Why Is General Motors Partnering With Lockheed Martin on Defense?

General Motors Company GM has partnered with defense contractor Lockheed Martin to expand U.S. defense manufacturing capabilities, with the collaboration facilitated by the U.S. Department of Defense. The companies aim to increase production capacity for munitions and other defense products by improving production readiness, strengthening supply chains and leveraging advanced manufacturing and design technologies.The partnership, currently governed by a memorandum of understanding, is in its early stages, with future contract opportunities yet to be defined. It will focus on high-rate manufacturing to increase the speed, scale and resilience of the U.S. defense industrial base.Lockheed Martin plans to invest $9 billion through 2030 to modernize 20 facilities and strengthen its supply network. Separately, GM is investing $9 billion in capital expenditures and $7 billion in research and development across its business this year, though it has not disclosed investment plans for GM Defense.Reestablished in 2017, GM Defense serves customers including the U.S. Army, the Secret Service and NASA, building on GM's history of manufacturing military vehicles during World War II. Per Bruce Brown, vice president of strategy at GM Defense, the collaboration combines the manufacturing expertise of both companies to strengthen the nation's defense industrial base.The announcement comes as the Trump administration encourages greater domestic manufacturing and has held discussions with major automakers about supporting U.S. defense production.GM’s Zacks Rank & Key PicksGeneral Motors currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).Some better-ranked stocks in the auto space are Geely Automobile Holdings Limited GELHY, Garrett Motion Inc. GTX and Douglas Dynamics, Inc. PLOW, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GELHY’s 2026 sales and earnings implies year-over-year growth of 77.1% and 40.3%, respectively. The EPS estimate for 2026 and has improved 18 cents and 7 cents, respectively, over the past 30 days.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GTX’s 2026 sales and earnings implies year-over-year growth of 5.6% and 20.4%, respectively. The EPS estimate for 2026 has improved 14 cents over the past 60 days, while the EPS estimate for 2027 has improved 6 cents over the past 30 days.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PLOW’s 2026 sales and earnings implies year-over-year growth of 16.7% and 31.4%, respectively. The EPS estimate for 2026 and 2027 has improved 39 cents and 29 cents, respectively, over the past 60 days.Radical New Technology Could Hand Investors Huge GainsQuantum Computing is the next technological revolution, and it could be even more advanced than AI.While some believed the technology was years away, it is already present and moving fast. Large hyperscalers, such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Oracle, and even Meta and Tesla, are scrambling to integrate quantum computing into their infrastructure.Senior Stock Strategist Kevin Cook reveals 7 carefully selected stocks poised to dominate the quantum computing landscape in his report, Beyond AI: The Quantum Leap in Computing Power.Kevin was among the early experts who recognized NVIDIA's enormous potential back in 2016. Now, he has keyed in on what could be "the next big thing" in quantum computing supremacy. Today, you have a rare chance to position your portfolio at the forefront of this opportunity.See Top Quantum Stocks Now >>This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks