Posts for Ticker ‘KBR’

Fluor: A Strong Balance Sheet Is a Good Thing (FLR, STO, XOM, JEC, FWLT, KBR)

When everyone else is ducking for cover, it often pays to stick your neck out. That seems to be what Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR) is doing with the announcement of a new business that it is calling Fluor Offshore Solutions. Fluor has been in the offshore business for decades, but is more well-known for its onshore engineering and construction business.  Where it gets interesting is how it is stacking up against peers.

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Posted on: December 4, 2008 – 9:37 am in Infrastructure, , , , , ,

KBR: A Strictly Cash Business (KBR)

Kbr_logoKBR Inc. (NYSE:KBR) reported third quarter earnings before the market opened today. The company posted EPS of $0.44 on revenue of $3 billion, virtually on target with analysts’ estimates of $0.43 EPS and revenue of $2.97 billion. Despite having earnings that were not a disappointment like so many other companies, that is not even the most interesting thing about KBR’s announcement.

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Posted on: October 31, 2008 – 7:58 am in Earnings, Infrastructure,

The 52-Week Low Club (NR)(KBR)(MTW)(TIE)(CHIC)(SIRI)(CIEN)

Sad_clown_2Western Refining (WNR) Snag at one of the company’s units and falling oil prices gang up. Drops to $6.47 from 52-week high of $58.95.

KBR (KBR) Rough earnings numbers. Down to $22.94 from 52-week high of $45.24.

The Manitowoc Company (MTW) Sells a unit and that could hurt earnings. Sell off to $23 from 52-week high of $51.49.

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Posted on: August 4, 2008 – 2:52 pm in HI/LOW, , , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AXL, JCI, RATE, CBEY, DISCA, ETFC, FNM, KBR, RIMM, UAUA, VNR)

These are not the only impact analyst calls this morning, but these are the ones that 24/7 Wall St. is focusing on:

  • American Axle (AXL) & Johnson Controls (JCI) both downgraded to Equal Weight at Lehman.
  • Bankrate (RATE) raised to Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford.
  • Cbeyond (CBEY) raised to Outperform at Wachovia.
  • Discovery (DISCA) raised to Outperform at Wachovia.
  • E*Trade (ETFC) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at B of A.
  • Fannie Mae (FNM) estimates cut sharply at Goldman Sachs.
  • KBR (KBR) raised to Buy at UBS.
  • Research in Motion (RIMM) downgraded to Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.
  • UAL (UAUA) downgraded to Equal Weight at Lehman.
  • Vanguard Natural Resources (VNR) started as Buy at Jefferies.

Jon C. Ogg
December 3, 2007

Posted on: December 3, 2007 – 8:04 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , ,

Halliburton, Bracing For Earnings (HAL, BHI, SLB, KBR)

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) plans to release its second quarter earnings on Monday morning, and as of the end of the week the First Call estimates are $0.56 EPS on nearly $3.5 Billion in revenues. The completion of HAL’s spin-off of KBR (NYSE:KBR) has already been priced in to the stock, of course, and HAL has already announced a dividend of $0.09/share for the third quarter and a very recent increase of $2 billion to the company’s stock buyback program.  The buyback plan has been helping shareholders over the last 90 days, with shares having risen from under $32.00 to over $36.00. Halliburton is also one of the few oil and gas services operators that has not seen a total break-out of its stock, as shares traded above $40.00 in early 2006.

In the first quarter, HAL’s largest division, Production & Optimization (P&O), took in $141 million more than it did in the same quarter of 2006, but its operating income dropped from year ago levels by $8 million. In the company’s 10-Q, HAL blamed North American repair and maintenance costs, lower natual gas prices, and the weather for the drop in income. The division rakes in nearly 40% of HAL’s revenue and more than 40% of its operating income, and North America contributes more than 50% of revenue and about 70% of operating income to the division.

The point is natural gas prices were still soft in the second quarter, repair and maintenance costs in North America didn’t get any cheaper, and the weather got warmer. None of that is going to help the P&O group’s business for the quarter and it’s doubtful that their drilling division, which grew its income by 43% in the first quarter, can keep that up. Rig counts for the US were up by more than 200 y-o-y in the first quarter of 2007, and down by more than 130 in Canada in the same period. That probably mitigates the softness in Canadian operations somewhat, but not enough to cover for the softness in P&O.

Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI) took a nasty whack last week when it issued guidance lowering its earnings estimates, primarily because of problems in Canada. HAL has all the same problems in its largest division. Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) avoided the Canadian malaise and reported big numbers today, more than a dime per share higher than expectations.

As a reminder, Halliburton is one of Jim Cramer’s "Top 9 for 2007," so he’ll be giving this one a lot of public attention this week one way or the other.

Paul Ausick
July 22, 2007

Posted on: July 22, 2007 – 12:36 pm in Earnings, Oil & Gas, , , ,

Foster Wheeler: Good News, Bad News (FWLT, DOW, KBR, QQQQ)

Heavy construction and engineering giant Foster Wheeler (NASDAQ:FWLT) got some bad news today: it was beaten out by KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) for a project management and front-end engineering and design contract on Saudi Arabia’s massive Ras Tanura petrochemical plant construction project. Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW) and Saudi Aramco have formed a joint venture to build the Ras Tanura plant and plan to offer 30% of the $20 billion project to additional partners.

But FWLT also got some good news today: its stock is being added to the Nasdaq 100 index (NASDAQ:QQQQ), effective today. The company was added to the Russell 1000 earlier this year. That’s good news for a company that paid millions of dollars in asbestos-related personal injury claims and was delisted at the NYSE in November 2003. Foster Wheeler was even forced to execute a 20-for-1 reverse stock split in November 2004. The company’s stock traded on the OTC Bulletin Board from November 2003, until June 2005, when it listed on NASDAQ. Zacks has projected annual growth for FWLT of 23% over the next five years, nearly 10 points better than the expected growth for the industry as a whole.

That kind of growth brings to mind a couple of interesting questions. How long before FWLT once again seeks a listing on the NYSE? Will the ‘FWLT tenure on the NASDAQ 100′ set a record for the shortest term ever?  So far shares are focusing on the index addition as shares are trading up more than 1% around $118.00.

Paul Ausick
July 12, 2007

Posted on: July 12, 2007 – 10:55 am in Index, Oil & Gas, , , ,

Pre-Market Analyst Calls (June 7, 2007)

ASML raised to Outperform at Bernstein.
CENT cut to Neutral at B of A.
COBZ raised to Outperform at KBW.
DCP raised to Outperform at CIBC.
DGX raised to Buy at UBS.
ECL raised to Buy at Jefferies.
FNM raised to Outperform at FBR.
GD raised to Overweight at Lehman.
HC raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
IFX raised to Mkt Perform at Bernstein.
IO started as Buy at Jefferies.
KBR started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
MHS raised to Buy at UBS.
MKC raised to Outperform at Bear Stearns.
OPTM started as Sector Perform at CIBC.
OREX started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
PDLI cut to Mkt Perform at Wachovia.
PG cut to Equal Weight at Lehman.
RDWR raised to Outperform at CIBC.
VOLV cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
VRUS started as Outperform at JMP Securities.

Jon C. Ogg
June 7, 2007

Posted on: June 7, 2007 – 6:41 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,