
Northrop Grumman [NOC] on Thursday reported double-digit increases in earnings and sales, ending a solid year for the company on a strong note.The company also said that it ended 2016 with $45.3 billion in total backlog, a 26 percent hike above the $35.9 billion at the end of 2015, which was the last time the company reported backlog figures.For the time being Northrop Grumman is only reporting backlog at the end of each year to help protect the classified nature…