Historically, tumultuous times offer some of the best opportunities to buy stocks, and the market's recent mess surely qualifies. And though defense conglomerate Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has already snapped back from recessionary lows, many investors expect even better times ahead.

In our Motley Fool CAPS community, about 94% of the 1,600 investors rating the company are bullish, so there's no shortage of reasons why Lockheed Martin will thrive, three of which I've highlighted below.

But here at The Motley Fool, we're all for looking at both the good and the bad sides of an investment. Once you're done with this article, you can read the case against the stock, weigh in with your own comments below or rate Lockheed Martin yourself in CAPS.

1. Lucrative contracts
Many of Lockheed's contracts involve big money, translating into significant revenue that sometimes runs for decades. The company recently picked up a reinstated $5 billion contract that it had lost to L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL) last June, and Lockheed plans to bid against a Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) and Boeing (NYSE: BA) team for a Joint Air-to-Ground Missile program worth several billion dollars. With its F-35 Lightning II program potentially generating $1 trillion in sales over its life, investors expect the cash to keep flowing for many years.

2. Strong military spending
Although a tighter military budget has spooked some defense sector investors, some still expect U.S. military spending to grow. Some evidence supports this thinking -- soaring sales in Oshkosh's (NYSE: OSK) defense segment helped it turn a fiscal second-quarter profit, and a recent study by Swedish firm Sipri suggests that the U.S. will continue to be a driver of global military spending even as it scales back in the Middle East.

3. International sales
Lockheed expects to expand its international sales this year, with significant potential in the Middle East and Asia. Some other defense companies hold a similar objective:  UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) maker Textron (NYSE: TXT) recently experienced an increase in international orders, and General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) expects its combat systems segment's international business to continue to grow as well.

To see details of what CAPS members are saying now about Lockheed Martin, just click on over to Motley Fool CAPS and have a look -- or add your own thoughts directly to this story in the comments box below.