Analysts were expecting Orbital Sciences Corp. (ORB) [Chart - News - Analysis] to report earnings of $0.10 for last quarter, but ORB beat expectations with actual earnings of $0.16---6 cents above the consensus estimate. ORB also issued earnings guidance for next quarter that is in line with current analyst expectations.

If you compare last quarter's earnings to the $0.22 the company made per share during the same quarter a year ago, you can see that ORB’s earnings are down this year.

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Also, if you compare ORB's 16.00% projected earnings-per-share (EPS) growth rate for the next five years with the projected EPS growth rate of 10.58% for the Aerospace/Defense Products & Services industry as a whole during that same time frame, you can see that analysts expect ORB to outperform the industry in the future---which is a good sign for the stock.

Drilling down a little deeper into the Aerospace/Defense Products & Services industry, you can see how analysts believe ORB will stack up against some of the other stocks in the industry, like Rockwell Collins Inc. (COL) [Chart - News - Analysis] and EMBRAER - Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica S.A. (ERJ) [Chart - News - Analysis], in the future. Analysts believe COL's earnings are going to grow at a rate of 16.80% while ERJ's earnings are going to grow at a rate of 2.00%.

Earnings season can be a volatile time in the stock market. Check out these videos and articles to be better prepared to take advantage of the large price moves that tend to accompany earnings announcements.

- Earnings Season is Here - Find Out How to Trade It

- Using Options to Trade Earnings

- Understanding Stock Analyst Research and Recommendations

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Orbital would manufacture, integrate and test a new LEO space science satellite and provide the spacecraft bus and conduct mission operations for the Goddard Space Flight Center's Gravity and Extreme Magnetism or GEMS mission. The GEMS contract was awarded to Orbital under the space agency's Small Explorer series of cost efficient and highly productive space science satellites, the company noted.

Orbital is currently developing the NuSTAR spacecraft scheduled for launch in 2011, while the GEMS mission is currently scheduled for launch by 2015.

GEMS satellite, based on Orbital's LEOStar-2 TM spacecraft bus design, will be the first observatory to systematically measure X-ray polarization that encodes information about the structure of cosmic sources and could explain certain fundamental questions about the universe.

ORB is currently trading at $14.15, up $0.05 or 0.35%, on the NYSE.

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