Defense contractors typically fight tooth-and-nail for every potential contract, knowing that large, needle-moving program wins are hard to come by. That’s why Northrop Grumman‘s (NYSE: NOC) decisions in recent months to back out of bidding for multiple awards that it was once considered among the favorites to win raised a lot of eyebrows in the industry. The company’s reasoning for the moves should give investors throughout the industry pause.
A Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit bomber in flight. Image source: Northrop Grumman.