"Defense companies are in a growth market of the highest order," says Gregg Early in Personal Finance. But rather than buy industry giants, he suggest looking at lower-tier companies that are "either primed for the big leagues or will be acquired by a first- or second-tier company for a big premium in coming years."
One such play is Harris Corp. (NYSE: HRS), which Early notes represents the globalization of the defense industry. According to the advisor, "Special forces in Afghanistan, army units in Iraq and astronauts rely on Harris equipment."
Now, he says, Harris is making a move into Eastern Europe. He explains, "Because these nations are small and need to be unified on a communications level, the company will have myriad contracts with new nations for years to come. Harris Corp is a buy below 56."
Also a global play, the advisor looks to Israel-based Elbit Systems (NASDAQ: ESLT). He notes, "It's difficult to overstate the breadth of the company's client list. From India to the US to Saudi Arabia, everyone has a contract with this diversified defense conglomerate."
The company's most promising lines, he suggests, are electronic upgrades and training for aircraft and helicopters systems and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
He explains, "Command, Control, and Communication is one of the fastest-growing sectors in defense, and one of the hottest items is UAVs. All major defense companies sell them, but few can keep up with Elbit."
A third, and highly speculative play in the defense sector, is iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT), which the advisors points out is best known for its consumer products such as vacuums.
Wall Street, suggests Early, has misunderstood the real business opportunity with iRobot-defense. He explains, "The company has a line of portable robots called PacBots that help soldiers look for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and booby traps."
Early continues, "On its most-current model, IEDs and ordnance can even be handled or disposed of. iRobot builds a device that actively seeks its own destruction. It's a win-win. More soldiers come home safely, and the company sells PacBots to replace those that have performed their services."
Overall, he concludes, "This is a huge potential market, and iRobot dominates the space. That means either huge growth that will fund a consumer division or an eventual takeover -- or both."
Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com features the latest investment ideas and market commentary from the financial newsletter community.











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-30-2007 @ 9:28PM
thorn_stevens said...
iRobot's PackBot sales are soaring, as per last week's conference call, and a new Roomba model is just around the corner.
You can read about it at my iRobot blog: http://robotstocknews.blogspot.com/