It offers all the performance you'd expect in a $135,700 sports car, but does it with tiny three-cylinder engine and fuel economy that is expected to shame a Toyota Prius hybrid.
The new BMW i8 plug-in hybrid, due in showrooms in September, is intended as a sports car for a new age, breaking through engineering and technological barriers.
While it seems exotic now, the lessons learned in building the i8 point the way to energy-efficient future for mainstream cars that combine power plants in new ways and use airplane-like lightweight construction with extensive use of aluminum and carbon-fiber.
"The combination of incredible styling, performance, and efficiency wrapped in carbon-fiber reinforced plastic is significant on many levels," says Ron Cogan, publisher of the Green Car Journal, which follows advanced-car developments. "It's a breakthrough."
Best International Companies To Watch In Right Now: Larsen & Toubro Ltd (LT)
Larsen & Toubro Limited is a technology, engineering, construction and manufacturing company. It operates in three segments Engineering & Construction Segment, Electrical & Electronics segment, Machinery & Industrial Products, and others. Engineering & construction Segment comprises execution of engineering and construction projects in India. Electrical & electronics Segment comprises manufacture and sale of low and medium voltage Switchgear components, custom-built switchboards, custom built low and medium voltage switchboards, and electronic energy meters/protection (relays) systems. Machinery & industrial Products Segment comprises manufacture and sale of industrial machinery and equipment, manufacture and marketing of industrial valves, construction equipment and welding/industrial products. Others include property development and integrated engineering services. Effective March 28, 2013, the Company acquired Audco India Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Anuchit Nguyen]
India��s S&P BSE Sensex rose, holding at a three-year high, amid better-than-estimated corporate earnings. Engineering company Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (LT) rallied to a three-month high and Asian Paints Ltd. (APNT) surged about 6 percent after reporting profit that beat forecasts.
Top 10 Construction Stocks To Watch For 2015: Bouygues SA (EN)
Bouygues SA is a France-based group that operates in two sectors: Telecommunications and Media, and Construction. The Construction division comprises three core subsidiaries: Bouygues Construction, specializing in building and public works activities, notably in the areas of electrical engineering, and facility maintenance; Bouygues Immobilier, a property development company, whose activities include the development of residential, corporate and commercial properties, and the execution of urban development schemes, and Colas, engaged in the construction and maintenance of transport, urban development and leisure infrastructure. The Telecommunications and Media division of the Group comprises two companies: TF1, specializing in audiovisual and cinema production, the acquisition and sale of audiovisual rights, and the publishing and distribution of compact discs, among others, and Bouygues Telecom, which offers mobile telephone and broadband Internet services. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sofia Horta e Costa]
Bouygues SA (EN), the French building, telecommunications and television company, surged 7.2 percent to 26.96 euros, the highest close since November 2011. Credit Suisse Group AG upgraded the shares to neutral, similar to a hold recommendation, from underperform.
Top 10 Construction Stocks To Watch For 2015: Armstrong World Industries Inc (AWI)
Armstrong World Industries, Inc. (AWI), incorporated on December 30, 1891, is a global producer of flooring products and ceiling systems for use in the construction and renovation of residential, commercial and institutional buildings. The Company designs, manufactures and sells flooring products (resilient and wood) and ceiling systems (mineral fiber, fiberglass and metal) globally. The Company segments includes: Building Products, Resilient Flooring and Wood Flooring. The Company��s Building Products, Resilient Flooring, Wood Flooring and Cabinets segments sell products for use in the home. Its products are used in new home construction and existing home renovation work. Its products, primarily ceilings and Resilient Flooring, are used in commercial and institutional buildings. On September 1, 2012, it sold Patriot Flooring Supply, Inc. to The Belknap White Group. Effective October 31, 2012, the Company sold of its cabinets business to American Industrial Partners.
Building Products
Building Products produces suspended mineral fiber, soft fiber and metal ceiling systems for use in commercial, institutional and residential settings. In addition, its Building Products segment sources complementary ceiling products. Its products, which are sold globally, are available in colors, performance characteristics and designs, and offer attributes, such as acoustical control, rated fire protection and aesthetic appeal. Commercial ceiling materials and accessories are sold to ceiling systems contractors and to resale distributors. Residential ceiling products are sold in North America to wholesalers and retailers, including home centers. Suspension system (grid) products manufactured by Worthington Armstrong Venture (WAVE) are sold by both the Company and WAVE.
Resilient Flooring
Resilient Flooring produces and sources a range of floor coverings for homes and commercial and institutional buildings. Manufactured products in this segment include vinyl sheet, v! inyl tile and linoleum flooring. In addition, its Resilient Flooring segment sources and sells laminate flooring products, vinyl tile products, vinyl sheet products, adhesives, and installation and maintenance materials and accessories. Resilient Flooring products are offered in a range of types, designs, and colors. It sells these products globally to wholesalers, home centers, retailers, contractors and to the manufactured homes industry.
Wood Flooring
The Company��s Wood Flooring segment produces and sources wood flooring products for use in new residential construction and renovation, with commercial applications in stores, restaurants and offices. The product offering includes pre-finished solid and engineered wood floors in various wood species, and related accessories. All of its Wood Flooring sales are in North America. Its Wood Flooring products are sold to independent wholesale flooring distributors and home centers.
The Company competes with Saint-Gobain, Chicago Metallic Corporation, Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Knauf AMF GmbH & Co. KG, Lafarge SA, Odenwald Faserplattenwerk GmbH, Rockfon A/S, USG Corporation, Amtico International, Inc., Beaulieu International Group, N.V., Boa-Franc, Inc., Congoleum Corporation, Faus, Inc., Forbo Holding AG, Gerflor Group, Interface, Inc., IVC Group, Krono Holding AG, LG Floors, Mannington Mills, Inc., Metroflor Corporation, Mullican Flooring, L.P., Mohawk Industries, Inc., Nora Systems GmbH, Pfleiderer AG, Shaw Industries, Inc., Somerset Hardwood Flooring, Tarkett AG.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Monica Gerson]
Armstrong World Industries (NYSE: AWI) cut its Q3 forecast citing price pressures in Europe and a market shift in North America. Armstrong World shares declined 4.58% to $46.50 in the after-hours trading session.
- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Armstrong World Industries (NYSE: AWI ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
Top 10 Construction Stocks To Watch For 2015: URS Corporation(URS)
URS Corporation provides engineering, construction, and technical services to the power, infrastructure, federal, and industrial and commercial market sectors in the United States and internationally. Its services for power sector include planning, designing, engineering, constructing, retrofitting, and maintaining a range of power-generating facilities; and the systems that transmit and distribute electricity, as well as the development and installation of clean air technologies that reduce emissions at fossil fuel power plants. The company?s services for infrastructure sector comprise program management, planning, architect, engineering, general contracting, construction, and construction management for surface, air, and rail transportation networks; ports and harbors; and water supply, and treatment and conveyance systems. Its services for federal sector consist of program management; planning, design, and engineering; systems engineering and technical assistance to con struction and construction management; operations and maintenance; and decommissioning and closure primarily for the United States federal government and national governments of other countries. URS Corporation?s services for industrial and commercial sector include front-end studies, engineering and process design, procurement, construction and construction management, facility management, and operations and maintenance, as well as due diligence, permitting, compliance, environmental management, pollution control, health and safety, waste management, and hazardous waste remediation. The company was formerly known as Broadview Research Corporation and changed its name to URS Corporation in 1976. URS Corporation was founded in 1904 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
URS Corp. (URS) has plunged 7.1% to $43.85 after its profit of 37 cents a share missed the Street consensus by 30 cents.
Plug Power (PLUG) has dropped 3.7% to $3.94 after it reported a loss of 6 cents a share, missing analyst estimates for a loss of 5 cents.
- [By Lisa Levin]
Technical Services: The industry gained 2% by 10:25 am. The top performer in this industry was URS (NYSE: URS), which gained 9%. Aecom Technology (NYSE: ACM) announced its plans to buy URS for $4 billion in cash and stock.
- [By Monica Gerson]
URS (NYSE: URS) is projected to post its Q1 earnings at $0.68 per share on revenue of $2.68 billion.
LATAM Airlines Group SA (NYSE: LFL) is expected to post its Q1 earnings at $0.20 per share on revenue of $3.42 billion.
Top 10 Construction Stocks To Watch For 2015: Massive Dynamics Inc (MSSD)
Massive Dynamics, Inc., incorporated on March 15, 2011, is a development-stage company. The Company is providing services to communication tower operators. On August 20, 2012, Kylemore Corp. (Kylemore) approximately 90% of the Company. On April 16, 2013, the Company entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement with Real-View 3D (RV3D). With the Company's acquisition of the assets of RV3D, the Company is providing engineering and compliance to communications tower operators to three dimension (3D) imaging. RV3D is an image capture product company that has developed and is committed to design, patent, manufacture and market 3D imaging Z-axis capture products for the consumer computer peripherals market.
The Company has developed technology around an imaging technology known as structured light, which allows for the rapid capture and processing of the digital signal capture 3D images of objects or real time 3D video of a desired target. A structured light image is a calibrated grid of lines that is projected on the subject. These projected lines deviate as they fall over the subject. An image of these lines is captured. Real View 3D software can extract Z-axis data from these line deviations and a topographical map is created. To image a complete subject, the subject is rotated 360 degrees for the image and then another 360 degree rotation for capturing the structured light for the Z axis map information. The resulting Z axis map and the image are then fused into a 360 degree renderable image. This image can then be exported into many other formats for viewing. The Company's primary business will be to develop and market 3D scanning, capture, rendering, and printing products to four markets: consumer, commercial, industrial, and medical.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Smith]
The problem with that, of course, is that competition is beginning to emerge in machine selling, as small companies with names such as ExOne (NASDAQ: XONE ) and Massive Dynamics (NASDAQOTH: MSSD ) begin to horn in on the printer biz. Competition will probably arise even faster in the selling of printing composites, as Hewlett-Packard discovered to its detriment, when printer ink cartridge "refillers" began stealing away its lucrative ink business.
Top 10 Construction Stocks To Watch For 2015: Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (ARE)
Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT), engages in the ownership, operation, management, development, acquisition, and redevelopment of properties for the life sciences industry. Its properties consist of buildings containing scientific research and development laboratories, and other improvements. The company offers its properties for lease primarily to universities and independent not-for-profit institutions; and pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, life science product, service, biodefense, and translational research entities, as well as governmental agencies. As of December 31, 2006, it had 159 properties, including 156 properties located in 9 states in the United States and 3 properties located in Canada. As a REIT, the company is not subject to federal income tax to the extent that it distributes 100% of its taxable income to its stockholders. The company was founded in 1993 and is based in Pasadena, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Bill Stoller]
After a banner 2013, the overall market has had a challenging start to 2014. However, these four companies have been crushing it: Alexander Real Estate (NYSE: ARE ) , BioMed Realty Trust (NYSE: BMR ) , CommonWealth REIT (NYSE: CWH ) , and Sun Communities (NYSE: SUI ) early on in 2014 vs. the S&P 500. Their relative out-performance can also be seen when compared to the Vanguard REIT Index ETF (NYSEMKT: VNQ ) a good yardstick to measure sector performance.
Top 10 Construction Stocks To Watch For 2015: Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (JEC)
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. provides professional, technical, and construction services. Its services include engineering, design, and architectural services; construction and construction management services; operations and maintenance services; and process, scientific, and systems consulting services. The company serves a range of companies and organizations comprising industrial, commercial, and government clients across multiple markets and geographies. Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. provides its services to various industries and markets consisting of oil and gas exploration, production, and refining; environmental programs; pharmaceuticals and biotechnology; chemicals and polymers; buildings; infrastructure; power; technology and manufacturing; consumer products; and pulp and paper. The company provides its services through its offices in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. was founded in 1947 and is based in Pa sadena, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sue Chang and Saumya Vaishampayan]
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (JEC) �shares shed 6.2%. The company late Monday reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit of 84 cents a share, below the 87 cents a share forecast to analysts. Jacobs provides technical services to markets like defense, infrastructure, mining, energy and pharmaceuticals.
