Does Trump's Record Defense Budget Make Lockheed Martin a "Never Sell" Stock?

President Donald Trump's $1.5 trillion budget request (comprising a $1.15 trillion base request and $350 billion in reconciliation) for 2027 is exciting defense industry investors, including those in Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT). It builds on the $1 billion enacted for 2026 and nearly $900 billion in 2025, and includes many elements (missiles, fire control, space and missile defense, and aeronautics) that are highly likely to improve the company's burgeoning backlog. Does that mean Lockheed Martin is now a stock to hold for life?To answer the question, it's a good idea to start with the fundamental pros and cons of investing in defense contractors. Traditionally, investors bought stocks like Lockheed Martin because they traded high growth in exchange for the security of a steady stream of income from the safest customers in the world: the U.S. government, other governments, and defense departments.Defense stocks were seen as the ultimate "defense" stocks, offering the prospect of low-single-digit growth with some margin expansion thrown in. Theoretically, when you factor in the real prospect of a step change in growth driven by massive defense budgets and the Department of Defense's new Acquisition Transformation Strategy (ATS), it's a perfect recipe for growth. The ATS is a fundamental overhaul that, among many other things, will "Award companies bigger, longer deals, so they will be willing to invest more to grow the industrial base that supplies our weapons." Continue readingWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool