Executive Summary
General Dynamics delivered a strong Q4 2024 with top-line growth and meaningful margin expansion. Revenue reached $13.338 billion, up approximately 24.3% year over year and 14.3% quarter over quarter, reflecting robust execution across segments and favorable mix. Gross profit rose to $2.085 billion, yielding a gross margin of about 15.63%, while operating income of $1.423 billion produced an operating margin of 10.67%. Net income totaled $1.149 billion, delivering EPS of $4.15, up roughly 42% year over year and 22% sequentially. The company generated strong operating cash flow of $2.16 billion and free cash flow of $1.805 billion, enabling aggressive capital allocation: $1.318 billion in share repurchases and $389 million in dividends. On the balance sheet, General Dynamics held $1.70 billion in cash, total assets of $55.9 billion, and total debt of $10.676 billion with net debt of $8.98 billion, signaling solid liquidity and manageable leverage for ongoing program investments. While explicit forward guidance is not provided in the data, the quarterly performance underscores resilience in defense demand and favorable project mix. Investors should monitor government budget trajectories, program awards and execution risk, and the trajectory of cash flow return metrics as a read-through for sustainable shareholder value.
Key Performance Indicators
Key Insights
Revenue: $13.338B; YoY +24.29%; QoQ +14.28%
Gross Profit: $2.085B; Gross Margin 15.63%; YoY +25.38%; QoQ +14.81%
Operating Income: $1.423B; Operating Margin 10.67%; YoY +37.36%; QoQ +20.49%
Net Income: $1.148B; Net Margin 8.61%; YoY +43.68%; QoQ +23.44%
EPS: $4.15; Diluted EPS $4.15; YoY +42.12%; QoQ +22.42%
Cash Flow: Operating cash flow $2.16B; Free cash flow $1.805B; Capex $(0.355)B
Liquidity & Balance Sheet: Cash & equivalents $1.697B; Total assets $55.88B; Total debt $10.676B; Net d...
Financial Highlights
Revenue: $13.338B; YoY +24.29%; QoQ +14.28%
Gross Profit: $2.085B; Gross Margin 15.63%; YoY +25.38%; QoQ +14.81%
Operating Income: $1.423B; Operating Margin 10.67%; YoY +37.36%; QoQ +20.49%
Net Income: $1.148B; Net Margin 8.61%; YoY +43.68%; QoQ +23.44%
EPS: $4.15; Diluted EPS $4.15; YoY +42.12%; QoQ +22.42%
Cash Flow: Operating cash flow $2.16B; Free cash flow $1.805B; Capex $(0.355)B
Liquidity & Balance Sheet: Cash & equivalents $1.697B; Total assets $55.88B; Total debt $10.676B; Net debt $8.979B; Equity $22.063B
Liquidity Ratios: Current 1.368x; Quick 0.823x; Cash Ratio 0.095x
Leverage & Coverage: Debt to capitalization 0.326; Interest coverage 18.72x; ROA 2.05%; ROE 5.20%
Capital Allocation: Dividends paid $389M; Share repurchases $1.318B; Free cash flow yield highlighted by FCF per share $6.60; Operating cash flow per share $7.90
Income Statement
| Metric |
Value |
YoY Change |
QoQ Change |
| Revenue |
13.34B |
24.29% |
14.28% |
| Gross Profit |
2.09B |
25.38% |
14.81% |
| Operating Income |
1.42B |
37.36% |
20.49% |
| Net Income |
1.15B |
43.68% |
23.44% |
| EPS |
4.15 |
42.12% |
22.42% |
Key Financial Ratios
operatingProfitMargin
10.7%
operatingCashFlowPerShare
$7.9
freeCashFlowPerShare
$6.6
dividendPayoutRatio
33.9%
Management Commentary
No earnings call transcript data was provided in the input. Consequently, there are no management quotes to quote or themes to extract. If available, future transcripts should be analyzed for themes such as backlog progression, program awards, cost control initiatives, cross-segment synergies, and long-cycle program execution to validate the observed improvements in margins and cash flow.
Forward Guidance
No explicit numeric forward guidance was included in the provided data. In absence of formal targets, investors should infer the outlook from ongoing program awards, segment mix, and cash flow dynamics. Key factors to watch include: (1) defense budget trajectories and potential impact on backlogs and new awards; (2) program cost containment and schedule adherence across Aerospace, Marine, Combat Systems, and Technologies; (3) phasing of capital investments and the ability to sustain free cash flow generation while funding large naval and aircraft programs; (4) share repurchase cadence and dividend policy as a signal of capital allocation discipline.