With U.S. Defense Dept. procurement spending continuing to slide, as it has since the late 1980s, some Wall Street analysts are beginning to conclude that a meaningful increase probably won't materialize in the foreseeable future.
Trans World Airlines Inc. will be under considerable pressure between now and the end of September to achieve what it couldn't accomplish in the first or second quarters--show a profit (see p. 43).
When it comes to stock-price performance, few aerospace companies in the last few years have fallen short of expectations as much as Orbital Sciences Corp. (OSC).
Some uncertainties still surround Lockheed Martin Corp.'s proposed acquisition of Northrop Grumman Corp. (see p. 63)--most notably how it will account for the deal.
Aerospac e/aviation products and services supplier AAR Corp. has never been a significant player in the General Electric CF6 engine market, but that soon will change.
It is quite likely that U.S. airline industry profits will decline modestly for the March-June quarter, although certainly not by enough to trigger anxiety among the aerospace suppliers that correlate their fortunes with carriers' financial well-being.
With unmanned aerial vehicles only now becoming a staple in military operations after decades of false starts, it may be hard to envision another radical leap in their development. But a good indicator to watch is where aerospace companies are investing their research money.
By almost every measure, ValuJet Airlines is doing probably as good a job as anyone could reasonably expect of rebuilding its operation following last year's business near-disaster.
With its growing customer base, tight rein on spending and focused market strategy, American Mobile Satellite Corp. (AMSC) is now ``positioned for success'' following last year's attempt to execute a seriously flawed business plan.
British Airways will reap savings of only $32 million or so from last week's pact with ground services personnel--their wages will be frozen for two years--but the labor agreement sends a strong message to the financial community: The U.K. carrier fully intends to meet its goal of reducing operating expenses by $1.6 billion by 2000 and remain one of the world's most competitive airlines.
Proliferating inventory-management programs at AAR Corp.--an opportunistic response to the aviation industry's desire to save costs through outsourcing--are fueling strong revenue and earnings growth.
Thiokol Corp. earnings from commercial businesses are expected to increase substantially in the next few years, reaching 65% or more, up from 43% currently.
Senior Pentagon officials are eying the possibility of dropping Lockheed Martin as prime contractor for the Thaad anti-missile interceptor or adding a second contractor if the troubled program continues to fail tests.
The recent surge in the value of U.S. airline equities notwithstanding, the stock-price performances of both the aerospac e/defense group and carriers are lagging well behind the increase in the Standard&Poor's 500 Industrials Index thus far in 1997.
It's not often that a growing, highly profitable company is punished by the market as severely as Atlas Air Inc. was last week., but the Golden, Colo.-based cargo carrier was mauled mercilessly.
The U.S. Air Force is scheduled this month to begin a second round of flight tests of a low-cost, ``smart'' submunition that can distinguish between different targets and then shape its warhead to inflict maximum damage.
Large-cap U.S. aerospace/defense stocks are spring-loaded, and they are likely to remain that way at least through the first quarter, according to some Wall Street analysts.
The launch of an advanced version of the KH-11 imaging reconnaissance satellite on a Titan 4 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., Dec. 20, completes a new three-spacecraft constellation that uses an uprated model of the optical spacecraft operated by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
