Earnings Preview for Precision Castparts (PCP)

Precision Castparts PCP is on tap to report fiscal fourth-quarter 2011 results before the opening bell Thursday, May 12. Analysts are looking for the company to report that earnings grew 13.6% from a year ago to $1.91 per share. That consensus earnings estimate is unchanged in the past 90 days ago. After a string of narrow earnings misses, results were in line with consensus expectations in the previous two quarters. Portland, Oregon-based Precision Castparts manufactures and sells a wide variety of metal components and products worldwide. It operates in three segments: Investment Cast Products, Forged Products and Fastener Products. Aerospace accounts for more than half of the company's sales, and major clients include General Electric GE. Last week, Precision Castparts announced the acquisition of the assets of PB Fasteners. The revenue forecast for the fourth quarter calls for $1.6 billion. That is an increase of 13.5% from the same period of last year. For the full year, analysts expect to see revenues of $6.2 billion (up 12.7% from a year ago) and per-share earnings of $7.06 (up 8.1%). Precision Castparts has a consensus Buy rating and a mean price target of $162.85. The share price reached a 52-week high of $159.36 earlier this week and is about 12% higher than at the beginning of the year. Year to date, the stock has outperformed its industry average and the broader markets.