On January 12, 2026, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth toured Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth F-35 Lightning II facility as part of the Pentagon’s Arsenal of Freedom industry tour. He addressed more than 600 of the plant’s 19,000 employees on the assembly line, praising their role in meeting President Trump’s call for enhanced deterrence. Jim Taiclet, Lockheed Martin’s chairman, president and CEO, noted that the workforce delivered a record 191 F-35 jets in 2025, underscoring the company’s commitment to building advanced platforms faster and more efficiently.

The F-35 program now includes over 1,290 aircraft operational across 50 bases in 11 countries and surpassed 1 million flight hours last year. Annual production rates are running at roughly five times the pace of any other allied fighter in current manufacture. More than 1,900 U.S. suppliers contribute to the F-35 supply chain, with over half classified as small businesses. In addition, Lockheed Martin has put its Acquisition Transformation Strategy into action through a new framework agreement with the U.S. Department of War to accelerate delivery of PAC-3® Missile Segment Enhancement interceptors.

On January 12, Jefferies maintained its Hold rating on Lockheed Martin and raised its 12-month price target from 500 to 540, reflecting cautious optimism about near-term upside. In the latest quarter, ORG Partners LLC trimmed its stake by 61.7%, reducing its holding to 573 shares valued at approximately 286,000. Meanwhile, Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position by 285.7% to 54 shares (27,000 value), and Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. established a new stake worth about 28,000, signaling differentiated sentiment among institutional investors.