Wall Street is giving Boeing Co. the benefit of the doubt and buying into the notion that the company's production problems, although severe, are only temporary.
Wall Street analysts who follow the Boeing Co. seem to have concluded that the production bottlenecks that are proving so troublesome for the commercial airframe manufacturer and many of its vendors will be all but gone by next spring.
If the emerging market for automated explosive detection equipment for airline baggage grows as rapidly as some industry observers think it will in the next 2-3 years, Vivid Technologies Inc.'s stock will be one to watch closely.
Considering how poorly America West Holdings' stock has done thus far in 1997, it would seem the U.S.' ninth-largest airline may be one of the most underappreciated companies in the commercial air transportation sector.
Some market professionals are suggesting US Airways Group may dampen its third-quarter profits through accounting provisions to make the company's financial performance less of an issue in future labor negotiations.
Communications and electronics supplier Harris Corp. has been providing weather information to the FAA since 1989 through the integration of computer and software packages, and now the $3.8-billion company is poised to expand its substantial book of business with the government agency yet again.
Merger-and-acquisition specialists expect cash-rich General Dynamics Corp. to emerge as the winner in the defense industry's latest consolidation play--United Defense L.P., which is being auctioned by co-owners FMC Corp. and Harsco Corp.
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.
