
Northrop Grumman [NOC] on Wednesday reported a strong second quarter on higher earnings and sales and strong order flow also drove a substantial increase in the company’s backlog. Net income increased 9 percent to $861 million, $5.06 earnings per share (EPS), from $789 million ($4.50 EPS) a year ago, beating consensus estimates by 38 cents per share. Sales increased 19 percent to $8.5 billion from $7.1 billion. The primary driver behind the higher sales was the contribution from the former…