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KBR to Support Axiom Space for NASA's Next-Gen Spacesuit

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KBR, Inc. (KBR - Free Report) will work with Axiom Space to support the development of NASA's next-generation spacesuit and spacewalk systems.

Under the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services (xEVAS) contract, the companies’ work includes a full range of services, comprising design, testing, and verification of manufacturing and processing of the new spacesuit, the AxEMU.

Axiom is one of two companies (the other being Collins Aerospace) to secure the xEVAS contract that has a potential total value of $3.5 billion to be awarded over the next 12 years.

Apart from KBR, Axiom Space's partners for the AxEMU include Air-Lock, David Clark Company, Paragon Space Development Corporation, Sophic Synergistics and A-P-T Research.

KBR and Axiom Space have collaborated earlier together on Axiom's first commercial space mission, Axiom Mission 1, and will continue to work together on Axiom Mission 2.

The latest new commercial partnership contract with NASA allows Axiom Space and KBR to create next generation astronaut spacesuits. These will be served to the commercial customers, private astronauts, and will achieve future space station goals, while meeting NASA's ISS and Artemis lunar exploration requirements.

Within the Government Solutions Business unit, KBR’s Science & Space team has won all of its recent recompetes and has been receiving terrific performance scores across its contract base. In the last reported quarter, i.e., first-quarter 2022, Science & Space’s top line was up 2%, organically, from last year and also up 10% sequentially from fourth-quarter 2021.

Solid Project Execution: A Boon

KBR’s impressive performance through 2021 and 2022, so far, demonstrated its unwavering focus and superb business execution. Solid double-digit top-line growth, strong organic growth in the Government Solutions unit and robust adjusted EBITDA growth are commendable. The impressive performance was backed by solid contract wining spree, strong project execution, backlog level, and potential government and technology businesses. Meanwhile, it has an impressive earnings surprise history, having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing 17 quarters. Revenues topped the consensus mark in 12 of the trailing 14 quarters.

KBR’s solid backlog level of $13.98 billion (as of Mar 31, 2022) highlights its underlying strength. Government Solutions booked $11.57 billion of backlog at first-quarter end.

Backed by favorable market tailwinds, good bookings momentum, and a strong first-quarter 2022, KBR lifted its guidance for 2022 during the first quarter earnings call. For 2022, the company now expects total revenues in the range of $6.4-$6.8 billion ($6.3-$6.8 expected earlier) and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 10%. Also, it expects an effective tax rate between 24% and 25%, and adjusted earnings per share in the band of $2.53-$2.65. Earlier, it had expected adjusted earnings per share (EPS) within the $2.45-$2.60 range. It now expects adjusted operating cash flow in the range of $360-$400 million, raising the lower range of the previously guided range by $10 million.
 

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KBR’s shares have risen 21% over the past year, against the Zacks Engineering - R and D Services industry’s 2.5% decline.

Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

Currently, KBR carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Primoris Services Corp. (PRIM - Free Report) , currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2, provides a wide range of construction, fabrication, maintenance, replacement and engineering services.

PRIM’s 2022 earnings are likely to rise 19.4%. The company’s earnings estimates have increased to $2.59 from $2.49 per share over the past 60 days.

Dycom Industries, Inc. (DY - Free Report) , currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2, is benefiting from higher demand for network bandwidth and mobile broadband, extended geography, proficient program management and network planning services. Persistent impacts of a large customer program complexity, lower year-over-year revenues related to other large customers and higher fuel costs, are concerns.

The prospects of the Telecommunication business look good, given increased customers’ need to expand capacity and improve the performance of the existing networks and in certain instances, deploy new networks. Dycom expects considerable opportunities across a broad array of customers.

Dycom’s earnings for fiscal 2023 are expected to grow 116.5%.

Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL - Free Report) , currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2, mostly offers luxury homes and its communities are located in prosperous suburban areas with easy access to major cities.

TOL’s expected earnings growth rate for fiscal 2022 is 53.7%. The consensus mark for its fiscal 2022 earnings has moved up to $10.19 per share from $9.87 in the past 60 days.

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