Major defense establishment
Raytheon Company
(
RTN
) won a contract worth $11.5 million for upgrading the Weather
Data Analysis ("WDA") System from the U.S Air Force. The contract
involves modernization of the existing meteorological satellite
capability, the agency's analysis capabilities along with
enhancement of the legacy systems of the Air Force Weather (AFWA)
program.
The WDA system was first developed on the Increment 2 Program
under contract with the U.S. Air Force in March 2003, followed by
the successive completion of Increment 3 and Increment 4, Build A
for further capability development purposes.
The WDA program is AFWA's core provider of weather data and
products. With new sophisticated hardware, open source database
and better application servers, the current contract on Increment
4, Build B will offer advanced net-centric infrastructure for
integrating maximum shared data in the weather centers. This will
enable next generation satellites like the Suomi NPP and JPSS-1
and 2 to collect and distribute maximum data by the agency.
The system is expected to offer accurate and reliable weather
forecasting capabilities which would allow soldiers to make
informed decisions based on critical environmental and
situational awareness intelligence in war missions. Also, this
new improved WDA will aid in lowering sustainment costs.
This contract marks Raytheon's 40 years of supplying weather
information related products and services as well as providing
expertise in terms of collecting and analyzing weather data to
support missions for the U.S. Air force.
We anticipate Raytheon's Intelligence, Surveillance and
Reconnaissance; air & missile defense systems; air traffic
management; training and homeland security and cyber security
units to act as growth catalysts in the near term. However,
defense budget austerity will continue to limit opportunities.
Hence, Raytheon shares a short-term Zacks #3 Rank (Hold rating)
along with its peers,
Lockheed Martin Corporation
(LMT) and
Northrop Grumman Corporation
(
NOC
).
Raytheon pared its full-year 2012 sales guidance to the range
of $24.3 billion to $24.7 billion from its previous expectation
of $24.5 billion to $25 billion. It revised its adjusted earnings
guidance for 2012 to the range of $5.85 to $5.95 per share from
its prior expectation of $5.70 to $5.85.
The Zacks Consensus Estimates for the fourth quarter and full
year 2012 are currently pegged at $1.29 and $5.51 per share,
respectively.
Raytheon Company, along with its subsidiaries, offers
electronics, mission systems integration, and other capabilities
in the areas of sensing, effects, and command, control,
communications, and intelligence systems, as well as a range of
mission support services in the United States and
internationally.
NORTHROP GRUMMN (NOC): Free Stock Analysis
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RAYTHEON CO (RTN): Free Stock Analysis Report
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