Northrop Grumman
Q1 2023 Earnings Call
Apr 27, 2023, 9:00 a.m. ET
Contents:
- Prepared Remarks
- Questions and Answers
- Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Operator
Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Northrop Grumman's first quarter conference call. Today's call is being recorded. My name is Lisa, and I will be your operator today. [Operator instructions] I would now like to turn the call over to your host, Mr.
Todd Ernst, vice president, investor relations. Mr. Ernst, please proceed.
Todd Ernst -- Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasurer
Thanks, Lisa. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Northrop Grumman's first quarter 2023 conference call. We'll refer to a PowerPoint presentation that is posted on our IR web page this morning. Before we start, matters discussed on today's call, including guidance and outlooks for 2023 and beyond, reflect the company's judgment based on information available at the time of this call.
They constitute forward-looking statements pursuant to safe harbor provisions of federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including those noted in today's press release and our SEC filings. These risks and uncertainties may cause actual company results to differ materially. Today's call will include non-GAAP financial measures that are reconciled to our GAAP results in our earnings release.
On the call today are Kathy Warden, our chair, CEO and president; and Dave Keffer, our CFO. At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Kathy. Kathy?
Kathy Warden -- Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Todd. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Northrop Grumman is off to a solid start to the year. Our team is driving industry-leading growth by executing our strategy, meeting the growing global demand from our customers and performing on our programs.
As a result, we increased sales by 6% and delivered strong earnings per share in the quarter. Additionally, we're delivering on our capital deployment strategy, which prioritizes investing in our business and returning cash to shareholders. In the first quarter, we continued thoughtful investments in the capability and capacity needed to support our customers' operational initiatives, and we initiated a $500 million accelerated share repurchase plan, returning a total of nearly $1 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Based on first quarter results and our continued expectations for growth and strong operational performance, we're reaffirming our 2023 segment guidance.