Raytheon

Yesterday was a mixed day on Wall Street for defense contractors. Some military suppliers posted big gains, and others were hit hard from investors. United Technologies Corp. was one of the big losers. Its stock fell more than 28 percent to close at $47.50. On the flip side, Raytheon Co., a maker of the Patriot missile and a variety of other products for the military, posted a gain of nearly 27 percent. "United Technologies got clobbered," said Nicholas P. Heymann, a defense analyst at Prudential Securities.

Raytheon Co. is selling portions of its appliances unit and certain receivables for $750 million, but the company is holding on to the most profitable part of the business, apparently to wait for a premium offer.The Lexington, Mass., company had hoped to fetch about $1 billion for the entire appliance business, which includes Amana stoves and refrigerators and Speed Queen washers. By selling it in pieces, analysts said, Raytheon will likely do that -- or better.Raytheon said yesterday that it agreed to sell three of the unit's businesses -- Amana home appliances, heating and air conditioning, and commercial cooking -- to Houston-based Goodman Holding Co., for $550 million.

WASHINGTON -- Raytheon Co. got U.S. approval for its $2.95 billion purchase of Texas Instruments Inc.'s defense electronics business by agreeing to sell a TI unit that produces a key component for radar systems.Under a settlement announced yesterday by the Justice Department, Raytheon will sell Texas Instruments' production facilities for high-power monolithic microwave integrated circuits, or MMICs, which extend the power and range of radar systems for fighter aircraft and other weapons systems.

Raytheon Co. beat the local unit of Northrop Grumman Corp. last night in a contest to create new radars for the Navy's F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet fighter plane.The contract could be worth about $1 billion, sources said."Both companies submitted extremely strong proposals," said Jerry Daniels, a vice president of Boeing Co., which builds the Super Hornet and made the selection. "In the final analysis, the decision was one of best overall value to the F/A-18 program."Raytheon makes a conventional radar for the older Hornet fighter and the new Super Hornet.

Northrop Grumman Corp. and Raytheon Co. said yesterday that they will team up to bid on a multibillion-dollar contract to install baggage screening devices in all of the nation's airports by the end of the year - and that might mean more work for Northrop's Linthicum-based Electronics Systems sector. The contract is potentially worth $3 billion to $4 billion during the next five years, the companies said. They will submit a proposal by Tuesday, and they expect a decision by the end of the month.

If America winds up bombing Baghdad again, the law of the capitalist jungle is this: Iraq's misfortune means the defense industry's good fortune.The first Persian Gulf war served as an unimaginably expensive infomercial for American arms makers, whose CNN-touted wares became the most coveted in the world.Another conflict is unlikely to have as dramatic an impact, but would highlight a new generation of precision guided weapons that -- macabre as it may sound -- could give a boost to defense electronics powerhouse Raytheon Co."

Wall Street describes it as a "dream" deal: Raytheon Co. splits itself into pieces, and investors walk away with billions of dollars in proceeds.Such a break-up could enable Raytheon to get stronger by merging with another defense company, and would also unlock hidden value in its commercial assets, which include engineering and construction services, business jets and appliances.Under some analysts' dream scenario, Raytheon would merge its defense business with Hughes Aircraft Co. or another defense contractor, spin off part of its Engineers & Constructors division to shareholders, conduct a public stock offering for its Beech Aircraft unit and sell its Amana appliance line to a competitor.

About 300 jobs will leave Towson this year when Raytheon Co. phases out manufacturing operations at its Identification Systems plant on East Joppa Road, the company said yesterday.The move will leave about 300 employees at the military electronics plant, which just a few years ago employed 1,200 people. Raytheon bought the plant from AlliedSignal in September for $67.5 million.The manufacturing work is being transferred to a new factory in Largo, Fla., as part of a year-long effort to consolidate and streamline operations.

When the Navy decided to put a snazzier radar on its new F/A-18 E/F fighter plane, the Linthicum unit of Northrop Grumman Corp. made a push to win the job. There was only one obstacle: Raytheon Co. already builds radars for the plane.Northrop Grumman's predatory move to unseat a fellow contractor has turned heads in the defense industry."This is more aggressive than is normal," said Paul Nisbet, a financial analyst with JSA Research Inc. "But as these companies become bigger because of consolidation, they become more aggressive, and it just gets to be a meaner world."

Raytheon Co. has agreed to buy AlliedSignal Communications Systems in Towson for $62.5 million, adding the local company to one of the top military electronics competitors in the world.The Towson plant, with about $122 million in projected sales this year, has been on the market since January as AlliedSignal Inc., based in Morristown, N.J., reconfigures itself to focus on core aerospace products.A Raytheon spokeswoman said the Lexington, Mass., company intends to employ all 700 or so Towson employees "initially" -- at least until the corporation sizes up the outfit and decides how it fits.