Harman International Industries Incorporated (HAR) is seeing significant growth opportunities in Asian markets, particularly China and India. President, Chairman and CEO Dinesh C Paliwal recently stated that the company expects its earnings from China to exceed $1 billion over the next five years. Revenue from India is expected to reach $250 million during the same time period.  Management also announced the opening of a new R&D center in the Huang Pu commercial district of Shanghai yesterday, which is expected to complement its existing manufacturing facilities in Suzhou and Shenzhen. We think this is an effective way of reducing costs, as R&D engineers typically command higher pay than manufacturing personnel. The company’s current workforce in China is approximately 1000.  Simultaneously, the company launched its latest generation, scalable automotive infotainment system, which has been designed over the past year in Asia, Europe and the US. The product will ...

Harman International Industries, Inc. (HAR), a leading global manufacturer of audio and infotainment products, has reported dismal fourth quarter and fiscal 2009 results, with a decrease in year-over-year sales and net income. Harman has reported net sales of $668 million during the fourth quarter compared to $1.1 billion in the year-earlier quarter – a decline of 37%. Excluding the effect of foreign currency, net sales decreased 32% year-over-year. Harman reported a loss of $1.05 per share during the quarter, much lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of -60 cents and a net income of 54 cents in the year-ago quarter. For the fiscal year 2009, net sales decreased 30% year-over-year to $2.9 billion. Excluding the foreign currency translation, net sales declined 26%. The company reported a loss of $7.19 per share, drastically lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of ($1.11) and a net income of $1.73 ...

Harman International Industries Inc. (HAR) launched a public offering of 9 million shares in order to improve its liquidity, lower debt under its revolving credit facility and for general corporate purposes, including future acquisitions.

Shares for this maker of audio and infotainment products are down about 12% today.

The company also said that the offering, which will dilute existing shares by about 15%, includes a 30-day option for the underwriters to purchase up to 1.35 million additional shares to cover overallotments.

Harman, which derives around 70% of its business from the auto industry, has been adversely affected by the "unprecedented downturn" plaguing the sector. It posted a fiscal 2009 third-quarter loss of 84 cents per share, missing the average forecast by a significant margin of 40 cents, or 91%.

HAR, a Zacks #3 Rank ("Hold") stock, is trading on volume of approximately 1.9 million, which is higher than

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