandemic has injected too much risk into such deals, Lockheed’s new boss said, particularly for a company sitting on a record $150 billion backlog of defense contracts.