US Defense Contractors Raise Forecasts After Zelensky Meeting

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with several US defense contractors this week, including Raytheon, GE, and Lockheed Martin. A few days later, major defense companies raised their full-year profit estimates significantly.

Spokespeople say that tariffs have no impact on demand for the defense industry. Naturally, Ukraine is seeking duty-free defense imports on defense products paid for by other countries.

Lockheed raised its profit forecast from $22.15–$22.35 per share, up from $21.70–$22.00. The revenue forecast increased to $74.25–$74.75 billion from the previous range of $73.75–$74.75 billion. CEO Jim Taiclet noted there is “unprecedented demand” for Lockheed’s F-35 fighters, CH-53K helicopters, and of course, the highly desired patriot missiles.

“We are investing aggressively in both new digital technologies and physical production capacity needed to meet the top defense priorities of the United States and its allies — and we are doing so in partnership with a number of leading technology partners, large and small,” Taiclet said in a statement.

“In Washington, I spoke with defense companies that produce Patriots and other weapons we need. The willingness to work with Ukraine is fully sufficient — Ukraine is trusted,” Zelensky said on Monday. “It is important that there be enough support for this at the political level in Washington.”

General Electric Aerospace (GE) increased revenue guidance from “mid-teens” to “high teens” in terms of percentage growth. Free cash flow is predicted to be $7.1 billion to $7.3 billion, which is around $1 billion higher than before the meeting with Zelensky. GE stock is already up over 80% YoY, with an 83% increase in deliveries of defense equipment.

Raytheon did not publicly comment on its specific EPS ranges but had a strong Q3. RTX adjusted its full-year earnings to $6.10 to $6.20 from $5.80 to $5.95 and also tacked on an additional ~$1 billion for its sales forecast.

There is a reason why every US defense contractor immediately raised their revenue forecasts after hearing about plans for a continued conflict straight from the horse’s mouth. It is said that Trump and Zelensky had a heated discussion behind closed doors that resulted in a shouting match. Trump has offered Zelensky a way out of this intricately woven web, but he refuses to accept peace.

Zelensky has refused to meet with Putin for the past three years, but he sets aside time to meet with defense contractors and any and every world leader willing to lend him a buck or a billion.

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5564117-ukraine-finalizing-patriot-deal/

“Ukraine and the U.S. are finalizing a deal for Kyiv to secure 25 Patriot air defense systems, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday, a push that would boost the Ukrainian military’s ability to defend against Russian aerial attacks.
“The difficulty lies in the production queue — a line of countries that have signed relevant contracts. We will be receiving these 25 systems over the years, with different quantities each year,” Zelensky said during a meeting with reporters in Kyiv,....”

I always wondered how some people who don’t work, live in public housing, and collect welfare but can afford to drive a new Cadillac.

These minor revenue and profit upgrades had nothing to do with any meeting with Zyyyyy.

Re-read the article, a few more times if you have to. The begging grifter met with our Defense reps during his recent visit.

https://apnews.com/video/zelenskyy-meets-representatives-of-defense-companies-and-energy-sector-during-us-visit-cebb60a5a4ce452b87ad2ba469acc6d3

“Zelenskyy meets representatives of defense companies and energy sector during US visit.

According to the Ukrainian Presidential Office, in a meeting Friday Zelenskyy thanked the defense company Raytheon, which manufactures, among other products, Patriot systems, for support and emphasized that they have helped save many Ukrainian lives.”

“The grift and corruption continues....”

So true!

Criminal conviction
In 1999, Japanese fraud investigators accused Armstrong of collecting money from Japanese investors, improperly commingling these funds with funds from other investors, and using the fresh money to cover losses he had incurred while trading.[9] United States prosecutors called it a three-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme.[10] Allegedly assisting Armstrong in his scheme was the Republic New York Corporation, which produced false account statements to reassure Armstrong’s investors. In 2001, the bank agreed to pay $606 million as restitution for its part in the scandal.[10]

Armstrong was indicted in 1999 and ordered by Judge Richard Owen to turn over fifteen million dollars in gold bars and antiquities bought with the fund’s money; the list included bronze helmets and a bust of Julius Caesar.[11][12] Armstrong produced some of the items but claimed the others were not in his possession; this led to several contempt of court charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and CFTC, for which he served seven years in jail until he reached a plea bargain with federal prosecutors.[13][14][15] Under the terms of the agreement, Armstrong admitted to deceiving corporate investors and improperly commingling client funds—actions that according to prosecutors resulted in commodities losses of more than $700 million—and was sentenced to five years in prison.[16][11]

Armstrong was released from federal custody on 2 September 2011 after serving a total of eleven years behind bars.[17] The case against Armstrong was finally closed in 2017, with the distribution of about $80 million to claim holders by the receiver according to court filings.[18] Armstrong appealed the refusal of the receiver to transport his remaining possessions from storage lockers in New York and Pennsylvania to him in Florida, but the appeal failed in 2019. Concerning his felony conviction, Armstrong is “unrepentant” according to Bloomberg News.[19] In 2014, Italian comedian, activist, and Five Star Movement founder Beppe Grillo’s cited an article by L’Antidiplomatico that quoted Armstrong as supporting Grillo’s anti-euro views and calls for a referendum on the issue, and presented him as a historian who described Grillo as a prominent figure of the struggle for democracy and cited The Economist article “Send in the clowns” (in reference to Grillo and Silvio Berlusconi) to establish Armstrong as an expert holding the opposite view of The Economist.[2] On his website, Armstrong described himself as a “world-renowned” historian and economist, an influencer on Ronald Reagan, and a friend of Margaret Thatcher, without mentioning other details of his biography, such as his criminal conviction.[2]

Hidden rare coins cache
In 2014, a day laborer sold a box of 58 rare coins to a Philadelphia thrift shop for $6,000, which he said he had found while clearing out the basement of a house in New Jersey. In 2017, when the thrift shop announced they were to auction the coins and they actually valued at $2.5 million, Armstrong came forward to declare himself the rightful owner. He claimed that he had hidden the coins in his mother’s old house to take them “off the books” in anticipation of the public offering of his firm. The thrift shop sued Armstrong, asking the court to declare the thrift shop as rightful owners while Armstrong counter-sued, also seeking ownership. In 2019, the U.S. government learned about the coins and claimed them as part of the treasure hoard Armstrong had refused to hand over in 1999, and for which he had served seven years in jail for contempt. In addition to rare coins, the treasure hoard, valued at $12.9 million, included 102 gold bars, 699 gold coins, and an ancient bust of Julius Caesar.[20][21] Armstrong was deposed. According to Receiver Alan M. Cohen, Armstrong admitted hiding the coins. Armstrong’s attorneys said in a court filing that Armstrong did not make this admission. The auction house now possesses the coins and the U.S. government filed suit to take possession.[20][21]

Wiki

Just for you, yet another podcast, hundreds YTD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfxNzPiXwEA

Martin Armstrong: EU On the Brink, War Risk Next Year

Recorded on October 22, 2025.
Economist and forecaster Martin Armstrong (ArmstrongEconomics) joins Natural Resource Stocks to break down capital flows, the EU’s structural flaws, banking risk, and why his war and euro models are flashing a panic cycle next year. We dig into sanctions blowback, BRICS, gold as geopolitical insurance, and his provocative peace-and-industry proposal around rare earths.

Guest: Martin Armstrong — Founder of Armstrong Economics; creator of the Socrates computer model; veteran adviser to sovereigns and institutions on capital flows.
Key Topics:
• AI froth vs. “flight-to-safety” bid into the Dow during geopolitical risk.
• Why the EU’s failure to consolidate debt dooms its bond market plumbing.
• How member-level debt holdings create contagion across EU banks.
• Germany’s energy shock, EV mandates, and shrinking industrial base.
• Migration shocks + recession = rising civil unrest.
• Gold moves on geopolitics more than CPI; central bank buying logic.
• Sanctions, SWIFT removal, and why that catalyzed BRICS realignment.
• 2026 “panic” risk in war and the euro.
• A rare-earths JV peace gambit: US capital + Russian know-how.

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