If you're looking for a company that can benefit from wars and disasters, ViaSat (NASDAQ:VSAT) may be for you. The satellite communications infrastructure specialist just reported results for Q4 and full fiscal 2006, showing healthy revenue growth on a wave of contracts in support of U.S. military efforts and hurricane-cleanup programs.

ViaSat met analyst expectations of $0.28 per diluted share for the quarter and $1 for the full year, adjusted for one-time items. That's despite revenues being 4.7% above expectations. If you're disappointed by profits rising slower than revenues, it might be helpful to know that ViaSat often performs development to meet specific customer specifications and then charges that customer back for the research costs.

That leads to higher revenues as well as higher R&D costs, which puts the lower net margins in a somewhat brighter light. The analysts don't have to get the custom-development expenses right, because this accounting method ensures that the extra cost here doesn't affect their EPS estimates. Gross and operational margins, on the other hand, benefit from this kind of accounting action, and those measures are up year over year, both on a quarterly basis and for the full year.

Selling satellite communications to the government and to big businesses -- ViaSat's customer roster includes Boeing (NYSE:BA), Honeywell (NYSE:HON), and Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) -- can be very profitable in times of strife. The company's offerings provide the backbone for satellite phones, long-range two-way radios, and even Internet links to otherwise inaccessible areas. These things come in handy when disaster strikes, as evidenced by a jump in new orders following Hurricane Katrina. They're also good for keeping the lines of communication open on remote battlefields.

Of course, this is a small player in a large field, but the industry doesn't seem to be too cutthroat. Many of ViaSat's larger competitors, like L-3 Communications (NYSE:LLL) and General Dynamics (NYSE:GD), are also listed as research partners or customers. Cooperation between direct competitors isn't unheard of, but it looks as though ViaSat has made an unusually significant number of strategic partnerships for such a petite organization in the company of all these giants.

The 25.4% growth in full-year revenues and 20.4% EPS uptick are nice examples of the good things that can happen when you work together to deal with difficult situations, as ViaSat is doing in its handmade web of business relationships. A 40% stock price gain in just 12 months may be dearer to your own heart, and you got that, too.

If there is a strike against ViaSat at this point, it could be the price increase that values the company at 30.2 times trailing earnings and 24.9 times forward earnings. If you don't trust the easily manipulated net-income numbers, the 1.64 price-to-trailing sales ratio looks downright cheap. I prefer cash flow, but there were no cash flow statements in the earnings release. Do your due diligence and make up your own mind -- it's the Foolish thing to do.

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Fool contributor Anders Bylund dodges hurricanes every year, with varying success. Foolish disclosure blows him away, too, and he owns none of the companies mentioned.