RTX stock climbed 6.0% in pre-open trading after the aerospace and defense company posted an unmistakable second-quarter outperformance. The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.89 versus analyst expectations of $1.66, and generated $24.7 billion in revenue compared with the consensus forecast of $22.88 billion. Both metrics exceeded Street estimates by a notable margin.
Management further boosted full-year 2026 targets, raising adjusted sales guidance to a range of $95 billion to $96 billion from the prior $92.5 billion to $93.5 billion outlook. Adjusted EPS guidance was also lifted, to $7.10 to $7.25 from a previous range of $6.70 to $6.90, and sits above the Street consensus of $6.92.
Underpinning the upbeat results is a substantially enlarged order backlog. The company reported total backlog of $289 billion, up 22% year over year. That backlog breaks down to $170 billion in commercial aerospace orders and $119 billion in defense contracts, a composition the company says implies multi-year revenue visibility.
The Pratt & Whitney unit provided additional momentum. The segment's GTF engine order backlog has topped 8,000 engines after receiving more than 800 new orders and commitments in 2026 alone. Those 2026 orders include commitments from carriers such as British Airways, AirAsia, and Finnair, many of which were announced at the Farnborough International Airshow the day before the earnings release.
The stock's pre-market strength came even as the broader market traded softer. The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq were all modestly in the red, indicating that the rally was driven primarily by company-specific fundamentals rather than by favorable macro market moves.
RTX's favorable report comes in the context of solid quarterly deliveries from peers, with competitors Northrop Grumman and AAR having reported strong Q2 results earlier. Those peer results add corroborative evidence of healthy demand in aerospace and defense leading into RTX's announcement.
Combined, the magnitude of the earnings beat, the sizable upward revision to full-year guidance, and the elevated backlog created a potent pre-market catalyst. The stock advanced toward $206.47 in early trading, bringing it within striking distance of its 52-week high of $214.50, even as the rest of the market showed weakness.
Clear summary
RTX jumped in pre-market trading after beating Q2 expectations on both EPS and revenue, raising 2026 sales and EPS guidance, and reporting a record $289 billion backlog split between commercial aerospace and defense. Pratt & Whitney's GTF backlog topped 8,000 engines following new 2026 orders from several airlines.