Aeroflex 2Q earnings flat; contracts boost stock

Aeroflex Holding Corp. Friday posted second-quarter earnings and revenue that were roughly flat compared to the year-ago period.

The Plainview-based maker of microelectronic components for the space, defense and wireless industries reported net income of 1 cent per share for the quarter ended Dec. 31, matching the prior-year's quarter, and net sales of $151.1 million, nearly equal to the $151.9 million in the 2012 period.

Shares of the company, however, jumped 14.60 percent yesterday to close at $7.77 in the wake of a conference call in which chief executive Len Borow reported strong bookings, including two new contracts worth more than $20 million.

On Thursday, Aeroflex announced the acquisition of Shenick Network Systems, a provider of virtual testing services for computer network infrastructure.

In Friday's conference call, chief financial officer John Adamovich Jr. said that Aeroflex had paid $28.5 million for the company subject to adjustments.

Shenick, based in Dublin, had net sales of about $9.4 million, including roughly $2.7 million to Aeroflex, he said.

Aeroflex expects the acquisition to be neutral in fiscal 2014 and to add to earnings in fiscal 2015.

The company issued third-quarter guidance, including the Shenick acquisition, for net sales of $155 million to $162 million and net income from continuing operations of $4 million to $8 million.

Aeroflex forecast that earnings from continuing operations would range from 4 cents to 7 cents per share.