Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, alternative fuel technologist Westport Innovations (NASDAQ: WPRT ) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Westport and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Westport facts
Headquarters (founded)
Vancouver, Canada (1995)
Market Cap
$1.7 billion
Industry
Construction and farm machinery and heavy trucks
Trailing-12-Month Revenue
Best Construction Stocks To Invest In 2015: Intel Corporation(INTC)
Intel Corporation engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of integrated circuits for computing and communications industries worldwide. It offers microprocessor products used in notebooks, netbooks, desktops, servers, workstations, storage products, embedded applications, communications products, consumer electronics devices, and handhelds. The company also provides system on chip products that integrate its core processing functionalities with other system components, such as graphics, audio, and video, onto a single chip. In addition, it offers chipset products that send data between the microprocessor and input, display, and storage devices, including keyboard, mouse, monitor, hard drive, and CD, DVD, or Blu-ray drives; motherboards designed for desktop, server, and workstation platforms, and that has connectors for attaching devices to the bus; and wired and wireless connectivity products consisting of network adapters and embedded wireless cards used to translate and transmit data across networks. Further, the company provides NAND flash memory products primarily used in portable memory storage devices, digital camera memory cards, and solid-state drives; software products comprising operating systems, middleware, and tools used to develop, run, and manage various enterprise, consumer, embedded, and handheld devices; and software development tools that enable the creation of applications. Additionally, it develops computing platforms, which are integrated hardware and software computing technologies designed to offer an optimized solution. The company sells its products principally to original equipment manufacturers, original design manufacturers, PC components and other products users, and other manufacturers of industrial and communications equipment. It has a strategic alliance with Scientific Conservation Inc. Intel Corporation was founded in 1968 and is based in Santa Clara, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Travis Hoium]
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC ) is expecting growth to pick up in the second half of 2013 as mobile products pick up market share. But unproven new products will have to drive the growth and the first quarter didn't leave investors impressed. So, is the stock a buy because of management's confidence? Erin Miller sat down with Fool contributor Travis Hoium to see why he thinks shares are a great value right now.
Best US Companies To Own For 2014: Thomson Reuters Corp(TRI)
Thomson Reuters Corporation provides intelligent information for businesses and professionals worldwide. The company allows market participants to connect, access content, and trade in a secure environment through Thomson Reuters Eikon desktop, Thomson Reuters Elektron network, content integration and management technology, content feeds and databases, and transactions infrastructure solutions that support buy- and sell-side customers to trade in foreign exchange, fixed income and derivatives, equities, exchange-traded instruments, and commodities and energy markets. It also offers information, analytics, workflow, and technology solutions to buy-side and off-trading floor customers; access to liquidity in over-the-counter markets, trade execution, and connections for market participants and financial professionals? communities; and a suite of solutions offering informed outcomes to regulated industries and law firms. In addition, the company provides critical information , decision support tools, and software and services to legal, investigation, business, and government professionals; integrated tax compliance and accounting software and services for accounting and law firms, corporations, and government professionals; intellectual property and scientific resources that enable its customers to discover, develop, and deliver innovations; and data analytics, and performance benchmarking solutions and services to healthcare sector. Further, it offers coverage of global, regional, and national news in 20 languages covering politics, business, finance, entertainment, lifestyle, technology, health, science, and sports; and engages in advertising-supported direct-to-consumer publishing activities of Reuters.com and its network of Websites, mobile applications, and electronic out-of-home displays. The company was formerly known as The Thomson Corporation and changed its name to Thomson Reuters Corporation in April 2008. The company is headquartered in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Smith]
Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI ) has acquired Canadian trademark search, monitoring, and screening firm Onscope, Thomson announced Tuesday.
- [By Rich Smith]
This series, brought to you by Yahoo! Finance, looks at which upgrades and downgrades make sense, and which ones investors should act on. Today, our headlines feature an upgrade for Thomson Reuters Reuters (NYSE: TRI ) , a new buy rating for Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX ) -- but for Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP ) , a downgrade. Let's get that bad news out of the way first.
Best US Companies To Own For 2014: Xcel Energy Inc.(XEL)
Xcel Energy Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity to residential, commercial, and industrial customers, as well as to public authorities in the United States. The company generates electricity using coal, nuclear, natural gas, hydro, wood, diesel, and wind energy. It also engages in the purchase, transportation, distribution, and sale of natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company serves customers in portions of Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin. As of December 31, 2010, it provided electricity services to 3,391,611 customers; and natural gas services to 1,893,250 customers. Xcel Energy, through its joint venture interests in WYCO Development LLC, develops and leases natural gas pipeline, storage, and compression facilities. The company was founded in 1909 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Smith]
Schadenfreude's in season
Not everyone's opposed to the law, necessarily. For example, Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL ) is already working to expand its portfolio of wind-generated power in the state, and two years ago, it put into operation a 19-megawatt solar farm in cooperation with SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR ) . As a so-called "investor-owned utility," Xcel is already subject to a target of 30% renewables use by 2020 -- so a law making its rural rivals hit a 20% target probably didn't upset Xcel all that much. - [By Richard Stavros]
According to the Ceres ranking, NV Energy Inc, which was acquired late last year by Warren Buffett�� MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co, Xcel Energy Inc (NYSE: XEL), PG&E Corp (NYSE: PCG), Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) and Edison International (NYSE: EIX) ranked the highest for renewable energy sales. Renewable resources accounted for roughly 17 percent to 21 percent of their retail electricity sales in 2012.
Best US Companies To Own For 2014: EnerNOC Inc (ENOC)
EnerNOC, Inc. (EnerNOC), incorporated on June 5, 2003, is a provider of energy management applications, services and products for the smart grid, which include demand response, data-driven energy efficiency, and energy price and risk management applications, services and products. The Company�� energy management applications, services and products enable energy management strategies for commercial, institutional and industrial end-users of energy, which it refers to as its C&I customers, and its electric power grid operator and utility customers by reducing real-time demand for electricity, increasing energy efficiency and improving energy supply transparency. The Company�� energy management applications, services and products include its EnerNOC EfficiencySMART and SupplySMART applications and services, and certain wireless energy management products.
DemandSMART
The Company�� demand response capacity provides an alternative to building conventional supply-side resources, such as natural gas-fired peaking power plants, to meet periods of peak electricity demand. The Company is in the development, implementation and broader adoption of technology-enabled demand response services for the smart grid. The Company�� DemandSMART application enables us to send control signals to, and receive bi-directional communications from, an Internet-enabled network of dispersed C&I customer sites in order to initiate, monitor and complete demand response activity. The Company�� technology and operational processes have the ability to automate demand response and simplify C&I customer participation by remotely reducing electricity usage in a matter of minutes, or send curtailment instructions to its C&I customers to be manually implemented on site. The devices that it installs at its C&I customer sites transmit to us through the cellular network and Internet near real-time electrical consumption data on a 1-minute, 5-minute, 15-minute or hourly basis. The Company�� DemandSMART app! lication analyzes the data from individual sites and aggregates data for specific regions. When a demand response event occurs, its network operations center (NOC) automatically processes the notification coming from the electric power grid operator or utility. The Company�� NOC operators then begin activating procedures to curtail demand from the grid at its C&I customer sites.
The Company provides its demand response services to electric power grid operators and utilities under long-term contracts and pursuant to open market bidding programs. The Company�� long-term contracts generally have terms of 3-10 years and predetermined capacity commitment and payment levels. Within these contracts and open market programs, it offers the services to address the needs of electric power grid operators and utilities: reliability-based demand response, price-based demand response, and short-term reserve resources referred to in the electric power industry as ancillary services.
EfficiencySMART
EfficiencySMART is the Company�� data-driven energy efficiency suite that includes energy efficiency planning, audits, assessments, commissioning and retro-commissioning authority services, and a cloud-based energy analytics application used for managing energy across a C&I customer�� portfolio of sites. The cloud-based energy analytics application also includes the ability to integrate with a C&I customer�� existing energy management system, provide utility bill management and tools for measurement, tracking, analysis, reporting and management of greenhouse gas emissions. The Company offers the EfficiencySMART applications and services, which include EfficiencySMART Plan, EfficiencySMART Audit, EfficiencySMART Assessment, EfficiencySMART Commissioning and EfficiencySMART Insight.
EfficiencySMART Plan provides its C&I customers with a multi-year profile of projected energy demand, consumption and costs, including a lifecycle financial analysis of potential energy! strategi! es and a roadmap for implementation. EfficiencySMART Audit provides its C&I customers with energy efficiency recommendations in compliance with the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning (ASHRAE) standards for conditioned space, and tactical energy surveys for industrial facilities. EfficiencySMART Assessment provides detailed recommendations for energy savings, demand reductions, reductions in energy intensity through operation and maintenance activities, equipment retrofits, behavioral changes, or the use of new technologies. EfficiencySMART Commissioning includes traditional and/or new building commissioning services, such as investigation, testing and verification of energy efficiency strategies, and data analytics over a specified period of time. EfficiencySMART Insight provides its large, multi-site C&I customers with a Software-as-a-Service enterprise energy management solution that provides persistent commissioning with the ability to visualize near real-time energy usage, identify savings opportunities, and prioritize energy-related investments across a portfolio of meters and buildings across a C&I customer�� organization.
SupplySMART
SupplySMART is the Company�� energy price and risk management application that provides its C&I customers located in restructured or deregulated markets throughout the United States with the ability to more effectively manage the energy supplier selection process, including energy supply product procurement and implementation. SupplySMART provides a framework for developing and implementing risk management strategies and executing purchasing strategies that provides maximum price transparency and structural savings on an ongoing basis for its C&I customers.
Technology and Operations
The Company�� technology has been developed provides a platform on which to design, customize, and implement its energy management applications, services and products. The Company�� technology infrast! ructure i! s built on Linux, Java and Oracle, and supports open Web services architecture. The Company�� enterprise energy management application platform enables the Company to efficiently scale its DemandSMART, EfficiencySMART, and SupplySMART applications and services, as well as certain wireless energy management products, in new geographic regions and rapidly grow the number of C&I customers in its network. The Company�� energy management application platform leverages Web services and wireless technologies that connect applications directly with other applications through a form of loose coupling, which allows connections to be established across applications without customization.
Network Operations Center
The Company�� technology enables its NOC to automatically respond to signals sent by electric power grid operators and utilities to deliver demand reductions within targeted geographic regions. The Company can customize its technology to receive and interpret many types of dispatch signals sent directly from an electric power grid operator or utility customer to its NOC. Following the receipt of such a signal, its NOC automatically notifies specified C&I customer personnel of the demand response event. After relaying this notification to its C&I customers, it initiate processes that reduce their electricity consumption from the electric power grid. These processes may include dimming lights, shifting equipment to power save mode, adjusting heating and cooling set points and activating a back-up generator. Demand reduction is monitored remotely with near real-time data feeds, the results of which are displayed in its NOC through various data presentment screens.
Energy Management Platform
The Company�� energy management platform is consists of its cloud-based enterprise software platform used for DemandSMART, EfficiencySMART and SupplySMART, as well as wireless energy management products and technology, and is the underlying system that runs its ! NOC. It u! tilizes a modular Web services architecture that is designed to allow application modules to be easily integrated into the platform. The Company use its energy management platform to measure, manage, benchmark and optimize C&I customers��energy consumption and facility operations. The Company use this data to help C&I customers analyze consumption patterns, forecast demand, measure real-time performance during demand response events, continuously monitor building management equipment to optimize system operation, model rates and tariffs and create energy scorecards to benchmark similar facilities. In addition, its energy management application platform has the ability to track its C&I customers��greenhouse gas emissions by mapping their energy consumption with the fuel mix used for generation in their location, such as the proportion of coal, nuclear, natural gas, fuel oil and other sources used.
The EnerNOC Site Server
The Company designs and installs a small device, called an EnerNOC Site Server, or ESS, at each C&I customer site to collect and communicate to its platform near real-time electricity consumption data and, in certain cases, enable remote control of a C&I customer�� electricity consumption. The ESS communicates to its NOC through the C&I customer�� LAN or secure Internet connection. The ESS is an open, integrated system consisting of a central hardware device residing inside a standard electrical box. The ESS allows its C&I customers to, among other things, respond quickly and completely to instructions from us to reduce electricity consumption. The Company also supports OpenADR protocol on its most recent ESS devices, an emerging standard for automated demand response communications.
The Company competes with Comverge, Inc., Exelon Corporation, Energy Curtailment Specialists and Hess, Inc., as well as energy technology providers Lucid Design Group, Inc., Building IQ, SCIEnergy, Inc. and McKinstry Co., LLC.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Alyce Lomax]
Along those lines, I'm thinking of one company I follow, EnerNOC (NASDAQ: ENOC ) , which works on energy demand response. However, it's increasingly involved in irrigation systems. That seems to be a sign of the times -- and the future.
- [By Alyce Lomax]
After surging in recent months, EnerNOC (NASDAQ: ENOC ) shares have sputtered out again. Developments concerning a major customer underline the evolving landscape for a company like this one. Right now, investors aren't exhibiting much demand for this demand response company.
Best US Companies To Own For 2014: Kirby Corp (KEX)
Kirby Corporation, incorporated on January 31, 1969, is a domestic tank barge operator, transporting bulk liquid products throughout the Mississippi River System, on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and along all three United States coasts and in Alaska and Hawaii. The Company transports petrochemicals, black oil products, refined petroleum products and agricultural chemicals by tank barge. The Company, through its subsidiaries, conducts operations in two business segments: marine transportation and diesel engine services. Through the diesel engine services segment, the Company provides after-market service for diesel engines and reduction gears used in marine and power generation applications. The Company also distributes and services diesel engines and transmissions, pumps and compression products, and manufactures oilfield service equipment, including hydraulic fracturing equipment, for land-based pressure pumping and oilfield service markets. The Company, through its marine transportation segment, is a provider of marine transportation services, operating tank barges and towing vessels transporting bulk liquid products throughout the Mississippi River System, on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and along all three United States coasts and in Alaska and Hawaii. On December 15, 2011, the Company completed the purchase of the coastal tank barge fleet of Seaboats, Inc. and affiliated companies (Seaboats). On July 1, 2011, the Company completed the acquisition of K-Sea Transportation Partners L.P. (K-Sea). On April 15, 2011, the Company purchased United Holdings LLC (United), a distributor and service provider of engine and transmission related products for the oil and gas services, power generation and on-highway transportation industries, and manufacturer of oilfield service equipment. On February 24, 2011, the Company acquired 21 inland and offshore tank barges and 15 inland towboats and offshore tugboats from Enterprise Marine Services LLC (Enterprise). On February 9, 2011, the Company acquired from ! Kinder Morgan Petcoke, L.P. (Kinder Morgan).
The Company transports petrochemicals, black oil products, refined petroleum products, and agricultural chemicals by tank barge. The Company also owns and operates fits offshore dry-bulk barges and tugboats engaged in the coastal transportation of dry-bulk cargoes. It is a provider of transportation services for its customers. The Company, through its diesel engine services segment, sells replacement parts, provides service mechanics to overhaul and repair diesel engines, transmissions, reduction gears, pumps and compression products, maintains facilities to rebuild component parts or diesel engines, transmissions and reduction gears, and manufactures oilfield service equipment, including hydraulic fracturing equipment. The Company services the marine, power generation, oilfield service, and land-based oil and gas operator and producer markets.
Marine Transportation
The marine transportation segment is a provider of transportation services by tank barge for the inland and coastal markets. As of February 22, 2012, the equipment owned or operated by the marine transportation segment consisted of 819 inland tank barges, 236 inland towboats, 59 coastal tank barges, 65 coastal tugboats, fits offshore dry-cargo barges, fits offshore tugboats and one docking tugboat. The 236 inland towboats, 65 coastal tugboats, fits offshore tugboats and one docking tugboat provide the power source and the 819 inland tank barges, 59 coastal tank barges and fits offshore dry-cargo barges provide the freight capacity for the marine transportation segment. The Company�� coastal and offshore tows consist of one tugboat and one tank barge or dry-cargo barge.
During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company�� inland marine transportation operation moved over 50 million tons of liquid cargo on the United States inland waterway system. Products transported for its customers along the inland waterway system consisted of petrochemi! cals, bla! ck oil products, refined petroleum products and agricultural chemicals. Bulk liquid petrochemicals transported include, such products as benzene, styrene, methanol, acrylonitrile, xylene and caustic soda, all consumed in the production of paper, fibers and plastics. During 2011, the transportation of petrochemical products represented 59% of the segment�� revenues. Customers shipping these products are refining and petrochemical companies. Black oil products transported include products, such as asphalt, residual fuel oil, No. 6 fuel oil, coker feedstock, vacuum gas oil, carbon black feedstock, crude oil and ship bunkers (engine fuel). During 2011, such products represented 20% of the segment�� revenues. During 2011, refined petroleum products transported include the various blends of finished gasoline, gasoline blendstocks, jet fuel, No. 2 oil, naphtha, heating oil and diesel fuel, and represented 16% of the segment�� revenues. The Company also classifies ethanol in the refined petroleum product category. Customers are oil and refining companies, marketers and ethanol producers.
During 2011, agricultural chemicals transported represented 5% of the segment�� revenues. They include anhydrous ammonia and nitrogen-based liquid fertilizer, as well as industrial ammonia. Agricultural chemical customers consist of domestic and foreign producers of such products. As of December 31, 2011, the marine transportation segment operated a fleet of 819 inland tank barges and 236 inland towboats, as well as 59 coastal tank barges and 65 coastal tugboats. The segment also owns and operates fits offshore barge and tug units transporting dry-bulk commodities in coastal trade. As of December 31, 2011, the marine transportation segment operated a fleet of 819 inland tank barges and 236 inland towboats, as well as 59 coastal tank barges and 65 coastal tugboats. The segment also owns and operates fits offshore barge and tug units transporting dry-bulk commodities in coastal trade.
The Canal ! fleet tra! nsports petrochemical feedstocks, processed chemicals, pressurized products, black oil products and refined petroleum products along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, the Mississippi River below Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the Houston Ship Channel. The Linehaul fleet transports petrochemical feedstocks, chemicals, agricultural chemicals and lube oils along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Mississippi River and the Illinois and Ohio Rivers. Loaded tank barges are staged in the Baton Rouge area from Gulf Coast refineries and petrochemical plants, and are transported from Baton Rouge to waterfront terminals and plants on the Mississippi, Illinois and Ohio Rivers, and along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The River fleet transports petrochemical feedstocks, chemicals, refined petroleum products, agricultural chemicals and black oil products along the Mississippi River System above Baton Rouge. Petrochemical feedstocks and processed chemicals are transported to waterfront petrochemical and chemical plants, while black oil products, refined petroleum products and agricultural chemicals are transported to waterfront terminals.
The marine transportation inland operation moves and handles a range of cargoes. As of December 21, 2011, of the 819 inland tank barges operated, 618 were petrochemical and refined products barges, 123 were black oil barges, 63 were pressure barges, 10 were refrigerated anhydrous ammonia barges and five were specialty barges. Marine transportation services for inland movements are conducted under long-term contracts, ranging from one to five years. Kirby Inland Marine, LP (Kirby Inland Marine) operates commercial tank barge fleeting service (temporary barge storage facilities) in ports, including Houston, Corpus Christi and Freeport, Texas, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana and other locations on the Mississippi River. Included in the fleeting service is a 51% interest and management control of a shifting operation and fleeting service for dry cargo barges and tank barges ! on the Ho! uston Ship Channel. Kirby Inland Marine provides service for its own barges, as well as outside customers, transferring barges within the areas noted, as well as fleeting barges.
Kirby Logistics Management (KLM) is a division of Kirby Inland Marine providing shore-based tankerman and support services to the Company and third parties. Services provided by KLM include barge tankermen, marine terminal, refinery and chemical plant dock operators, and terminal management services. KLM�� services to the Company and third parties cover the Gulf Coast, mid-Mississippi Valley, and the Ohio River Valley. The Company owns a 66% interest in Osprey Line, L.L.C. (Osprey), which transports project cargoes and cargo containers by barge on the United States inland waterway system. The segment�� coastal operations are conducted through wholly owned subsidiaries, K-Sea Transportation Partners LLC and Kirby Ocean Transport Company (Kirby Ocean Transport). K-Sea provides marine transportation of refined petroleum products and black oil products in each coastal region of the United States. The coastal operations consist of the Atlantic, New York, Pacific and Hawaii Divisions. The Atlantic Division operates along the eastern seaboard of the United States and along the Gulf Coast. The Atlantic Division vessels call on coastal states from Maine to Texas, servicing refineries, storage terminals and power plants. The Atlantic Division also operates equipment on the Great Lakes, in the Caribbean, and in Venezuela and the Eastern Canadian provinces.
The New York Division operates in the New York Harbor, close to container terminals, cruise piers, refineries and petroleum storage facilities. The New York Division also performs coastal voyages between Maine and Norfork, Virginia and manages operations in Philadelphia. The New York Division�� fleet consists of tank barges in the 10,000 to 89,000 barrel capacity range and tugboats in the 1800 to 3400 horsepower range, transporting refined petroleum produ! cts for l! ocal and regional customers, black oil products to power generation customers and the delivery of bunker fuel to ships. The Pacific Division operates along the Pacific coast of the United States, servicing refineries and storage terminals from Southern California to Washington State, throughout Alaska, including Dutch Harbor, Cook Inlet and the Alaska River Systems, and from California to Hawaii. The Pacific Division�� fleet consists of tank barges in the 13,000 to 185,000 barrel capacity range and tugboats in the 1000 to 11800 horsepower range, transporting refined petroleum products.
The Hawaii Division services local petroleum retailers and oil companies distributing refined petroleum products and black oil products between the Hawaiian islands and provides other services to the local maritime community. As of December 31, 2011, the Hawaii Division�� fleet consisted of tank barges in the 52,000 to 86,000 barrel capacity range and tugboats in the 1200 to 7200 horsepower range, transporting refined petroleum products for local and regional customers, black oil products to power generation customers, and the delivery of bunker fuel to ships. The Hawaii Division also provides service docking, standby tug assistance and line handling to vessels using the Single Point Mooring installation at Barbers Point, Oahu, a facility for tankers to load and discharge their cargos through an offshore buoy and submerged pipeline without entering the port. As of December 31, 2011, the coastal fleet consisted of 59 tank barges, 56 of which were double hull and three of which were single hull, with 3.8 million barrels of capacity, transporting refined petroleum products and black oil products. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated 65 Company-owned coastal tugboats ranging from 1000 to 11800 horsepower. Tugboats in the 1800 to 3400 horsepower classes provide power for barges used in the New York Division. Tugboats in the 1000 to 11800 horsepower classes provide power for barges used in the Atlantic! , Pacific! and Hawaii Divisions. Kirby Ocean Transport owns and operates a fleet of fits offshore dry-bulk barges, fits offshore tugboats and one docking tugboat. Kirby Ocean Transport also has a contract with Holcim (US) Inc. (Holcim) to transport Holcim�� limestone requirements from a facility adjacent to the PEF facility at Crystal River to Holcim�� plant in Theodore, Alabama. Kirby Ocean Transport is also engaged in the transportation of coal, fertilizer and other bulk cargoes on a short-term basis between domestic ports and occasionally the transportation of grain from domestic ports to ports primarily in the Caribbean Basin.
Diesel Engines
The Company, through wholly owned subsidiary Kirby Engines Systems, Inc. (Kirby Engine Systems), is engaged in the overhaul and repair of medium-speed and high-speed diesel engines and reduction gears, and related parts sales used in marine and power generation applications, and distributes and services high-speed diesel engines and transmissions, pumps and compression products, and manufactures oilfield service equipment, including hydraulic fracturing equipment, used in land-based pressure pumping, oilfield service, power generation and transportation applications.
For the marine market, the Company sells Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) replacement parts, provides service mechanics to overhaul and repair engines and reduction gears, and maintains facilities to rebuild component parts or entire engines and reduction gears. For the power generation market, the Company provides service and parts capabilities and safety-related products to power generation operators and to the nuclear industry, and manufactures engine generator and pump sets for the power generation operators and municipalities. The Company expanded its diesel engine services operation with the purchase of United, a manufacturer, diesel engine and transmission distributor and service provider for the land-based oil and gas services market, oil and gas operat! ors and p! roducers, compression companies, power generation companies, on-highway transportation companies and agricultural markets. United�� principal businesses are the distribution and service of diesel engines, pumps and transmissions, the manufacture and remanufacture of oilfield service equipment, including hydraulic fracturing equipment, and the manufacture of compression equipment for natural gas transmission and for natural gas fired power generation plants.
The Company is engaged in the overhaul and repair of medium-speed and high-speed diesel engines and reduction gears, line boring, block welding services and related parts sales for customers in the marine industry. The Company services medium-speed and high-speed diesel engines utilized in the inland and offshore barge industries. It also services marine equipment and offshore drilling equipment used in the offshore petroleum exploration and oil service industry, marine equipment used in the offshore commercial fishing industry and vessels owned by the United States government. The Company has marine operations throughout the United States providing in-house and in-field repair capabilities and related parts sales. The medium-speed operations are located in Houma, Louisiana, Chesapeake, Virginia, Paducah, Kentucky, Seattle, Washington and Tampa, Florida. The operations based in Chesapeake, Virginia and Tampa, Florida are authorized distributors for 17 eastern states and the Caribbean for Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. (EMD). The marine operations based in Houma, Louisiana, Paducah, Kentucky and Seattle, Washington are nonexclusive authorized service centers for EMD providing service and related parts sales. The Houma, Louisiana operation concentrates on the inland and offshore barge and oil services industries. The Tampa, Florida operation concentrates on Gulf of Mexico offshore dry-bulk, tank barge and harbor docking operators. The Paducah, Kentucky operation concentrates on the inland river towboat and barge operators and the Great Lake! s carrier! s. The Seattle, Washington operation concentrates on the offshore commercial fishing industry, tugboat and barge industry, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and Navy, and other customers in Alaska, Hawaii and the Pacific Rim. The high-speed operations are located in Houma, Baton Rouge, Belle Chasse and New Iberia, Louisiana, Paducah, Kentucky, Mobile, Alabama and Houston, Texas. The Company serves as a factory-authorized marine dealer for Caterpillar diesel engines in Alabama, Kentucky and Louisiana. The Company also operates factory-authorized full service marine dealerships for Cummins, Detroit Diesel and John Deere diesel engines, as well as Allison transmissions and Twin Disk marine gears.
During 2011, the Company was engaged in the overhaul and repair of diesel engines and reduction gears, line boring, block welding service and related parts sales for power generation customers, which represented 9% of the segment�� revenues. The Company is also engaged in the sale and distribution of parts for diesel engines and governors to the nuclear industry. The Company services users of diesel engines, which provides standby, peak and base load power generation, as well as users of industrial reduction gears, such as the cement, paper and mining industries. The Company provides in-house and in-field repair capabilities and safety-related products to power generation operators from its Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Paducah, Kentucky and Seattle, Washington locations. The Rocky Mount operation is also the distributor of EMD products to the nuclear industry, the global distributor for Woodward Governor products to the nuclear industry, the global distributor of Cooper Energy Services, Inc. products to the nuclear industry, and owns the assets and technology necessary to support the Nordberg medium-speed diesel engines used in nuclear applications. In addition, the Rocky Mount operation is a distributor for Honeywell International Incorporated industrial measurement and control products to the ! nuclear i! ndustry, an distributor for Norlake Manufacturing Company transformer products to the nuclear industry and a non-exclusive distributor of analog Weschler Instruments metering products and distributor of digital Weschler metering products to the nuclear industry. The Paducah, Kentucky operation provides in-house and in-field repair services for Falk industrial reduction gears in the Midwest. The Seattle, Washington operation provides in-house and in-field repair services for Alco engines located on the West Coast and the Pacific Rim.
The Company�� power generation customers are domestic utilities and the global nuclear power industry. The Company is engaged in the distribution and service of diesel engines, pumps and transmissions, the manufacture and remanufacture of oilfield service equipment and the manufacture of compression equipment for natural gas transmission and for natural gas fired power generation plants. The Company offers a range of custom fabricated oilfield service equipment, fully tested and field ready. The Company manufactures products or components that are purchased by a company and marketed under the purchasing company�� brand name. The Company distributes, sells parts and services diesel engines and transmissions for on and off-highway use, and provide in-house and in-field service capabilities. The Company is also the exclusive distributor for Daimler for engines and related equipment in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. The Company manufactures and re-manufacturers oilfield service equipment, including hydraulic fracturing equipment, pressure pumping units, nitrogen pumping units, cementers, hydration equipment, mud pumps and blenders. The Company also manufactures and packages custom compressor systems, including electric motor driven systems, natural gas driven systems and industrial air systems, and manufactures natural gas General Motors and Isuzu diesel-powered engines for a range of applications from 40 to 500 horsepower. The Company is a dealer of Thermo K! ing refri! gerated systems for trucks, railroad cars and other land transportation markets in south and central Texas. The Company�� land-based customers include oilfield service providers, oil and gas operators and producers, compression companies, domestic utilities, on-highway transportation companies and companies associated with the agricultural markets.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Aimee Duffy]
The role of the barge can't be underestimated. Barge receipts increased more than two percentage points year over year, and this is a great place for investors to look for opportunity. Companies with maritime resources benefit from this trend, as well as growth in exports. Three such companies that are worth a look are:
Kirby Corporation (NYSE: KEX ) , which operates 30% of the coastal tank barges in the U.S.� Oiltanking Partners (NYSE: OILT ) , which has storage capacity of 12.1 million barrels and six deepwater docks on the Houston Ship Channel Martin Midstream Partners (NASDAQ: MMLP ) , which operates a large fleet of inland barges and controls 31 marine terminals�These companies won't be the only winners, but they are a good place to start your research.
Best US Companies To Own For 2014: InvenSense Inc (INVN)
InvenSense, Inc. (InvenSense), incorporated in June 2003, is a provider of intelligent motion processing solutions. The Company is engaged in the designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing linear and mixed-signal integrated circuits (IC). It has designed and developed an integrated motion processing solution that enables a motion-based user interface for consumer electronics. Its solutions are comprised of an IC that incorporates motion sensors, such as gyroscopes, with associated software and are differentiated by their small form factor, high level of integration, performance, reliability and cost effectiveness. It targets consumer electronics applications, such as console and portable video gaming devices, handset and tablet devices, digital still and video cameras, digital television and set-top box remote controls, three-dimensional (3D) mice and portable navigation devices. As of March 31, 2010, InvenSense had shipped over 60 million units of its products. In November 2013, Analog Devices, Inc completed the sale of the assets of its microphone product line to InvenSense, Inc.
The Company�� MotionProcessing platform offers its customers an integrated and solution comprised of its micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) based motion sensors and their companion mixed-signal integrated circuits, embedded DigitalMotion processors that combine digital outputs from multiple motion sensors to provide more accurate motion tracking functionality, which it refers to as SensorFusion, and its MotionProcessing library that allows its customers to create applications using its MotionProcessing solutions. To promote faster adoption and time to market for its customers, InvenSense provides application programming interfaces and pre-configured application functionalities, such as gesture recognition, which it refers to as MotionApplication software.
The Company�� technology is comprised of four components: Nasiri-Fabrication process, advanced MEMS gyroscope design, mixed-sig! nal circuitry that provides sensor signal processing and enables SensorFusion technology critical to its MotionProcessing platform, and MotionProcessing library and MotionApplication software solutions. InvenSense�� Nasiri-Fabrication process allows it to combine MEMS with standard complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) at the wafer level. InvenSense utilizes a fabless business model, working with third parties to manufacture, package and assemble its products. It performs its own wafer level sorting, testing and calibration with testing tools at its facilities in Taiwan. It sells its products through direct sales to manufacturers of consumer electronics devices.
The Company competes with Analog Devices, Inc., Robert Bosch GmbH, Epson Toyocom Corporation, Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., Rohm Co., Ltd., Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Panasonic Corporation, Sony Corporation, and STMicroelectronics N.V.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Steve Symington]
Shares of motion sensor specialist InvenSense (NYSE: INVN ) rose by as much as 27% Friday after the company reported its fiscal fourth quarter 2013 earnings.
- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
Tim Boyle/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesJanus Capital stock surge when the firm hired investing guru Bill Gross. In any given week, some stocks are sure to shoot up, and others will plummet. The big gainers inspire us to keep investing. The presence of the decliners keeps our greed in check while reminding us about the risks of the equity markets. Let's go over some of last week's best and worst performers. Janus Capital Group (JNS) -- Up 41 percent last week One of last week's biggest gainers was Janus, soaring on Friday after mutual fund manager Bill Gross announced that he would be leaving Pimco to join Janus. It's a big deal for Gross, who managed to grow Pimco's Total Return Fund to $222 billion in assets under management over the past 43 years. Landing Gross would be a great catch for any fund family, but it's particularly sweet for Janus since its strength in the past has been its stock funds. The arrival of Gross should find a lot of fixed income investors flocking to Janus. Green Dot (GDOT) -- Up 16 percent last week Prepaid debit card leader Green Dot got the green light from investors after teaming up with Walmart (WMT) for the retailer's new GoBank low-cost mobile checking platform. Teaming up with Green Dot's prepaid mastery gives it a way to start serving less-affluent customers without taking on gobs of risk. At the end of the day, the market likes Green Dot's potential as the world's largest retailer puts some marketing muscle behind the initiative. ReWalk Robotics (RWLK) -- Up 12 percent last week Giving the disabled hope has made ReWalk Robotics a winner since it went public a couple of weeks ago. It provides a robotic exoskeleton for folks with spinal cord injuries, allowing them to stand up and walk through powered hip and knee controls. It's not cheap, as you can probably imagine. The exoskeleton can reportedly run as high as $85,000. However, ReWalk got a boost last week after a major German insurance company became the first insurer to
- [By Eric Volkman]
InvenSense (NYSE: INVN ) results for the company's Q4 and fiscal 2013 have been released. For the quarter, revenue was just over $55 million, up by 67% from the $33 million in the same period the previous year. Net income advanced almost three-fold on a year-over-year basis, to land at $13.6 million ($0.15 per diluted share), from Q4 2012's $5.9 million ($0.07).
- [By Selena Maranjian]
Among holdings in which Tudor Investment increased its stake was motion-sensor specialist InvenSense (NYSE: INVN ) . The stock popped up 8% recently, partly on bullish comments by Piper Jaffray analyst Auguste Richard. Bulls like its innovative technology that's finding its way into many iDevices and think its stock is reasonably or attractively priced, too, with a forward P/E of just 19. Its last quarter featured revenue and earnings increasing by double and triple digits, respectively.
Best US Companies To Own For 2014: Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.(RCL)
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. operates in the cruise vacation industry worldwide. It owns five cruise brands, which comprise Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Pullmantur, Azamara Club Cruises, and CDF Croisi�es de France. The Royal Caribbean International brand provides various itineraries and cruise lengths with options for onboard dining, entertainment, and other onboard activities primarily for the contemporary segment. It offers surf simulators, water parks, ice skating rinks, rock climbing walls, and shore excursions at each port of call, as well as boulevards with shopping, dining, and entertainment venues. The Celebrity Cruises brand operates onboard upscale ships that offer luxurious accommodations, fine dining, personalized services, spa facilities, venue featuring live grass, and glass blowing studio for the premium segment, as well as resells computers and other media devices. The Pullmantur brand provides an array of onboard activities and serv ices to guests, including exercise facilities, swimming pools, beauty salons, gaming facilities, shopping, dining, complimentary beverages, and entertainment venues serving the contemporary segment of the Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin American cruise markets. The Azamara Club Cruises brand offers various onboard services, amenities, gaming facilities, fine dining, spa and wellness, butler service for suites, and interactive entertainment venues for the up-market segment of the North American, United Kingdom, German, and Australian markets. The CDF Croisieres de France brand offers seasonal itineraries to the Mediterranean; and various onboard services, amenities, entertainment venues, exercise and spa facilities, fine dining, and gaming facilities for the contemporary segment of the French cruise market. As of December 31, 2011, the company operated 39 ships with a total capacity of approximately 92,650 berths. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. was founded in 1968 and is headqua rtered in Miami, Florida.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Matt Egan]
Investors are hoping to hear more soothing words about the Ebola fallout from American Airlines (AAL), JetBlue (JBLU), Royal Caribbean (RCL) and Southwest Airlines (LUV).
- [By Matt Egan]
Airline stocks, which have been big winners this year, descended as traders worry about potential travel repercussions. American Airlines (AAL), Delta Air Lines (DAL), JetBlue (JBLU) and Southwest (LUV) all dropped more than 3%. Cruise operators Carnival (CCL) and Royal Caribbean (RCL) also lost ground.
- [By Rick Munarriz]
This is a dinner bell for Carnival's smaller rivals. Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL ) is introducing its latest vessel -- Quantum of the Seas -- this week. Online chatter claims that Disney (NYSE: DIS ) is about to expand its growing fleet by 50% when it announces two new ships later this month.�(A Disney spokeswoman claims that new ships won't be announced at next week's media event, but there's clearly excitement about the cruise industry outside of Carnival.)
- [By Rick Munarriz]
4. Cruising for a bruising
A fire broke out on Royal Caribbean's (NYSE: RCL ) Grandeur of the Seas, forcing the cruise line to cut that journey short and cancel the next sailing of the vessel that was supposed to leave out of Baltimore today.
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