Last Call: Triumph Group shares rise on 4Q results

NEW YORK—Shares of Triumph Group Inc. rose Friday after the aircraft-parts maker posted fiscal fourth-quarter results that came in well ahead of Wall Street predictions.

In late afternoon trading, Triumph shares rose $11.09, or 18 percent, to $71.17, after peaking at $71.36 earlier in the day. Over the past 52 weeks, the company's shares have traded between $48.25 and $86.38.

For the quarter ended March 31, Triumph earned $19.4 million, or $1.15 per share, compared with $14.2 million, or 86 cents per share, for the same quarter in 2007.

Earnings from continuing operations rose to $21.3 million, or $1.26 per share, from $15.5 million, or 93 cents per share, for the year-ago period.

Net sales increased 24 percent to $321.2 million from $259.8 million in the prior-year quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a profit of $1.04 per share on $302.1 million in revenue.

Aerospace systems sales increased 25 percent to $256.6 million, while the company's aftermarket services segment posted an 18 percent sales increase to $65.5 million.

Stephen E. Levenson of Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. backed his "Buy" rating and $105 price target for Triumph, citing the strong quarterly results.

"In our view, Triumph shares are inexpensive given the strong revenue growth, 13 percent year-over-year backlog increase to a record $1.3 billion, and positive prospects," Levenson wrote in a note to investors.

Triumph also projected a fiscal 2009 profit of $4.85 to $5.05 per share on $1.25 billion to $1.35 billion in sales.

Analysts, on average, expect a 2009 profit of $4.95 per share on $1.29 billion in sales.