RTX raises 2025 forecast as strong demand offsets tariff worries

By Utkarsh Shetti and Mike Stone

(Reuters) -Aerospace and defense giant RTX raised its full-year profit and revenue forecast on Tuesday, as rising demand for its missiles and aftermarket services bolstered its ability to weather negative fallout from tariffs.

Shares of the company rose 6.3% before the bell, as it also beat Wall Street expectations for third-quarter results.

U.S. President Donald Trump's global tariff offensive had pushed RTX to slash its profit outlook in July, and the company expects $500 million in tariff costs this year.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, meanwhile, said in August that the Trump administration was considering taking stakes in defense contractors.

"We're not having those conversations with the government. What we are having conversations with the government about is their need for increased capacity," RTX Chief Financial Officer Neil Mitchill told Reuters in an interview.

STRONG SALES FOR DEFENSE, AVIATION PRODUCTS

Raytheon, RTX's defense unit, has seen strong demand as geopolitical tensions have escalated.

It reported a 10% rise in sales, predominantly from higher sales for its Patriot air defense systems, which are being used on the battlefield in Ukraine.

A shortage of new commercial jets is also driving sales at maintenance and repair service providers like RTX, who are banking on airlines flying older, cost-intensive fleets.

RTX, which makes the GTF engines and competes with CFM International, has benefited from booming demand from planemakers as they ramp up production.

The company's aerospace and avionics division, Collins Aerospace, posted revenue of $7.62 billion in the quarter, up 8% from a year earlier.

Sales at its Pratt and Whitney unit, which produces engines for Airbus A320neo jets, rose 16% to $8.42 billion.

RTX now expects its full-year adjusted sales between $86.5 billion and $87 billion, from its previous forecast of between $84.75 billion and $85.5 billion.

It also raised its adjusted profit forecast to between $6.10 and $6.20 per share for 2025, from $5.80 to $5.95.

The Arlington, Virginia-based company's total revenues rose 12% to $22.48 billion in the third quarter. Analysts on average had expected $21.31 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Its adjusted per-share profit was $1.70, also above expectations of $1.41.

(Reporting by Utkarsh Shetti in Bengaluru and Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Joe Bavier)

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