Spaceflight company Virgin Galactic Holdings  shares climbed Tuesday, after short seller Jim Chanos reportedly said he would go long on any space company that has gone public. Jim Chanos, president and founder of Kynikos Associates of New York, made the comment at Grant’s Fall 2020 conference in New York City, (Reuters reported.) In interviews, Chanos has described his investment strategy focused on fundamental failures in market valuation, from underestimated or unreported failings in the business or the market of a particular stock. On Monday, Virgin Galactic President Mike Moses told New Mexico state lawmakers that the first test space flight from Spaceport America will take place sometime this fall.

Virgin Galactic  posted a wider-than-expected second quarter loss. The space flight company’s net loss for the quarter came in at -$63 million, or -30 cents a share, compared to the -26 cents a share loss expected by analysts polled by FactSet.In the year-ago quarter, the company had a loss of -$41 million, or -23 cents a share. Virgin Galactic said that it continued to make progress on its test flight program, including conducting two successful glide flights from Spaceport America.

Aerospace parts maker Woodward  is planning to merge with Hexcel (which makes lightweight materials for aircraft, space and defense equipment). Under the all-stock merger, current Woodward shareholders will own about 55% of the new company called Woodward Hexcel. Woodward shareholders will get to have the same number of common stock shares in the newly combined company as before.  The combined entity is valued at $6.4 billion. Woodward will be raising its quarterly cash dividend to 28 cents a share, as part of the deal. The combined company – set to be among the aerospace industry’s largest suppliers - will generate estimated net revenues of $5.3 billion (based on last year’s revenues), while  having around 16,000 employees, and operations in 14 countries.   Woodward Hexcel expects to save around $125 million in annual cost synergies by its second fiscal year. The new company plans to invest $250 million on research and development

Boeing  faces a $5.4 million penalty for allegedly installing faulty parts on 178 of its 737 Max aircraft, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA indicted that the faulty parts were produced by Southwest United Industries in late June and early July of 2018, and then shipped to Spirit AeroSystems which then delivered them to Boeing. According to the agency, Boeing failed to adequately oversee its suppliers’ compliance with the company’s quality assurance system. Last year, Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft model was grounded following two fatal crashes that killed hundreds of passengers.What’s more, emails exchanged among Boeing employees (revealed this week) showed them questioning the safety of the aircraft .

S&P Global Ratings lowered its long-term issuer credit rating on Boeing, due to uncertainty about when the timing of  737 MAX jetliner’s return to service. S&P downgraded its rating on Boeing to A-minus from A, and also lowered the short-term rating to A-2 from A-1.The rating agency cited uncertainty over when the 737 MAX will return to service, the risk to the supply chain from the planned production halt, and possible long-term impact to Boeing's competitive position as factors behind the downgrade. In March,  the 737 MAX  was grounded following two fatal crashes.

General Electric got a price target hike and rating upgrade from UBS analysts, who are optimistic about the conglomerate’s ongoing turnaround under CEO Larry Culp. UBS analyst Markus Mittermaier raised his rating on GE shares to "buy" from "hold", citing the group's balance sheet improvements that he expects would  bolster cash flows in the coming year.Culp has targeted asset sales of around $38 billion to take care of both the company's longer-term debt profile and its underfunded pension liabilities.

Raytheon Company beat both earnings and revenue expectations for third quarter, with most of its business segments experiencing positive growth. The U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation’s  third-quarter 2019 earnings of $3.08 per share from continuing operations exceeded analysts’ expectation of $2.85 (the Zacks Consensus Estimate).As of the end of third-quarter 2019, total backlog was $44.61 billion, +3.5% higher from the previous quarter’s figure. The company’s operating income of $1,206 million rose +1.9% year-over-year. Raytheon’s sales from Integrated Defense Systems segment increased +18% year-over-year, on the back of higher net sales from an international air and missile defense system program.

Space System segment had +5% higher sales – particularly on the back of government satellite programs, Global Positioning System (GPS) III ,  strategic and missile defense programs.On the other hand, Rotary & Mission Systems experienced a -4% year-over-year decline in sales. As of Sep 29, 2019, Lockheed had $137.4 billion in the backlog, up +0.5% from $136.7 billion at the end of second quarter 2019. In the third quarter, the company paid dividends worth $621 million to its shareholders.

It has invested about $1 billion to create reusable human spaceflight systems.Virgin Galactic is apparently geared towards becoming the first company to make space tourism a reality.  In July, Virgin Galactic said that it would go public by merging with the blank-check company Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings. Boeing said that it would invest in return for new Virgin Galactic shares, and its investment is conditioned on the public trading transaction closing (expected to occur Q4 of this year).

The company is expecting revenue for the quarter to range between $140 million to $150 million, compared to analysts’ prediction of $162.6 million. For the fiscal full-year, American Outdoor’s earnings forecast is in the range of 70 cents to 78 cents a share – again below analysts’ expectation of 82 cents a share.The company’s full-year revenue guidance is a range of $630 million to $650 million, compared to analysts’ forecast of $644.4 million

According to Markopolos, GE’s insurance unit would need an $18.5 billion boost to its reserves.His report also mentions that GE’s accounting irregularities would amount to around $38 billion – which is around 40% of the company’s market cap. However, responding to Markopolos’ allegations at GE, Culp said in a statement, “GE will always take any allegation of financial misconduct seriously.

Raytheon reported second-quarter results that exceeded analysts’ estimates.The defense contractor company also boosted its full-year guidance. The company’s net income came in at $817 million, or $2.92 a share – higher than analysts’ expectations of $2.64 a share (based on FactSet poll of analysts). Revenue increased +8.1% year-over-year to $7.16 billion, also beating analysts’ estimate of $7.04 billion. Raytheon lifted its full-year earnings guidance to  $11.70 a share, compared to its previous projection of $11.60.  It also raised its full-year net sales outlook to $29.3 billion from $29.1 billion. Raytheon’s CEO Thomas A. Kennedy said the company’s merger plans with the United Technologies Corporation "is progressing well”.

J.P.Morgan analyst Stephen Tusa is sticking to his guns when it comes to General Electric, despite getting “questions and pushback” from his skepticism of GE’s announcement at the Paris Air Show last week.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration says Boeing Co’s more than 300 of the grounded 737 MAX and the prior generation 737 may contain improperly manufactured parts and that the agency will require these parts to be quickly replaced. Up to 148 of the part known as a leading-edge slat track that was manufactured by a Boeing supplier are affected, covering 179 MAX and 133 NG aircraft worldwide.The tracks guide the slats and are built into the wing. In a statement issued after the FAA announcement, Boeing said it has not been informed of any in-service issues related to this batch of slat tracks.

American multinational conglomerate, General Electric’s French head Hugh Bailey in a media interview published on Sunday in France’s Journal Du Dimanche announced that the company is planning to cut jobs in the range of thousands at its eastern France factory but would not close the factory down. According to the company, the site would continue to remain GE Power’s number one industrial site in Europe, but it would look to explore alternative options for the plant as Belfort's sales of gas turbines halved between 2017 and 2018 as the group struggled to remain competitive. Currently, the Belfort plant handles gas, steam, nuclear and hydro technology but the company is looking into different alternatives like building aeronautical parts.Further this move, according to the company, is aimed at making its operations more resourceful in France in response to a dwindling market for power plants. French industrial group, Alstom, was Belfort’s biggest employer until 2014, but then it

Declaring a national emergency because of tensions with Iran, President swept aside objections from Congress on Friday to complete the sale of over $8B worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Jordan.

A European pilots’ group Thursday urged the region’s aviation regulator to conduct its own thorough and independent review of the Boeing 737 Max before allowing the planes to fly again.

General Dynamics shares jumped +2% Monday, following an upgrade by Goldman Sachs analysts. Analysts at Goldman Sachs raised their rating on the aerospace & defense company's stock to buy from neutral.A decline in General Dynamics stock’s valuation relative to its peers, and strengthening margins on its Gulfstream private jet line were cited as factors behind the analysts’ optimism. The analysts reiterated their per-share price target of $204 – which represents a 23% upside from the stock's previous closing price of $166.37.   

General Electric (GE -0.5%) expects "very significant negative cash flow" from its core power plant business this year and does not anticipate large improvement in the unit's cash flow margins for at least three years, CFO Jamie Miller said today at a Goldman Sachs investor conference.

Canada is softening the rules of its multi billion-dollar competition for 88 new fighter jets to allow Lockheed Martin Corp to submit a bid, following a complaint by Washington, a Canadian government source said on Thursday. Read More...