
Northrop Grumman [NOC] on Wednesday reported strong first quarter earnings driven by an accounting change that led to a handsome tax benefit while sales were level with a year ago.Net income jumped 15 percent to $556 million, $3.03 earnings per share (EPS), from $484 million ($2.41 EPS) a year ago, cruising above consensus estimates by 40 cents per share. The company adopted an accounting standard update related to share-based compensation expense that added $80 million (44 cents EPS) to the…