Defense firm Alliant Techsystems Inc. beat first-quarter earnings expectations by 16 percent with adjusted earnings of $2.24 per share, it said Thursday.
Alliant earned $72 million in the first quarter, up from year-ago earnings of $70.8 million, on flat revenue of $1.08 billion. Analysts had been expecting adjusted earnings of $1.93 per share on revenue of $1.03 billion. Alliant shares closed up 2.66 percent to $95.58 in Thursday trading.
The company, based in Arlington, Va., is a 1990 Honeywell spinoff that previously was based in Edina. About 2,400 of its 15,000 employees are in Minnesota.
Strong orders in aerospace and sporting products were partly offset by declines in the defense group, Alliant said.
Alliant "had a strong first quarter, where we continue to see positive momentum from disciplined capital deployment, operational excellence initiatives and investments in technology and new product development," CEO Mark DeYoung said in a statement.
Steve Alexander
