Lockheed Martin (LMT) shares soared 3.6% in the last trading session to close at $605.86. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 2.9% gain over the past four weeks.

Stocks of major defense contractors, which provide their defense products as a part of America’s military aid to Israel, surged following Iran’s latest missile attack on Israel. Lockheed being the largest defense contractor in the United States, thus witnessed a solid boost in its share price, in the last trading session.

This aerospace and defense company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $6.40 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -5.5%. Revenues are expected to be $17.45 billion, up 3.4% from the year-ago quarter.

While earnings and revenue growth expectations are important in evaluating the potential strength in a stock, empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

For Lockheed, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. And a stock's price usually doesn't keep moving higher in the absence of any trend in earnings estimate revisions. So, make sure to keep an eye on LMT going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

Lockheed belongs to the Zacks Aerospace - Defense industry. Another stock from the same industry, Virgin Galactic (SPCE), closed the last trading session 4.3% lower at $5.84. Over the past month, SPCE has returned -8.8%.

For Virgin Galactic , the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed +11.2% over the past month to -$4.10. This represents a change of +26.8% from what the company reported a year ago. Virgin Galactic currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

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