By Dieter Holger

General Dynamics Corp. sales in the latest quarter fell below Wall Street's expectations, though the defense contractor's backlog remained up from a year ago and it beat profit forecasts.

The Reston, Va.-based company said Wednesday that net profit was $834 million, or $2.90 a share, in the third quarter. A year ago, profit was $913 billion, or $3.14 a share.

Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of $2.88 a share.

Sales fell to $9.4 billion in the quarter from $9.8 billion a year earlier. Analysts had expected $9.6 billion.

General Dynamics said its backlog was $81.5 billion at the end of the quarter, up 21% from the previous year, buoyed by recent contracts for combat vehicles for Spain and software for the U.S.

Write to Dieter Holger at dieter.holger@wsj.com; @dieterholger

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-28-20 0731ET