Boeing Aims To Profit In This New Market

Article Excerpt

THE BOEING CO. $79 (New York symbol BA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; WSSF Rating: Above average) has won a contract to build a “virtual fence” along the Mexican border in Arizona, using cameras, motion sensors and unmanned planes. The three-year contract is worth just $67 million, tiny in relation to Boeing’s annual revenue of $70 billion. But it could lead to more border-security business, which is a growing field around the world. Boeing’s stock climbed to $90 in May, due to production problems at rival Airbus and strong demand for its new 787 Dreamliner plane. It now trades at 33.6 times the $2.35 a share it will probably earn this year. That’s high for a company so closely linked to the volatile airline industry. Boeing is a hold. hold…