
Buoyed by a pension tailwind and strong operating profits in its Ingalls Shipbuilding and Technical Solutions segments, Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII] on Thursday posted solid earnings and sales in its second quarter.Net income rose 11 percent to $147 million, $3.21 earnings per share (EPS), from $133 million ($2.80 EPS) a year ago. Excluding the benefits from pension income, per share results were $2.51, 16 cents below consensus forecasts.Sales in the quarter were $1.9 billion, up 9 percent from $1.7 billion…