Weekly Roundup Oct 19 – Oct 23 2015: Contracting Giants Kick Off 3Q Earnings Season & more

Jim Garrettson October 23, 2015 News, Weekly Round-up

Weekly Roundup
Oct 19 – Oct 23 2015

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Three of the U.S.’ five largest government contractors and members of Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index ushered in the latest round of earnings reports this week and went three-for-three against Wall Street’s forecasts..

Lockheed Martin kicked off third quarter earnings season Tuesday with earnings-per-share and revenue figures above analyst estimates and raised guidance to the top end of its prior outlook.

Chief Financial Officer Bruce Tanner subsequently outlined to investors the company’s potential future steps on the separation of some government information technology and services businesses.

“We’re looking at… a sale, a spin or a Reverse Morris Trust somewhere in probably the middle of next year to the third quarter of next year, ” Tanner said.

CEO Marillyn Hewson said the company expects to offer more details on such a transaction by the end of the year.

Boeing soared past analyst expectations in both earnings and revenue and also lifted its full-year guidance for both categories.

The company also posted a 6-percent jump in defense segment sales year-over-year.

Raytheon reported earnings and sales figures above Wall Street forecasts, raised its full-year revenue guidance and left the 2015 earnings outlook unchanged.

The GovCon Index has risen 2.11 percent to 74.836 for the week through Fridaymidday and investors with a particular interest in government contracting will digest more earnings reports next week from Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and others.

THIS WEEK’S TOP NEWS STORIES

GSA Opens Solicitation for Potential $50B Infrastructure Services GWAC Vehicle
Bids for the 15-year Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions program are due to the agency by Jan. 15 and awards could come down by late next year.

Noblis’ Roger Mason Joins DigitalGlobe Board
Mason is an SVP at the nonprofit organization Noblis and a former assistant national intelligence director for systems and resource analyses.

MDA Awards Lockheed $784M for Long Range Radar Development, Testing
Lockheed will build the Long Range Discrimination Radar at Clear Air Force Station in Alaska for missile defense functions.

SAIC Lands Potential $757M Army Software Development Support Task Order
The company will also support lifecycle systems under the potential three-year order with an Army directorate.

State Dept Clears $11B LCS-Derived Ship Sale to Saudi Arabia
The Saudi military requested to buy four maritime vessels based on the Lockheed Martin-built Freedom variant of the Littoral Combat Ship.

Chris Sullivan on Tech’s Role in Serco US Arm’s Business Strategy, CIO-Exec Collaborations
Serco Inc.’s chief information officer offers advice on how to align IT with business goals in this Q&A.

HP’s Marilyn Crouther Wins 2015 NVTC Tech Executive of the Year Award
NVTC recognized HP’s U.S. public sector lead for contributions to diversity and mentoring programs.

Anne Rung, Tony Scott: New OMB Directive Eyes More Buying Power in IT Commodity Acquisition
The White House’s procurement leader and federal CIO direct agencies to cut down on contracts for laptop and desktop computers in efficiency initiative.

Senate Tackles Cyber Info Sharing Bill; Mitch McConnell Expects Vote on CISA Early Next Week
Lawmakers will restart efforts Tuesday on legislation to facilitate cyber information sharing between government and businesses.

White House Supports Cybersecurity Info Sharing Bill
The administration and DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson issued statements of support for the bill ahead of the scheduled Senate session.

US Foreign Military Sales Hit $46B in FY 2015; Joseph Rixey, Heidi Shyu Comment
Helicopters, missiles and the Patriot air and missile defense system are among the most-requested weapons U.S. partners requested.

McCain, Thornberry Call for Review of DoD Reorganization Law
The Senate and House Armed Services chairmen want to re-examine the Goldwater-Nichols Act that put in place the current military command structure.

Fluor Subsidiary Gets $1.1B Modification on US Naval Nuclear Propulsion Support Contract

A subsidiary of Fluor (NYSE: FLR) will continue its support work on propulsion systems that power U.S. Navy submarines and aircraft carriers under a one-year, $1.12B contract modification. Fluor Marine Propulsion will continue services at the Naval Nuclear Laboratory through the government's 2021 fiscal year, the Department of Defense said Wednesday.

GovCon Wire Your Direct Source for Government Contracting News

Weekly Roundup Oct 19 – Oct 23 2015: Contracting Giants Kick Off 3Q Earnings Season & more