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Harris Achieves 100 Unfurlable Mesh Antenna Reflector Feat

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As announced by the company, Harris Corporation appears to be in full swing to commemorate a notable space satellite antenna landmark with the production of its 100th unfurlable mesh reflector. Following the news, Harris’ share price surged 1.59% during the trading hours to eventually close at $167.84 on Apr 12.

Markedly, the technology and communications company has been dedicatedly working to advance space communications through innovative satellite antenna solutions. Harris is widely regarded as the world reflector leader, producing more than any other company for over past 40 years. The company’s latest reflector will likely support a carbon-monitoring satellite mission to study the changing state of global forests. It is manufacturing the reflector for Airbus Defence and Space — Europe’s leading space company.

The move underscores Harris’ commitment to investing in and enhancing space antenna reflector solutions with unparalleled on-orbit success and design options. It continues to invest in technologies with more than $300 million annual internal R&D. The company’s 12-meter Folded Rib Reflector is a large-aperture configuration that uses P-band synthetic aperture radar to measure the amount of biomass and carbon stored in some of the world’s forests. The long-wavelength P-band radar will have its signals penetrate through dense canopies from a 600km-altitude orbit down to Earth and back.

The information collected from the mission will be used to support the United Nations Program on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation. It is focused on reducing emissions caused by deforestation and degradation in developing countries.

Further, Harris raised its guidance for fiscal 2019 owing to solid second-quarter fiscal 2019 financial results with record earnings and high-single-digit revenue growth, driven by margin expansion across all the three segments. Harris expects revenues in the range of $6.66-$6.69 billion, up 8-8.5% from fiscal 2018 (previously expected 6-8% revenue growth). Non-GAAP EPS is projected between $7.90 and $8.00, up from the previous guidance range of $7.80 and $7.90.

In second-quarter fiscal 2019, the company’s revenues from Space and Intelligence Systems unit increased 11% year over year to $513 million, on the back of growth in classified programs, driven by small satellites and exquisite systems. The segment’s operating income was up 15% year over year to $92 million led by higher volume and strong program execution.

Harris has long-term earnings growth expectation of 8%. Backed by diligent execution of operational strategies alongside multiple contract wins from federal customers, the stock has recorded an average return of 22.9% compared with the industry’s rise of 11% in the past three months.



Currently, Harris has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the industry are PCTEL, Inc. , Juniper Networks, Inc. (JNPR - Free Report) and ZTE Corp. . While PCTEL sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Juniper and ZTE carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

PCTEL currently has forward P/E (F1) of 64.3x.

Juniper has long-term earnings growth expectation of 7.1%.

ZTE currently has forward P/E (F1) of 16.8x.

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