Industry Week in Review – February 14, 2014

The House and Senate passed legislation Wednesday to extend the government’s borrowing authority.  Lawmakers were under extreme pressure to come up with a solution before February 27th, the date the Government would hit the current ceiling.  The passed legislation calls for a suspension of the federal debt ceiling cap until March 16, 2015, allowing the U.S. Treasury to sell debt as necessary.  After the Senate voted 55-43 in favor of the bill and the House cleared the bill 221-201, the bill was sent to the White House for President Obama’s expected signature.

Bombardier, a bellwether for the regional jet and business jet sectors of the aerospace industry, announced full year 2013 results this past week.  Bombardier said it had delivered 238 aircraft (180 business jets and 58 airliners) last year, up from 233 (179 business jets and 54 airliners) in 2012.  Bombardier expects to deliver 280 aircraft (200 business jets and 80 airliners) in 2014, levels which would mark ~20% increases across its aerospace product portfolio.  Bombardier’s book-to-bill ratio for its aerospace business was 1.6:1 for all of 2013, and especially strong among its business jet offerings (Learjets, Challengers, and Globals).  Bombardier Aerospace ended the year with a record aircraft backlog of $37.3 billion, compared with $32.9 billion at the end of 2012.  After years of stagnation following the 2008/2009 recession, the business jet sector, on the back of results such as these from Bombardier, finally appears to be staging a recovery.

The Singapore Airshow wrapped up this week, with aircraft OEMs announcing major orders for flagship platforms.  Airbus, for example, notched an order for 20 A380 aircraft from Amadeo, bringing Airbus closer to its target of 30 additional A380 orders for 2014.  Boeing, meanwhile, landed an order for eight 737-800s and seven 737 MAX 8s from Asian low-cost carrier Nok Air.

Big Movers

Orbital Sciences Corporation (Up 11.1%) – Shares were up this week after the Company reported positive fiscal year 2013 results and increased its earnings guidance for fiscal year 2014.

Mine Safety Appliances Company (Up 10.0%) – Shares were up this week after the Company reported strong fiscal year 2013 results, including revenue of $291.4 million, which beat analyst estimates of $285.6 million.

URS Corporation (Down 9.3%) – Shares were down this week after the Company announced it expects to report full-year net income between $3.20 and $3.30 a share, far below previous guidance of $4.10 to $4.25 a share.

Relevant Transactions

Allegheny Technologies Inc. acquired Dynamic Flowform Corporation, a provider of thin-walled components across multiple alloy systems for aerospace and defense and oil and gas industries.  Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

AMETEK Inc. acquired VTI Instruments Corporation, a provider of precision instrumentation for electronic signal distribution, acquisition, and monitoring in test applications for aerospace and defense, energy, and commercial electronics industries.  AMETEK paid $74 million for the acquisition.

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