AeroVironment Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV)
Shares of AeroVironment Inc. hiked up $6.50, or 7.43% to trade at $94.00 before the opening bell on Thursday, after investors welcomed its first-quarter financial results.
The Monrovia-based unmanned aircraft maker came out with earnings that smashed Wall Street estimates on both the top and bottom lines, after markets closed on Tuesday.
AVAV stock closed the regular trading at $87.50 on Wednesday. The stock has gained 56% year to date, and 74% year over year.
AVAV Earnings & Outlook
AeroVironment said it had earnings of $27.3 million, or $1.14 per share, up from a net loss of $5.9 million, or $-0.25 per share, in the first quarter of the previous year.
Adjusted to account for one-time items and discontinued operations, earnings came to $0.59 per share. Net sales during the three months to July 28, 2018 jumped from $34.4 million in the year-ago quarter to $78 million.
Thomson Financial Network, based on analyst predictions, was for adjusted earnings of $0.29 per share on revenue of $73.7 million.
For the full year, the firm expects to generate revenue in the range of between $290 million and $310 million, and adjusted earnings of between $1.10 and $1.40 per share.
AeroVironment CEO Comments
Commenting on the performance, AeroVironment President and Chief Executive Officer Wahid Nawabi said, “Our strong funded backlog at the end of fiscal 2018 and continued execution of our strategy enabled us to deliver $78 million in revenue from continuing operations, a 127 percent increase year-over-year, and $0.85 earnings per diluted share from continuing operations, which included $0.26 from a one-time litigation settlement.”
“With the divestiture of our Efficient Energy Systems business, we have transformed AeroVironment into a future-defining technologies solution provider serving large and growing global defense, telecommunications and commercial markets. Strength in the end markets for our small UAS and Tactical Missile Systems, combined with continued progress in our HAPSMobile, Inc. joint venture, position us well to achieve our fiscal year 2019 objectives and our long-term value creation goals,” Nawabi concluded.
AeroVironment, Inc. Company Profile
AeroVironment, Inc. designs, develops, produces, supports, and operates a portfolio of products and services for government agencies and businesses.
The company offers unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and related services primarily to organizations within the U.S. Department of Defense and to international allied governments; and tactical missile systems and related services to organizations within the U.S. Government.
It also offers small UAS products, including spare equipment, alternative payload modules, batteries, chargers, repair services, and customer support. In addition, the company develops high altitude pseudo-satellite systems for a commercial customer based in Japan.
The company competes with The Boeing Company, Elbit Systems Ltd., L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc., Lockheed Martin Corporation, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Qinetiq Group PLC, Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation, General Dynamics Corporation, EADS N.V., Ball Corporation, Orbital Sciences Corporation, Textron Inc. and Raytheon Company.
AeroVironment, Inc. was founded on July 1971 by Paul B. MacCready, Jr. Its headquarters are located in Monrovia, California. –YahooFinance
