On Wednesday, military shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls released its earnings results for fiscal Q4 and full-year 2012.

Q4 revenues of $1.82 billion beat consensus analyst estimates by 7%. Q4 earnings of $0.98 per share exceeded expectations by about 9%. Full-year revenues came to $6.71 billion, and earnings to $2.91 per diluted share, resulting in a trailing P/E ratio of 16.2 on the stock.

In terms of growth, Huntington increased its full-year revenues by 2% in comparison to fiscal 2011. Earnings compared favorably to 2011. Total operating income for the year came to $358 million, versus $100 million earned in 2011.

The need to make cash contributions to fund its pension fund pinched cash flow at Huntington last year, with cash from operations falling 37% to $332 million. Capital spending further ate into this haul, with the result that free cash flow for the year came to just $170 million, or only 51% of last year's cash profits. Regardless, when compared with net income reported under GAAP ($146 million), Huntington's free cash flow still exceeded the GAAP number.

Huntington shares gained 3.6% in the wake of Wednesday's news, closing at $47.12.