Lutnick Says ‘Monstrous Discussion’ In Washington On Potential US Stake In Lockheed Martin, Other Defense Firms

In an interview with CNBC, Lutnick called Lockheed Martin an arm of the U.S. government and said the defense department is looking into the economics of acquiring an equity stake.

After taking an equity stake in Intel (INTC), Trump administration officials and military leaders are reportedly weighing whether the U.S. should acquire stakes in major defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin (LMT).

“There’s a monstrous discussion about defense,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutick told CNBC in an interview on Tuesday. Earlier this year in July, the government also took a 15% stake in rare-earth producer MP Materials (MP). MP Material’s stock has more othan doubled since.

Lockheed, which makes most of its revenue from federal contracts, is “basically an arm of the U.S. government,” Lunick said, adding that the Secretary of Defense and Deputy Secretary of Defense are looking into its economics. “These guys are on it and they’re thinking about it.”

Lockheed’s stock edged 0.4% higher in pre-market trade, with retail sentiment on Stocktwits trending in the ‘bearish’ territory over the past day. The defense giant’s shares are down 7.8% this year and have fallen nearly 20% over the past 12 months. “There’s a lot of talking that needs to be had about how we finance our munitions acquisitions,” Lutnick said.

While Lockheed was the only company that Lutnick highlighted, other top defense contractors with government ties include RTX (RTX), Northrop Grumman (NOC), General Dynamics (GD), and Boeing (BA). The government has been leveraging Boeing planes in its trade deals with other countries under President Trump’s second term in office. 

Lutnick also backed the President’s push to have Lisa Cook removed from her post on the Federal Reserve's board. “You don’t deserve to be there if you’ve committed mortgage fraud,” he said.

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