Industry Week in Review – March 28, 2014
In a decision that has been closely watched following Japan Airlines’ controversial decision to order Airbus A350s replacing its current fleet of Boeing 777 aircraft, Japan’s All Nippon Airways (“ANA”) announced this week it has opted for 20 of Boeing’s 777-9X to replace most of the international components of its current 777 fleet. In total, ANA ordered 70 aircraft worth $16.6 billion in its biggest order to date, with the 20 777-9X aircraft accounting for almost half of the value. Regarded as a key contract win for Boeing, the 20 aircraft will replace ANA’s current fleet of 19 777-300ERs used on international routes and will be delivered between 2021 and 2027. ANA officials stated the order decisions were based on four main factors: aircraft quality, long term benefits, delivery schedules, and previous experience. Airbus was not completely shut out of the orders, as ANA ordered 30 A320 aircraft for narrowbody replacement needs to be delivered between 2016 and 2023. Historically, Boeing held more than 80% of Japan’s commercial aviation market; however, recent competition continues to shake up the landscape moving forward.
On Wednesday, the Defense Information Systems Agency authorized Amazon Web Services to provide cloud services to all DoD agencies and components, making it the second commercial cloud service provider after Autonomic Resources to gain approval. The authorization, under the DoD’s cloud security model for “impact levels” 1 and 2 for data sensitivity, will reduce the time required for DoD agencies to evaluate use of the AWS cloud, and may accelerate adoption of cloud services to address various mission needs. The announcement follows last week’s rollout of DISA’s “milCloud,” a private cloud infrastructure hosted on the DoD’s core data centers that is tailored to DoD applications. These developments bring the DoD closer to fulfilling government-wide goals of cloud adoption to drive efficiencies and reduce costs.
Big Movers
Leidos Holdings, Inc. (Down 18.1%) – Shares were down this week after the Company reported fiscal quarter revenue fell 18% compared to the same period last year, as well as the resignation of its chief operating officer.
AAR Corporation (Down 10.6%) – Shares were down this week after the Company announced disappointing fiscal third quarter results with earnings of $0.45 per share, which was below analyst estimates of $0.47 a share.
Relevant Transactions
Digital Management Inc. acquired KnowledgePath Solutions, Inc., a provider of multi-channel mobile commerce solutions. Digital Management paid $22 million for the acquisition.
Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation to acquire Tri Town Precision Plastics, Inc., a provider of custom injection and contract manufacturing services to defense, aerospace, medical, general industrial, and automotive industries. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
