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While Israel’s economy might be hurting due to the war in Gaza, Elbit Systems is doing well, as could be expected.
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The Haifa based defense systems maker, Israel’s biggest developer of military technology, is seeing its stock value rising.
Elbit’s shares have risen 54% since 2011 for a greater gain than the 47% overall on the Bloomberg Israel US Index for the same period. Its shares are valued at 13.7 times the company’s estimated earnings, the highest since 2009.
Elbit’s shares have increased 6.1% to $63.01 since the start of the hostilities in Gaza this year. This is in contrast with a 2.3% gain of the Bloomberg Israel-US Index. It has driven the stock to near its the highest level since 2010, and its valuation on a price-to-earnings basis is near its highest level in five years.
While Elbit’s sales are predicted to increase by 1.7% for 2014, it is looking at a 7.7% drop in total revenue in Shekels. This is attributed to the low Dollar and rising Shekel. It has led to an increase in Elbit’s operating costs in Dollars at home.
About 25% of Elbit’s revenues came from within Israel last year. This is expected to increase as the Israel Defense Forces are relying more and more on its high tech systems. The IDF, for example, could certainly use more of Elbit’s Guardium unmanned security vehicles for its ground operations in the populated areas of Gaza.
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In other Elbit news, the company just announced initial deliveries of its latest F-16 avionics upgrades, the Center Pedestal Display (CPD) and updated Common Data Entry Electronics Unit (CDEEU) to Lockheed Martin. These systems were delivered in support of avionics integration in Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Systems Integration Lab and represent just one of many F-16 avionics upgrades that Elbit is supporting around the world.
The upgraded CDEEU is part of an F-16 redesign program. Offering faster processing, additional memory, and provisions for growth while addressing diminishing manufacturing source concerns, Elbit Systems of America has delivered more than 2, 000 production CDEEUs to Lockheed Martin and the USAF Ogden OO-ALC at Hill Air Force Base since 2001 (See: Elbit Systems Of F-16 CDEEU And CPD Delivered To Lockheed Martin).
