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Flyht Surges After Malaysia Jet Raises Black Box Concern
By Hugo Miller Mar 12, 2014 2:27 PM PT
Flyht Aerospace Solutions Ltd. (FLY), a Canadian maker of real-time flight-data recorders, has surged 30 percent this week as the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines jet highlights shortcomings of conventional black boxes.
Flyht Aerospace rose 11 percent to 73 Canadian cents at the 4 p.m. close in Toronto, up from 56 cents on March 7. The Calgary-based company has more than tripled in the past 12 months, lifting its market value to C$116 million ($104 million).
The jet operated by Malaysian Airline System Bhd. (MAS) with 239 people on board disappeared from radar about an hour after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur on March 8 en route to Beijing. Onboard data recorders like those on the Malaysian jet store information collected in flight, so the units must be recovered to give investigators the fullest picture of what went wrong in an accident.
Airlines are looking for alternatives in the wake of the fatal Air-France (AF) jet crash over the Atlantic in 2009 where it took investigators almost two years to find the black box at the bottom of the ocean, and now the Malaysia jet disappearance. Flyht offers a compelling alternative, said Dev Bhangui, analyst at Byron Capital Markets Ltd. in Toronto. He is one of three analysts who track the company who all rate it a buy.
“Authorities in aerospace move at a glacial pace,” Bhangui said by phone. “It’s only very recently that the authorities have jumped on this. After the Air France disaster, this has come into high profile and obviously the Malaysian Airlines incident is going to bring it to a head.”
Maintenance Information
Flyht’s technology can automatically transmit data back to the ground the moment a plane diverts from its flight path or exhibits other unusual behavior, Flyht Chief Executive Officer Bill Tempany said in a telephone interview today.
The software is not yet authorized to be used onboard as aviation regulators debate what the criteria should be for a trigger and how the data is transmitted, he said. Once that’s decided, the installation would be “weeks away” as it can be done through a software upgrade, he said.
Flyht’s AFIRS hardware box generates non-emergency, mechanical information about the jet back to flight maintenance crews in real-time, saving up to $100,000 a year in maintenance and flight turnaround costs, said Tempany. The cost of installing the hardware in an existing jet is less than $100,000 and can be done in a few days.
The AFIRS system is currently in use on about 300 aircraft worldwide and new customers include NetJets Inc., the jet charter company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), which now uses it on its European operations, said Tempany. The hardware was not on board the missing Malaysian flight, he said.
Subscriber Revenue
Installation of the first dozen units is underway with a major aircraft manufacturer, or original equipment manufacturer, Tempany said, declining to name it.
“The opportunities we’ve been working on for many years are coming to fruition,” he said. “We’re getting there with the OEMS to do factory installs and that’s a huge hurdle for a company of our size to get over.”
Flyht Aerospace’s U.S. competitors include Teledyne Technologies Inc. (TDY) and Avionica Inc., Bhangui said.
Flyht’s business model is a good one as once installed, its technology creates steady, high-margin subscriber revenue, said Bhangui who has a 12-month price target on the stock of C$1.25.
“It’s like HP,” he said, referring to Hewlett-Packard Co. “It’s not the printer, it’s the ink. They’re after the recurring revenue.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Hugo Miller in Toronto at hugomiller@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Scanlan at dscanlan@bloomberg.net Jacqueline Thorpe
Naser Iqbal, analyst with Salman Partners, said on Monday he was initiating coverage of Flyht, bringing the total number of analysts covering the stock to three.
“The addressable market and opportunity for Flyht is tremendous,” Mr. Iqbal said. “The company has a small market penetration in each of the aircraft market segments that it serves, ranging in market share (based on our analysis) from 0.5% to 2.4%. Thus, we believe that Flyht is underpenetrated and there exists a significant potential for further sales growth of the company’s products.”
The three analysts who cover the company rate the stock as a buy, but they range from Mr. Iqbal’s speculative buy to a strong buy by Dev Bhangui of Byron Capital Markets in Toronto. Mr. Iqbal currently has a 12-month price target on the company of 85¢ a share.
http://business.financialpost.com/2014/03/11/mh370-malaysia-news-flyht-aerospace/
Well if you are indeed holding, perhaps you should stop painting such a picture of doom and gloom. I'm sure to some degree you are just venting frustration. I have only been holding since Nov. I know those who have held for a long time have been put through the wringer, but we need to look at the present and future and hope for the best and that Hauck can work some magic.
Good info:
http://www.airtrafficmanagement.net/2014/03/missing-malaysia-aircraft-prompts-calls-emergency-data-streaming/
ww.foxnews.com/tech/2014/03/10/missing-jet-raises-questions-real-time-black-boxes/
Yeah, I agree, not the best explanation or presentation in the videos so far, but at least the company is getting some media coverage.
Malaysia 370 adds to 'Live Black Box' debate:
Richard Hayden, FLYHT Aerospace Solutions Director, explains how an airplane's "black box" functions and what kind of data it supplies.
It's the second video from the top of the page at:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101481437
Huge day: 20.42% increase today.
Floyd,
Thanks for the info., obviously wish it was under better circumstances, but let's face it live black boxes should be required on all passenger airplanes. Looks like we are, and will be even more, moving in that direction. Keep feeding the information, and I will look out for it too.
I have a pretty nice chunk and the stock is up a nice 10% this morning, on a red day for the market. Let's hope this momentum continues.
I knew it was too much to ask to have an intelligent conversation about the pros and cons of a stock, but thought I would try anyway.
Intelligent response.
Can we have an intelligent discussion here. Not everything is black and white (this stock will make you rich, this stock sucks). There is always gray area. As I stated earlier, I bought shares on Friday and I'm looking to buy more. I like the product, I like the delivery method, I like the Zicam connection. But I have also uncovered some shady dealings and the charges against Hensley were a pretty big deal in my opinion:
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — The man who invented Zicam was sentenced Thursday to three years of probation for illegally marketing an unapproved drug he claimed could prevent and treat bird flu.
Charles B. Hensley, 58, of Redondo Beach, was indicted last year on a dozen felony charges related to sales of an influenza-treatment product called Vira 38 that did not have U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.
As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Hensley pleaded guilty to one of the charges, Assistant U.S. Attorney Pio S. Kim said.
Hensley was ordered to serve 400 hours of community service and pay a $5,000 fine, Kim said.
Hensley was arrested last June by members of the Southern California Import Task Force, which consists of FDA and United States Postal Service agents and Los Angeles Police investigators.
Prosecutors say Hensley operated PRB Pharmaceuticals Inc., which marketed Vira 38 as an influenza medication in Hong Kong.
When marketing efforts failed, in part because of the lack of clinical data demonstrating the product’s usefulness, Hensley promoted Vira 38 as a medication to fight the H5N1 virus, which causes bird flu, according to the indictment.
While Hensley touted Vira 38 as a cure for bird flu, the product had not been approved by the FDA, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
I know this is old news, but this level of fraud is significant and makes me wonder if he did this before, will he do it again. As a beginner investor, I would like others with more knowledge than me on this stock to provide their thoughts.
Yeah, it is crazy that in this day and age of advanced technology, satellites, and communication a plane can drop out of the sky and we may never no the cause or be able to recover the bodies. I had no idea how backward the airline industry was until learning about what Flyht offers, and the fact that something like this hasn't been in all passenger planes for years.
I bought a small position in this on Friday, getting swept up in the excitement. Wanting to buy more, but now that I've done some research things aren't looking as good. Here are some of the negative things (misrepresentation, criminal charges against Charles Hensley) I found:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/ITONIS-inc/Irvine-California-92618/ITONIS-inc-ITNS-looks-like-EMCO-Hanover-Group-and-ITNS-are-in-bed-together-Irvine-808903
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/02/business/la-fi-zicam-20110603
Anyone with a lot more knowledge of this company, care to comment?
Thanks
Doing a search for "Sigma Labs" on http://www.metal-powder.net/ gives quite a few good articles on SGLB. Most of you have already read them, but there were a few that were new to me.
Your search for sigma lab returned 59 results.
Sigma Labs moved into metal based AM
Sigma Labs Inc has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Burke E Porter Machinery, Inc, to help commercialise its metal additive manufacturing technology.
Found in: Articles
Sigma Labs extends contract to test AM aerospace parts
Sigma Labs Inc has extended its contract with Honeywell Aerospace to further demonstrate the capabilities of its PrintRite3D technology to make additive manufacture (AM) components.
Found in: Articles
February's top three metal powder stories
Find out what news was most popular with visitors to our website in February.
Found in: Articles
Sigma Labs awarded America Makes AM project
Sigma Labs’ subsidiary, B6 Sigma Inc has been awarded an additive manufacturing (AM) research project from the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII), renamed America Makes.
Found in: Articles
GE and Sigma Labs to improve AM jet engine parts
GE Aviation and Sigma Labs Inc have signed a joint technology development agreement (JTDA) to put in place in-process inspection technologies for additive manufactured jet engine components.
Found in: Articles
Sigma Labs Inc rolls out new suite of software/hardware products
Novel PrintRite3D system facilitates 3D printing of metal parts, Sigma says
Found in: Articles
Sigma and Morris JV would commercialise 3D printing
Sigma Labs and Morris Technologies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to create a joint venture that would commercialise Sigma Labs' PrintRite3D technology for the additive manufacturing (AM) industry.
Found in: Articles
Sigma files provisional patent for metal 3D printing
Innovation designed to allow process qualification and part certification for 3D Printing of critical metal parts.
Found in: Articles
I agree, Hauck (2013 recipient of the industry peer selected Distinguished Service to Powder Metallurgy Award, and a three term President of the International Metal Injection Molding Association)came for a reason. Number one, I'm sure he has plenty of contacts and had a myriad of choices on where to be gainfully employed, and two, fully understands the industry and isn't going to jump on a sinking ship. Patience to all the naysayers, bad sh!t has happened, good sh!t is coming.
MissionIR,
I have a small position in VNRX, and I recall reading that the collaboration with Hvidovre Hospital, essentially amounted to VNRX getting all that data on the 4800 patients for free, or at very low cost. Is my recollection correct? If it is, to me that is huge, as the cost savings of performing the trials is significantly reduced.
Thanks for your help.
Last CC I heard was 2013 Q3 in November, and that was impressive.
From my understanding, there are no real competitors for the equipment and service FLYHT provides. That seems shocking to me in an industry where maximizing plane usage, performing all the required maintenance efficiently, and trying to save fuel has huge effects on the bottom line. What's your opinion on a bigger player, with much bigger resources, jumping in at some point to compete with them? I know there is a huge time commitment to get this equipment approved by the regulatory agencies for each airplane, is that enough of a deterrent?
I first read about it in a Seeking Alpha article, did some additional research and liked what I saw. I'm very new to investing in stocks and don't delve heavily into the financials and track chart patterns, etc. but I really like what this company is trying to do: the future demand for this product; the high barrier for entry of competitors; China's future mandate for satellite communications for all aircraft; the major players they have sold equipment to, and a slew of other reasons. So hopefully this turns into something. In the meantime I need to start reading up on understanding the financials, and the other boring stuff.