AeroVironment Inc (NASDAQ:AVAV)
AeroVironment Inc. (AVAV), a global company that designs and operates unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and efficient energy systems (EES) yesterday reported their fiscal fourth quarter 2017 financial results.
AeroVironment reported fourth quarter profit of $30.5 million and earnings of $1.30 per share which beat analyst expectations of $0.99 per share. The company also reported fourth quarter revenues of $125.4 million which beat analyst expectations of $122.3 million.
AeroVironment Inc. CEO’s Comments
“Through the successful execution of our strategic plan, AeroVironment achieved record performance in our fourth quarter, with revenue of $125 million and fully diluted earnings per share of $1.30,” said Wahid Nawabi, AeroVironment president and chief executive officer. “International demand for our Family of small unmanned aircraft systems and domestic demand for our Family of Tactical Missile Systems drove full year revenue to $264.9 million, within our guidance range, and fully diluted earnings per share to $0.54, significantly above guidance and 38 percent higher than last year. Our team executed our fiscal 2017 plan effectively, growing year-end funded backlog by 19 percent over the previous year to $78 million, while creating value for our customers, employees and stockholders and positioning AeroVironment for long-term growth.” Business Wire
AVAV Technical Analysis
AVAV opened trading yesterday at $31.11 which was up from the previous day’s trading close of $30.97. Shares closed trading yesterday at $32.49 and crashed down in the after hours to $30.30, equivalent to a 7% decrease from the closing price. Taking a look at the daily chart we can see the last time AVAV traded below these levels we have to go back to May 11th when it traded at $29.77.
Taking a closer look at the daily chart we can see that before the spike down AVAV had been in an overall upward trend dating back to January 23rd when it traded at $25.00. AVAV has a float of 20.36 million shares and traded 4.86 times the normal daily trading volume on Tuesday.
For trading purposes, I would like to see AVAV open trading on Wednesday below $31.00 and if it does I would be looking to take a short position at the bell. My stop loss would be $0.25 from my entry position fearing anything more than that and the stock would start to fill in the gap down.
Company Profile
AeroVironment Inc. designs, develops, produces, supports, and operates unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and efficient energy systems (EES) in the United States and internationally. The company offers small UAS products to deliver intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; and communications, such as real-time tactical reconnaissance, tracking, combat assessment, and geographic data to the small tactical unit or individual operator.
Its small UAS wirelessly transmit critical live video and other information to a hand-held ground control unit enabling the operator to view and capture images; ground control systems allow the operator to control the aircrafts; and tactical missile systems designed to be reusable for flights under normal operating circumstances and can be recovered through an autonomous landing feature that enables a controlled descent to a designated location. The company also provides spare equipment, alternative payload modules, batteries, and chargers; repair, refurbishment and replacement, training, and customer support services to small UAS; turnkey mission services; and contract engineering services.
In addition, it offers electric vehicle charging systems, services, and related solutions for plug-in passenger and fleet vehicles; PosiCharge industrial electric vehicle charging systems for electric material handling vehicles and airport ground support equipment; and power cycling and test systems for developers and manufacturers of electric vehicles, as well as battery packs, electric motors, and fuel cells.
The company sells EES products directly through sales force; and through retailers, resellers, industrial battery and lift-truck dealers, and distributors and representatives. It serves the U.S. Department of Defense, including the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Special Operations Command, and Air Force, as well as commercial, consumer, and government customers. AeroVironment Inc. was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Monrovia, California.”