T-minus ... oh, call it 20 hours, and counting ... until Motley Fool Rule Breakers recommendation GeoEye
What analysts say:
- Buy, sell, or waffle? Since last we checked in, Wall Street coverage of GeoEye has tripled to a total of three buy ratings.
- Revenue. Said analysts predict that quarterly revenue will drop 27% to $35.1 million ...
- Earnings. ... and predict per-share profits of $0.13.
What management says:
At this point, though, the numbers are basically background noise. The big news at GeoEye is the progress of its "Dash-1" satellite from testing by General Dynamics
Oh, well. Better late than never. In any case, rival DigitalGlobe appears to be leading in non-defense clients by signing Google
What management does:
Meanwhile, GeoEye's profit margins look as pretty as ever:
12/06 |
3/07 |
6/07 |
9/07 |
12/07 |
3/08 |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gross |
45.2% |
48.3% |
55.2% |
57.4% |
58.3% |
57.4% |
Operating |
28.6% |
32.1% |
39.1% |
40.9% |
42.1% |
39.7% |
Net |
15.5% |
(4.7%) |
5.7% |
32.1% |
23.1% |
40.2% |
All data courtesy of Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's. Data reflects trailing-12-month performance for the quarters ended in the named months.
One Fool says:
Since bottoming out in the mid-$16 range early last month, GeoEye's stock has been on a tear lately -- up nearly 50% in a little over a month. So far, this morning's news doesn't seem to be affecting the stock price much.
But here's something that might. Remember how I said in May that the GeoEye-1 satellite had "completed final testing and is ready for launch into orbit"? Ah, but I didn't mention the re-testing of the launch vehicle. GeoEye tells us in its press release that the Delta IV rocket that will lift Dash-1 to the stars must undergo a "re-test of a Range Safety antenna on the booster ... scheduled for completion on August 16."
Hopefully, this is just a routine matter. But investors should be aware that there's one extra hurdle to clear before liftoff.
For more information, check out our last several articles on GeoEye: