It's never good for a company to upset its biggest customer, much less one that accounts for more than 80% of its revenue. But it appears that's exactly what Lockheed Martin has done with the U.S. government, with one Air Force major general calling the relationship "the worst I've ever seen."
Clearly, this is not good news for Lockheed and the largest defense contract ever, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. But what does this mean for investors? Probably not a whole lot, at least right now. It's in both parties' interest to move as quickly as possible on this delayed project.
Still, investors should watch for any further deterioration of the relationship, especially as the Pentagon and Lockheed brace for sequestration that could go into effect in January. Check out the following video for more on Lockheed and the defense industry as a whole.
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