Market Currents

• Tuesday, December 1, 2009

• 15:51 PM Northrop Grumman (NOC) bows out of bidding for the Air Force refueling tanker program as proposed, due to "contractual and financial burdens." Northrop and its partner - Airbus parent EADS - had claimed the Air Force gave previous pricing data to competitor Boeing (BA). The contract, which could be worth more than $35B, may be announced by June. (previously) 1 Comment

• Monday, November 9, 2009

• 17:56 PM On Northrop Grumman's (NOC) TASC sale analyst call, Barclays' Carter Copeland notes that prices for units sold by defense firms have consistently been higher than a sum-of-parts analysis would indicate, and wonders - if so - why don't they continue to carve themselves up? To which CFO Jim Palmer replies: Who says we aren't? 2 Comments

• Sunday, November 8, 2009

• 16:31 PM Northrop's (NOC) TASC sale speaks to the return of the LBO of a new ilk. Four banks - Barclays (BCS), Royal Bank Of Canada (RY), Deutsche Bank (DB) and a lending unit of the Canada Pension Plan - are providing senior debt of well under $1B to fund the buyout, a figure that would have been a rounding error for one bank during the credit boom. 3 Comments
• 16:07 PM Sources say Northrop Grumman (NOC) will sell its TASC consulting unit to a pair of private-equity firms - KKR and General Atlantic - for $1.65B. TASC unit provides engineering and consulting services to the U.S. military and state governments. Welcome home LBOs. Update at 4:25: Confirmed. Northrop expects the sale to generate net cash proceeds of $1.1B, which it will use to repurchase shares. 3 Comments

• Wednesday, October 21, 2009

• 08:56 AM Northrop Grumman (NOC): Q3 EPS of $1.29 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $8.73B (+4.1%) vs. $8.58B. (PR) 1 Comment
• 00:05 AM Notable pre-market earnings: AAI, AMR, APD, ATI, BA, CAL, ELN, FLIR, FCX, GENZ, HCBK, KEY, LLY, MAN, MO, MS, NITE, NOC, NTRS, OMC, PENN, STJ, USB, USG, WFC Comment!

• Friday, October 2, 2009

• 09:08 AM Northrop Grumman (NOC) beats out Boeing (BA) for a $3.8B contract to maintain and service the U.S. Air Force's fleet of KC-10 refueling tankers. Analysts called the win a "stunning upset," given that Boeing has been servicing the KC-10 since its introduction. 1 Comment

• Tuesday, September 29, 2009

• 14:19 PM Northrop Grumman (NOC +2.4%) is claiming the government gave competitor Boeing (BA +3.3%) an unfair edge in a battle over a potential $50B refueling-tanker contract through access to its previous pricing information. A year ago, a deal awarded to Northrop and Airbus parent EADS was scrapped after a protest by Boeing. Comment!

• Thursday, August 20, 2009

• 07:37 AM Northrop Grumman (NOC) reportedly plans to sell its Tasc unit, which advises military and intelligence agencies, for as much as $2B as the government prepares to tighten scrutiny of firms that both advise and sell equipment to the government. Comment!

• Thursday, July 23, 2009

• 09:03 AM Northrop Grumman (NOC): Q2 EPS of $1.29 in-line. Revenue of $8.96B (+4%) vs. $8.68B. (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable earnings before Thursday's open: ALXN, BG, BLL, BMY, CBE, CELG, CLS, CME, DHR, DO, ECA, EMC, ESI, ESV, F, FITB, FLIR, GR, HBAN, HOT, HSY, IGT, JBLU, KMB, LCC, LLL, MMM, NCR, NEM, NIHD, NOC, NUE, NYT, OMC, ORI, OXY, PLD, PM, PNC, POT, R, RAI, RS, RTN, RX, SIAL, SPNC, T, TIN, TMO, TRA, UNP, UPS, WYE, XRX, ZMH Comment!

• Friday, June 12, 2009

• 08:50 AM The Pentagon terminates Northrop Grumman's (NOC) missile-defense program, once valued at $6.3B, as part of a restructuring of missile-defense efforts under the proposed fiscal 2010 budget. Northrop had already carried out about $1.2B of work. 6 Comments

• Wednesday, April 22, 2009

• 08:06 AM Northrop Grumman (NOC): Q1 EPS of $1.17 beats by $0.09. Revenue of $8.32B (+7.7%) vs. $7.98B. Full-year guidance in line. Shares +0.6% premarket. (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable earnings before Wednesday's open: AAI, APD, ATI, BA, CAL, CFR, DOV, ECA, ELN, FCX, GENZ, GNTX, IR, KMB, MCD, MO, MS, NITE, NOC, PBG, PDS, R, SNV, STJ, SY, T, TIN, WFC, WLP Comment!

• Friday, April 3, 2009

• 09:57 AM Northrop Grumman (NOC) reaches two settlements with the government: 1) Northrop will pay $325M to settle civil claims about defective parts for spy satellites. 2) The gov't will pay Northrop $325M to settle a suit regarding stealth cruise missiles. 4 Comments

• Saturday, March 7, 2009

• 14:05 PM Investors have overreacted to a recent quarterly loss at Northrop Grumman (NOC) and the chance of cutbacks in defense spending. Barron's Jay Palmer says this leaves Northrop ready for a 65%+ rebound within 18 months. Comment!