Revenue during the quarter grew 11.11 percent to $1,271.80 million from $1,144.60 million in the previous year period. Total expenses were 90.97 percent of quarterly revenues, down from 91.76 percent for the same period last year. This has led to an improvement of 80 basis points in operating margin to 9.03 percent.

Operating income for the quarter was $114.90 million, compared with $94.30 million in the previous year period.

However, the adjusted operating income for the quarter stood at $131.60 million compared to $140 million in the prior year period.

"Orbital ATK's 2016 was characterized by solid operational performance, excellent new orders, and strong earnings and cash flow," said David W. Thompson, Orbital ATK's president and chief executive officer. "We exceeded our initial profit margin expectations, free cash flow targets and new business booking goals for the year. In addition, we continued to implement a disciplined cash deployment strategy that included a mix of share repurchases, dividend payments and investments in long-term growth initiatives that will benefit the company in the years ahead."

For financial year 2017, Orbital ATK, Inc. forecasts revenue to be in the range of $4,550 million to $4,625 million. It forecasts operating income to grow in the range of 11.50 percent to 12 percent. It expects diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $5.80 to $6.20 for the same period.