Posts related to ‘Defense’

Cramer’s 2010 Counterterrorism Stock Picks (ASEI, OSIS, FLIR, COGT, NICE)

It seems every market pundit has their outlook picks for 2010, and Jim Cramer is no different.  Last night was Cramer’s “Energy Shortage Stock Picks for 2010″ and on CNBC’s MAD MONEY tonight Cramer gave his featured stock picks in the Homeland Security and anti-terrorism sector.  Considering the recent failed plane bombing attempt on Christmas Day, this sector enjoyed much interest last week.  Cramer believes the real counter-terrorism stocks that are not the garbage speculative names are American Science & Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ: ASEI), OSI Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSIS), FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR), and Cogent, Inc. (NASDAQ: COGT).  His big feature and review stock for charts and fundamentals was in Nice Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: NICE).  Cramer did note that some of these are still up very big from lows and might need to be bought on pullbacks.
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Posted on: January 5, 2010 – 6:45 pm in Analyst Calls, Cramer, Cult Stock, Defense, Transports, , , , ,

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations (ATK, CA, KR, LLL, LMT, RTN, SQNM, S, MMM, VNDA)

These are this Wednesday’s top ten analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from today’s Wall Street research notes:

Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) Raised to Outperform at Macquarie.
CA Inc. (NYSE: CA) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL) Cut to Underperform at Macquarie.
Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) Cut to Underperform at Macquarie.
Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN) Cut to Neutral at Macquarie.
Sequenom Inc. (NASDAQ: SQNM) Raised to Hold at Auriga.
Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Vanda Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VNDA) Started as Buy at Jefferies.

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JON C. OGG

Posted on: December 9, 2009 – 7:43 am in Analyst Calls, Defense, , , , , , , , , ,

52-Week High Club

Jabil Circuit (NYSE: JBL) hit a yearly high of $13.47 after beating both guidance and analyst estimates for its quarterly earnings.

Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE: KSS) hit a yearly high of $57.19 after the company announced the opening of 37 new stores.

Och-Ziff Capital Management (NYSE: OZM) hit a yearly high of $12.24 as the company continues to recover from a significant decline in assest under management.

Petrobras Energia Participaciones SA (NYSE: PZE) rallied over 180% to a yearly high of $17.97 after it announced that the company was completing reorganization moves.

TransDigm Group Incorporated (NYSE: TDG) hit a yearly high of $49.94 after announcing that it would offer $425 million of senior subordinated notes in order to fund a special dividend.

Virgin Media Inc. (NASDAQ: VMED) hit a yearly high of 13.97, capping off a monthly gain of 17%.

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) hit a yearly  high of $17.80, capping off a monthly gain of nearly 20%.

Garrett W. McIntyre

Posted on: September 30, 2009 – 4:26 pm in Aerospace, Cable Companies, Defense, Dividend, Internet, Media, Oil & Gas, Technology Companies, Telecom, , , , , , ,

Uncle Sam’s Boost for Solar (ASTI, FSLR, ENER)

solar-panel-picAscent Solar Technologies (NASDAQ: ASTI) may have a significant win under its belt in the new Army solar pact.  The maker of thin-film solar modules has a new contract from the government that could beget more contracts from the government. We have been hearing more of pacts being struck with the armed forces and other critical government infrastructure facilities for localized on-site and mobile alternative energy now that there is so much concern about the safety of infrastructure after cyberwarfare attacks and the threat of such attacks.   Ascent announced on Friday that it is partnering up with Energy Technologies to create PV-based products for the military.
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Posted on: September 27, 2009 – 10:39 am in Alternative Energy, Defense, Green Biz, , ,

Media Digest 6/16/2009

newspaperReuters:   CIT (CIT) may be close to bankruptcy.

Reuters:   China GDP rose 7.9%.

Reuters:   Foreclosures hit a record in the first half of 2009.

Reuters:   Obama pressed Congress on a healthcare bill.

Reuters:   Talks have not broken California’s budget impasse.

Reuters:   Secret laws in China are hurting Rio Tinto (RTP) staff. Read More »

Posted on: July 16, 2009 – 2:54 am in Brokerage Firms, China, Commodities, Compensation, Defense, Green Biz, Mergers and Buy Outs, Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cybersecurity: Obama’s Next Big-Ticket Agenda Item

uncle sam

It’s taken a back seat to health care, but one of the next big agenda items for President Obama’s administration is cybersecurity, a priority that is becoming all the more clear following July 4 hacker attacks on the White House, the Pentagon and the New York Stock Exchange.

The Associated Press reports that the attack on U.S. and South Korean government agencies last week was even broader than first realized. Other agencies targeted by the malicious code included the National Security Agency, Homeland Security Department, State Department, the Federal Trader Commission, the Treasury, the Nasdaq stock market (Nasdaq:NDAQ) and The Washington Post (NYSE:WPO). Read More »

Posted on: July 8, 2009 – 12:33 pm in Defense, Editor's Picks, Software, , , , , , , , , ,

4th of July Gift: Oshkosh Wins At Expense of Others (OSK, NAV, FRPT, GD)

Uncle Sam PicOshkosh Corp. (NYSE: OSK) shares are rising strongly today while most of its peers are falling, after the company won a massive government contract that market participants are seeing as the sole prize in a billion-dollar sweepstakes.  The ATV vehicle win came at the expense of Navistar International Corp. (NYSE: NAV), which has a joint venture between small-cap Force Protection Inc. (Nasdaq: FRPT) and General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD).  Despite the major share price erosion seen today in the losers, there might still be an outside chance that Oshkosh is not the sole winner.
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Posted on: July 1, 2009 – 11:23 am in Defense, , , ,

Smith & Wesson Diversifying In New Buyout (SWHC)

Gun ImageSmith & Wesson Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: SWHC) is growing.  The gunsmith has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Universal Safety Response Inc., a privately held full-service security systems solutions provider, founded in 1994.  The  terms of the deal are for up to 9.7 million shares of common stock and  $26.2 million in cash.
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Posted on: June 18, 2009 – 4:02 pm in Cult Stock, Defense, Mergers and Buy Outs,

Media Digest 6/12/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:  Baclays (BCS) sold BCI to Blackrock (BLK) for $13.3 billion

Reuters:   WHO declared a flu epidemic

Reuters:   Congress bash Fed, Treasury, and B of A (BAC) on Merrill

Reuters:   US is near tighter control of tobacco by FDA.

Reuters:   New research shows mortgage delinquencies have bottomed

Reuters:   World Bank sees a steeper global economy contraction. Read More »

Posted on: June 12, 2009 – 2:53 am in Airlines, Autos, Banking, China, Consumer Electronics, Defense, Drug companies, Economy, Financial Stocks, Housing, Internet, Management Change, Media, Mergers and Buy Outs, Oil & Gas, PC Companies, Pharmaceuticals, Press Digest, Technology, Wireless, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Axsys Buyout Looks On The Cheap (AXYS, GD)

Money Stack ImageBurning Money PicGeneral Dynamics (NYSE: GD) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Axsys Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AXYS) in a deal that is at a high premium if you consider the recent rally.  But this merger price is a rather low premium to recent trading, and it is a very unexciting premium if you compare the price to yesterday’s $50.00 close.  The $54.00 per share offer comes to roughly $643 million for a ‘whopping’ 8% premium, and the transaction has  been approved by the boards of directors of both companies.  We have several reasons to believe that this merger may need to command a higher price premium despite what the companies have agreed to.
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Posted on: June 4, 2009 – 11:00 am in Defense, Mergers and Buy Outs, Rumors, Trading Alert, ,

Boeing Layoffs Reach 10,000 As Losses Mount (BA)

Burning_money_pic_3Losing money and announcing layoffs is becoming more and more routine.  That holds true even for DJIA components. The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) posted a $56 million loss for its Q4 period along with a 27% revenue drop.  And of course, the pink slips are being passed out left and right. 

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Posted on: January 28, 2009 – 11:33 am in Aerospace, Airlines, Defense, Earnings, Labor & Unions,

Raytheon Files To Raise Up To $3 Billion (RTN)

Raytheon_logoRaytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has just filed an open shelf registration statement with the SEC to sell up to $3 billion in any combination of securities in the form of debt securities, common stock, preferred stock, and warrants.

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Posted on: October 23, 2008 – 10:36 am in Defense, Secondary Offering,

AmTech’s Favorite Defense & Infrastructure Fundamental Picks (FLR, LMT)

Amtech_logo_3There is an interesting report from research team over at American Technology Research called "Our Best Dozen Fundamental Picks" as earnings season is upon us.   The research firm noted that investors already expect a disaster in the earnings reports and the current business climate isn’t as bad as what investors are expecting.  While the firm believes that many companies will guide expectations lower or will be very cautious, this is their list of companies it expects to outperform peers.  We have included some very brief commentary from AmTech in its calls, and the two of their picks from large cap traditional companies are Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) and Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT).

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Posted on: October 13, 2008 – 9:52 am in Analyst Calls, Defense, Infrastructure, ,

Smith & Wesson Gunning To Raise Cash (SWHC)

Gun_imageSmith & Wesson Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SWHC) has just filed with the SEC to raise up to $250 million in a mixed securities shelf registration.  The company will be able to sell common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants, depositary shares, purchase contracts and units in any combination thereof. 

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Posted on: September 23, 2008 – 4:34 pm in Defense, Secondary Offering,

Harris Value Trumps Merger (HRS)

Harris Corp. (NYSE: HRS) is seeing shares down 15% at $55.66 on almost 4-times average trading volume today.  This is after the company said it wasn’t for sale after it was believed that offers were going to be made to the company.  The truth is that offers may have been made or they might have been hinted at, but that doesn’t mean they would have been attractive offers.

Last week, we went cautious on a high volume alert at VOLUME SPIKE (Vsinvestor.com).  While "reviewing offers" sounds good to most, we dug into this one and weren’t too excited over the high valuations and the size that the deal would have to see.

"Unfortunately for it, the bids are not said to be very high for the communications and IT company for government and commercial markets…..With a $8.8 Billion market cap, it doesn’t exactly fit the mold of “an easy deal” during the credit crunch and more selective private equity buyers."

Any rumors you see in companies with market caps this high and with valuations that high have to be taken with at least some skepticism for now.  Even in our SPECIAL SITUATIONS letter we have had to revise almost every criteria for companies which may ultimately become acquisition targets.

Jon C. Ogg
June 2, 2008

Posted on: June 2, 2008 – 10:39 am in Defense, Mergers and Buy Outs,

War & Defense Earnings Galore (LMT, BA, GD, LLL, RTN, COL, CRDN)

This week is going to be the key earnings reporting week for companies tied to aerospace and defense sector stocks.  If there is one area that everyone is expecting to hold up, it is this one.  The recessionary climate has only just started and this one is supposed to be immune in the current environment.  Keep in mind that some of these companies have diversified away from being a pure war and defense sector, but these are still defense companies. 

On Tuesday we’ll get to see earnings out of Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT), and on Wednesday we’ll see results from Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD). Then on Thursday, we’ll see results from L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LLL), Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN), and also from Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE: COL).  Ceradyne Inc. (NASDAQ: CRDN) is on the docket for Friday. 

The full previews can be seen as follows:

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Posted on: April 21, 2008 – 12:56 pm in Defense, Earnings, , , , , , ,

Goldman Sachs Dumps GE for Lockheed (LMT, GE)

This morning, Goldman Sachs has made a key call to its industrials sector.  It is adding Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) to its Industrials Favorite Value List.  Goldman Sachs notes the nature of defense stocks versus industrials in a recession, expectations for a solid earnings report next week, current prices representing a solid entry point.  The firm also believes that Lockheed martin is the cheapest of the large cap defense stocks, and its $122 target implies a 20% upside in the stock at current levels.

While removing General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) from this list is post-event, it’s really hard to argue with the level of disappointment and game-changer that its earnings miss and earnings warning posed on Friday.  GE is noted as pointing to soft healthcare equipment spending as well.

We noted this on our "Top 10 Pre-Market Calls" as well, but General Electric was downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer it was also downgraded to Peer Perform from outperform at Bear Stearns.

Jon C. Ogg
April 14, 2008

Posted on: April 14, 2008 – 6:25 am in Analyst Calls, Conglomerates, Defense, ,

Alliant Techsystems Scores Another Huge Ammo Order (ATK)

Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) is indicated higher this morning after it has received an additional $415.6 million in small-caliber ammunition orders and modernization funding.  The contracts were awarded by the U.S. Army Sustainment Command in Rock Island, Illinois.

Interestingly enough, ATK said it delivered 1.4 billion rounds of military small caliber ammunition in fiscal 2008 and expects roughly the same in 2009.  This plant order (Lake City) has been expanded to have the capacity for 1.6 Billion rounds per year.

The size of this contract compares to about $4.1 Billion in annual revenues.

Jon C. Ogg
April 7, 2008

Posted on: April 7, 2008 – 7:25 am in Defense,

SPAC IPO FILING: National Security Solutions Inc. (NSX, GE)

Another blank check company has joined the list of pending IPO’s.  National Security Solutions Inc. is the next SPAC or special purpose acquisition company to submit an IPO filing. The offering is targeting $200 million and each $10 unit will include one share of common stock and one warrant with a strike price of $7.50. The company intends to list on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol “NSX.U.” The book running manager for the offering is listed as Banc of America Securities.

As one would assume from its name, National Securities Solutions intends to target “businesses that develop, manufacture, market, distribute, provide or deliver products, services or software pertaining to the security and homeland defense industries.” The management believes that the homeland security industry is increasingly important and relevant today and that their management team has the expertise to identify a successful business combination that has strong growth potential but may be lacking the capital, scale, and management to succeed. According to a study by Homeland Security Research Corp., the national security industry will grow into a $170 billion industry by 2015 from $55 billion in 2006.

CEO and President, Kenneth Boyda, served as CEO and President of GE subsidiary, GE Securities and its predecessors, during which he negotiated contracts in over 40 countries and was involved in transactions in the industry totaling $4 billion. Chairman of the Board, Howard Safir, is the only person in NYC to serve as both police and fire commissioner and was also named as one of the “25 Most Influential Security Executives” by Security Magazine.

Rachel Lopez
March 17, 2008

Posted on: March 17, 2008 – 10:02 am in Defense, IPOs, ,

As Boeing (BA) Pushes Congress, It Risks Business In Europe

The management of EADS sits in Europe watching pork-eating members of Congress talk about the hearings they will hold in an attempt to change the Air Force’s decision to buy $35 billion in air tankers from the Airbus parent and Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC). It should come as no surprise that the members leading the charge are from Washington State and Kansas where Boeing (NYSE: BA), which lost the contract, has factories.

The shouting about the Boeing set-back has turned surly and menacing. Some politicians believe that since the French did not support the US in Afghanistan and Iraq, they do not deserve to get US military money for the tanker project. Several House members are concerned that EADS may steal technology secrets during the project of building the planes.

The US has a complaint against Airbus at the WTO alleging unfair trade practices. Perhaps that is enough of an excuse for moving the contract back to Boeing.

The real argument, of course, is about jobs. The Congressmen and Senators in states where Boeing plants operate cannot go back to voters there and say that they did nothing to help the locals get better employment.

Congressman John Murtha, who chairs the House of Representatives Appropriations subcommittee, went so far as to say "This is as political as anything that we do. This committee funds this program. All this committee has to do is stop the money, and this program is not going to go forward," according to Reuters.

But, Congress risks an aerospace Cold War if it continues down it present path. All of the evidence from the Air Force shows that it got a much better plane and a much better deal from the Northrop Grumman group which included EADS. Reversing the decision would be arbitrary, a sign that the best bid means little.

On the other side of the Atlantic the French and German governments, which own large pieces of EADS have some leverage. They can encourage their flag carriers to cancel orders for Boeing commercial aircraft which would undermine the US company’s finances.

The tanker issue is uglier than it seems and could lead to a out-and-out trade war.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: March 7, 2008 – 6:15 am in Defense, ,