Astronics

Astronics Corporation is an American aerospace electronics corporation founded in 1968, headquartered in East Aurora, New York. It is traded on NASDAQ as Nasdaq: ATRO. It is known for lighting and electronics integrations on military, commercial, and business aircraft and semiconductor test systems.[1][2]

Astronics Corporation
TypePublic
Nasdaq: ATRO
Russell 2000 Component
Industry
  • Aerospace
  • Electronics
FoundedDecember 5, 1968 (1968-12-05)
FounderThomas L. Robinson, Sr.
Headquarters
East Aurora, New York
,
United States
Number of employees
2,700
Websitewww.astronics.com

Company

Astronics was founded in 1968 by Thomas L. Robinson, Sr., formerly of the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, to pursue commercial applications of electroluminescence.

Robert Keane (founder of Vistaprint and CEO of Cimpress) owns approximately 20% of Astronics' Class B stock and is a chairman of the board since 2019. Robert Keane worked at Astronics before founding Vistaprint and is also the son of former Astronics CEO (1972-2002) and chairman (1974-2019) Kevin Keane, who died in 2019[3][4][5][6]

In 2010, Lufthansa Technik AG sued the AES division of Astronics over patent infringement with AES's EmPower system. In 2015, the suit was ruled in Lufthansa's favor in a Mannheim, Germany court. After appeals, Astronics was ordered to pay Lufthansa $3.2 million plus interest, which totalled $4.5 million at the end of 2019. A secondary suit from Lufthansa is expected to lead to a $16 million payment from Astronics. Lufthansa filed suits in UK, France, and USA; the USA lawsuit was dismissed.[7]

In February 2016, the company approved a stock buyback program and purchased 1.675 million shares by 2017. Another buyback occurred in Q3 2019, leading to 1.823 million shares being repurchased. A third buyback occurred in Q4 2019 and Q1 2020, leading to 310,000 shares being repurchased for $8.5 million.[7][2] In March 2020, the company had a $500 million revolving credit line, with $333 million loaned out of it.[7]

During the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, Astronics wrote down $74 million, laid off 30% of employees, and froze wages. They also drew down an additional $150 million from their credit line.[7][8][9]

Company brands and divisions include AES, AeroSat, Armstrong, ATS, Ballard, CCC, CSC, Diagnosys, DME, Freedom, LSI, Max-Viz, Peco, and PGA Electronic.[2] Boeing accounted for 13.6% of their 2019 sales (14.3% in 2018, 16.8% in 2017), and Panasonic Avionics accounted for 13% of sales in 2019 (14.4% in 2018, 19.1% in 2017).[2]

Astronics' sales in 2019 were $772.7 million, compared to $803.2 million in 2018.[2]

Acquisitions and Divestitures

Leadership history
CEO
  • Kevin Keane, 1972-2002 Chairman of the Board 2002-2019
  • Peter Gundermann, 2003–present, Chairman of the board 2019–present Act[9]

See also

References
  1. Robinson, David (6 May 2020). "East Aurora manufacturer makes deep cuts as its aviation markets crash". Buffalo News. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  2. "2019 10K". sec.gov. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  3. "p20-1200sc13da". sec.gov. 5 June 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  4. "Robert Keane Joins Astronics Corporation's Board of Directors". businesswire.com. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  5. Glynn, Matt (11 June 2019). "Astronics Corp. chairman Kevin T. Keane dies". Buffalo News. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  6. "Kevin T Keane, Astronics Corp: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  7. "2020 Q1; 10-Q Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934". sec.gov. 7 May 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  8. "Astronics Corporation Reports 2020 First Quarter Financial Results". sec.gov. 6 May 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  9. "nc10010529x1_def14a". sec.gov. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  10. Matt Glynn (4 October 2019). "Astronics acquires Diagnosys for $7 million". buffalonews.com. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  11. Matt Glynn (1 July 2019). "Astronics acquires Texas company for $22 million". buffalonews.com. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  12. Matt Glynn (15 November 2018). "Astronics sells semiconductor test business for $185 million". buffalonews.com. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  13. David Robinson (27 October 2017). "Astronics buys Illinois aircraft products maker". buffalonews.com. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  14. Matt Glynn (4 April 2017). "Astronics acquires aircraft systems supplier". buffalonews.com. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
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