Gulfstream revenues jump 8.4%; deliveries rise
The company manufactures parts of G280 jet in Israel which has been affected due to the ongoing tensions in the Middle East.
General Dynamics, manufacturer of Gulfstream jets, announced financial results for first quarter of 2026 wherein it reported a 8.4% year-over-year increase in aerospace revenues to $3.3bn.
“Aerospace did very well in the quarter. It had revenue of $3.3bn,” said Danny Deep, CEO of Gulfstream in earnings call. “Revenue was $253m more than last year’s first quarter, an 8.4% increase. To give you a little perspective here, the increase was driven by two more aircraft deliveries and higher services revenue at both Gulfstream and Jet Aviation.”
The company delivered 38 jets during the first quarter, of which 31 were large-cabin and seven were mid-cabin segment. Gulfstream manufactures G800, G700, G600, G500 and G400 in the large-cabin segment and G300 and G280 in the mid-cabin segment.
“The 38 deliveries in the quarter are exactly as planned,” said Deep.
The operating earnings of $493m were higher by $61m, driven in part by the increased revenue, but primarily by a 70bps improvement in operating margin.
“The operating margin of 10.5% was also better than our forecast, with notable strength in Aerospace, which came in at 15.0%,” said Robert Stallard of Vertical Research Partners.
General Dynamics has posted lower deliveries in the past due to supply chain woes. “In Aerospace, while Gulfstream only shipped two more bizjets YoY, a good operating performance drove the improvement in the margin in this division with no notable supply chain issues,” said Stallard.
“I think we still see some areas in the supply chain where we need to get the cadence up. And those problems tend to be where we have complex components or complex systems where there are just single sources of supply. But broadly speaking, we are seeing improvements,” added Deep on the supply chain in the earnings call.
The company’s book-to-bill ratio clocked in at 1.2x of the revenue at $3.8bn in absolute terms – an improvement of $1.5 from same period last year.
Commenting on the remainder of the year, Deep said they expect “mix movement in the second and third quarter, but certainly as planned, and then you’ll see a really strong fourth quarter.”
He added that from the delivery standpoint, the second quarter second quarter will be very similar to first quarter and then the third and fourth will be our highest which is in line with the company’s plan.
“So, I think all of those things give us some optimism about where we are in Aerospace in terms of margins and to use your word, it’s certainly durable,” he added.
The company manufactures parts of G280 jet in Israel which has been affected due to the ongoing tensions in the Middle East.
“All of the airplanes that we delivered in Q1, we had received a fair bit ago, and we completed them over the quarter and delivered. So – which weren’t impacted this quarter,” Deep said.
“I think we could see a small impact the longer this goes on. They’re still producing those airplanes ready for us to complete. But we could see some minor impact. And as you know, that’s on the G280.”
