Revenues and profits for Titanium Metals Corporation (TIE) plunged in the third quarter of 2009 due to lower shipments on the back of weak demand from commercial aircraft builders and lower selling prices. Earnings per share for the country's largest producer of titanium was $1.1 million, or $0.01 per share, compared to last year's $40.2 million, or $0.22 per share. Earnings also missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 3 cents.

Revenues of $181.4 million declined 39% year over year. Volumes in the melted product segment were down 39% to 675 million tons while prices weakened 20% to $23.9 per ton from $29.85 per ton last year. Shipments in the mill product business plummeted 31% to 3.8 billion tons and prices dropped 6% to $56 per ton from $59.4 per ton. Lower sales were followed by a significant 93% fall in operating income to $3.5 million. Cost of sales declined

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 28, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: General Electric (GE), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), United Technologies Corp. (UTX), Tyco International (TYC) and Precision Castparts Corp. (PCP).

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Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

GE to Sell Security Business

General Electric (GE) is arranging to sell its security business, which makes alarms, surveillance systems and other safety products, and hopes to attract bids in the range of $2 billion for the unit. This move represents GE’s strategy

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Yesterday, Precision Castparts Corp. (PCP) announced its decision to acquire Carlton Forge Works and related entities for $850 million. Carlton, with one facility in Paramount, CA, is a leading manufacturer of seamless rolled rings for critical aerospace applications. Carlton is a key supplier for Boeing 787 and Airbus XWB. Precision Castparts will also acquire Arcturus Manufacturing Corporation, a hammer forging operation, as a part of this transaction.  The acquisition, which is expected to be completed in the third quarter of fiscal 2010, will further strengthen PCP’s forging capabilities. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to the company’s earnings. Precision Castparts derived 43.6% of its fiscal 2009 revenue from the Forged Products segment. The company is one of the leading manufacturers of forged components for the aerospace and power generation markets. The company has been expanding its Forged Products business through regular acquisitions. The previous ...

The week of June 26th was very bad to Boeing. After continued reassurance from CEO Jim McNerney that the company’s much anticipated (and previously delayed) Dreamliner 787 would be delivered by the 23rd, Boeing once again came up short. To investors, this was simply one slip-up too many… and a company that cannot fulfill promises is a company worth selling. Making matters worse, the next day, the U.S. Department of Defense terminated the land warfare weapons program headed by BA’s Integrated Defense Systems unit worth an estimated $160 billion. Thinking that there was no possible way to add more grief onto shares of Boeing, Qantas Airways canceled orders for 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliners after being “disappointed” by Boeing’s management.

Shares slid on the day of the initial 787 delay by 6.46%. On the day of the

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At the end of the third quarter of 2008, Airbus and The Boeing Company (BA) reported a combined total of 7,534 aircraft in backlog and, at that time, they were delivering at an annualized rate of 752 aircraft. On that basis, it would take some 10 years to deliver all the aircraft on order. Of the stated backlog, 458 shipsets were for the Airbus A350 XWB and 895 were for the Boeing 787 -- neither of which is yet in production (787 deliveries may start before the next decade, while A350 deliveries should start by the middle of the next decade).Complicating matters is the ongoing machinists (IAM) strike against Boeing as well as the threat by that company's white-collar engineers and technical employees (who are members of SPEEA) to go on strike early in 2009, which could shut Boeing down entirely.  In addition, there is historical ...

Curtiss-Wright Corporation (CW) designs, manufactures and overhauls products for motion control and flow control application, and provides a variety of specialized metal treatment services. The company, based in Roseland, New Jersey, was formed in 1929 through the merger of Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company and Wright Aeronautical Corporation. Based in Roseland, New Jersey, the company has approximately 7,600 employees worldwide and has offices across the United States, Canada, and Europe.

The company has recently received a follow-on multi-year contract valued at over $80M from Saab Aerostructures to provide the mechanical system and structural fittings for the Boeing 787 large cargo door. This agreement is follow-on to the $16M contract previously announced in February of this year. Sales from this program have the potential to exceed $200M during the production life of the aircraft.

The mechanical system is comprised of mechanical parts for five major flight-critical sub-systems: the lift,

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