A Note From Our President & Founder Jim Garrettson
Any thoughts that the start of 2016 would be smooth sailing for U.S. government contracting stocks and financial markets have quickly been cast aside as volatility from 2015’s second half carried into the new year.
The GovCon Index — our composite index of 30 large contractor stocks — has recorded movements of at least a full percentage point up or down in two trading days from four and sat at a loss of 3 percent for the week as of midday Friday.
GovCon stocks appear to be getting swept in with investor fears over a potential economic slowdown in China, Â the world’s second largest economy and a central hub of raw material manufacturing.
One GovCon Index stock has held firm against the negativity so far in the form of rocket and ammunition maker Orbital ATK with that company’s shares up nearly 2 percent for the week as of midday Friday.
Dulles, Virginia-based Orbital ATK was the Index’s top gainer in 2015 to the tune of 65 percent — more than double the rate of second-ranked Leidos — as investors appear to bet that the combination of Orbital Sciences and ATK’s aerospace and defense groups will generate returns.
The merger closed in February 2015 and Orbital ATK has exceeded Wall Street’s earnings forecasts in all three quarters since it entered the market as a combined entity.
THE WEEK’S TOP GOVCONÂ STORIES
Gary Slack Joins XLA as President, CEO
Slack served as president and COO at QinetiQ North America from 2012 through 2014, when the company now known as Vencore bought QNA’s services group.
Executive Mosaic is excited to celebrate the impacts of the work of QinetiQ US CEO and President Shawn Purvis with the 2024 Wash100 Award. Purvis earns this designation due to her tireless efforts to bring innovative technology into the hands of American warfighters. Cast 10 votes today in the Wash100 popular contest! The competition closes on April 30.
Charles Fielden, a nearly two-decade Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) veteran, has joined QinetiQ Group‘s U.S. subsidiary as executive vice president and general manager of the intelligence, cyber and information advantage business unit. The former U.S. Army sergeant will oversee operational testing, functional evaluation and capability assessments of cyber tools for defense and intelligence customers, QinetiQ
It’s week two of our Wash100 Award popular vote recaps and the race is heating up fast. Two new players have entered the top 30, one catapulting himself to a spot just outside the top 10. Seven other awardees ascended to a higher spot over the course of the last week, rallying their fanbases to step
