April 18 Reuters U.S. weapons maker Lockheed Martin Corp39;s firstquarter results surpassed Wall Street targets on Tuesday despite parts and labor shortages, as simmering geopolitical tensions fueled demand from both U.S. and international customers.

Shares of the company rose as much as 3.8 to hit a record high of 508.1 in early trading.

Rising tensions in Europe, the South China Sea and the IndoPacific region have translated to more orders for Lockheed39;s F35 fighter aircraft, missiles and other defense equipments, driving quarterly net sales of 15.13 billion above estimates of 15.03 billion.

The Pentagon39;s 858 billion defense budget for 2023 has also resulted in multiple contract wins for U.S. defense firms such as Lockheed, Raytheon Technologies and Northrop Grumman Corp, which count the U.S. Department of Defense as their biggest customer.

Bethesda, Marylandbased Lockheed reported GAAP earnings per share of 6.61, which included nonoperational gains of 0.18 per share, and adjusted earnings of 6.43 per share for the first quarter ended March 26. Analysts were expecting profits of 6.06 per share.

During the quarter, Australia said it would buy 40 Black Hawk military helicopters made by Lockheed from the U.S. for about 1.96 billion as it boosts defense spending over issues with China39;s presence in the IndoPacific region.

Lockheed had also finalized a deal to sell 88 F35 jets to Canada in a 14.2 billion project to replace the country39;s aging fleet of fighter…