Tag Archives: Defense Security

Intevac to Participate in the 2013 Defense Security and Sensing Conference

By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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Intevac to Participate in the 2013 Defense Security and Sensing Conference

SANTA CLARA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Intevac, Inc. (NAS: IVAC) announced today that the company will participate in the 2013 Defense Security and Sensing Conference. Intevac Photonics will showcase their innovative digital night vision products and high resolution display systems.

Intevac will feature products with direct applications for unmanned air/ground, ground combat vehicles and war fighters, which include the E3010M and E5011 modules, along with the Apache M611 camera and M506 LIVAR® cameras. Product demonstrations of the family of I-Port™ high resolution displays will take place in the booth.

Intevac Booth #1637 will be located at the Baltimore Convention Center. The booth hours are Tuesday and Wednesday, April 30th and May 1st, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Thursday, May 2nd from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

About the Defense Security and Sensing Conference

The 2013 Defense Security and Sensing Conference is expected to attract approximately 6,500 visitors. Researchers and engineers interested in the latest optics, lasers, sensors, image processing, infrared systems and optoelectronic will be in attendance, along with technical leaders from the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and NASA.

About Intevac

Intevac was founded in 1991 and has two businesses: Equipment and Intevac Photonics.

In our Equipment business, we are a leader in the design, development and manufacturing of high-productivity, vacuum process equipment solutions. Our systems are production-proven for high-volume manufacturing of small substrates with precise thin film properties, such as those required in the hard drive and solar cell markets.

In the hard drive industry, our 200 Lean® systems process approximately 60% of all magnetic disk media produced worldwide. In the solar cell manufacturing industry, our LEAN SOLAR™ systems increase the conversion efficiency of silicon solar cells.

In our Photonics business, we are a leader in the development and manufacturing of leading-edge, high-sensitivity imaging products and vision systems. Our products primarily address the defense markets.

For more information call 408-986-9888, or visit the company’s website at www.intevac.com. LIVAR is a registered trademark and I-Port is a trademark of Intevac, Inc.

Why Shares of iRobot Climbed

By Steve Symington, The Motley Fool

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Even as the wider market retreated, shares of iRobot opened up more than 10% on Tuesday. Why the optimism? Let’s take a look.

New executive, better numbers
First, iRobot announced the appointment of Alison Dean as its new CFO. For her part, Dean left 3Com to join iRobot in 2005, just before its IPO, to help prepare the company for the public market.

According to the press release, Dean is replacing John Leahy, “who is stepping down after four years to join a late-stage private company.” If one thing’s for sure, it’s that Leahy’s departure doesn’t appear to be a sign of greater troubles to come. At the end of iRobot’s press release, the company also raised its earnings guidance “based on strong quarterly results to date in both [its] Home Robot and Defense & Security business units.”

When all is said and done in the first quarter of 2013, then, iRobot now expects revenue between $102 million and $104 million, earnings per share of $0.16 to $0.20, and adjusted EBITDA of $10 million to $12 million.

So how can iRobot be so sure it’ll outperform after missing expectations for the past two quarters? Apparently, the company has not only seen “strong sell through both domestically and overseas,” driving sales of its home robots, but it also boasts a strong first-quarter backlog for its recently right-sized D&S business.

Of course, weary long-term investors must be happy iRobot is finally throwing them a bone, especially when we consider that the robot-maker’s subpar third- and fourth-quarter 2012 earnings resulted in single-day drops of 19% and 12%, respectively.

Now are you convinced?
That said, this is exactly why I’ve been pounding the bulls’ table to buy shares of iRobot over the past few months.

In fact, last month I noted that iRobot’s fourth-quarter loss was significantly better than both management and analysts expected, largely on the heels of lower expenses related to its recent acquisition of competitor Evolution Robotics and costs associated with restructuring the D&S segment. As a result, with the stock trading just above $20 per share at the time, I asserted that “iRobot’s losses won’t last forever, and today’s drop is the perfect chance for opportunistic investors to buy.”

Then just two weeks ago, I wasted no time voicing my approval for iRobot’s announcement of a new $25 million share-repurchase program. I saw the buybacks both as an “encouraging sign that all is truly well” with the company and as a significant vote of confidence from management.

With this in mind, it should come as no surprise that the consumer division is doing well; after all, management already told us last quarter that they expected consumer robot sales to grow another 20% in 2013, representing around 90% of total sales for the year.

What does come as a pleasant surprise, however, is the strong backlog in the D&S business — the struggles of which are a primary reason shares of iRobot still trade 35% below …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

iRobot Names New CFO

By Rich Smith, The Motley Fool

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Roomba robotic-vacuum manufacturer iRobot lost its chief financial officer Monday — but it immediately named a replacement.

Current CFO John Leahy is stepping down from his post to join an unidentified “late-stage private company,” iRobot advised in a statement. Taking his place will be newly promoted Executive Vice President, Treasurer, and CFO Alison Dean, an eight-year veteran of the company who served most recently in the capacity of principal accounting officer.

In an SEC filing describing the promotion, iRobot disclosed that it will pay Dean a salary of $325,000 in her new position, along with an annual “target bonus” of 60% of base compensation — $195,000.

In the same statement announcing Dean’s promotion, iRobot preannounced Q1 earnings that appear likely to exceed prior estimates. iRobot expects to report earning between $0.16 and $0.20 per share on $102 million to $104 million in revenue. Company CEO Colin Angle explained the overachievement thusly: “Strong sell through both domestically and overseas is driving sales of our home robots and our strong Q1 backlog in Defense & Security gives us confidence in achieving these expectations.”

iRobot shares reacted positively to both news items, gaining 5.2% in Tuesday trading to close at $23.93.

The article iRobot Names New CFO originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Rich Smith has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends iRobot. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

iRobot Shares Slide; Q1 Outlook Misses Street Estimates

By Eric Savitz, Forbes Staff

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. – Isaac Asimov, Law One Of the Three Laws of Robotics. Looks like iRobot just violated the first law. A maker of home and military robots, iRobot this afternoon provided mixed news for investors in reporting Q4 financial results, and the stock is sagging. For Q4, the company reported revenues of $100.7 million, down from $130.8 million a year ago, and just shy of the Street at $100.9 million. The company lost 21 cents a share in the quarter; that was actually a smaller loss than the 34 cents a share in the red that the Street had projected. “Our Home Robot business had a phenomenal year with revenue increasing 28 percent over 2011, but as expected, the decline in Defense & Security revenue resulted in lower total company revenue and profit for the year,” CEO Colin Angle said in a statement. “2012 was a transformational year for our business, and as we enter 2013, we are a different company than we were a year ago. Our business performance over the next few years will be driven by our rapidly growing home technology business. Home Robots is expected to grow roughly 20 percent this year and comprise 90 percent of total company revenue. In addition, we have an emerging remote presence business and have stabilized our defense business.” …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest