Lockheed Martin Corp, the world’s largest defense contractor, reported a quarterly profit on Tuesday that handily beat analysts’ expectations, as sales of its Sikorsky helicopters pushed total revenue up 14.8%, Reuters reported. Lockheed’s shares were up about 7% in afternoon trading following the company’s earnings conference call. The company said third-quarter sales in its rotary and mission systems business unit jumped 55% to $3.35 billion, which included about $1.2 billion from sales of Sikorsky military and commercial helicopters. Lockheed completed the $9 billion acquisition of Sikorsky from United Technologies Corp last year.
