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Technology Stocks : Orbital science (ORB) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Judy Muldawer who wrote (1977)	11/24/1998 1:58:00 PM
From: Beltropolis Boy	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2394

thought this might interest the board. note that i'm not in, simply local -- a fan (of sorts) of david thompson ever since i became a 'rocket scientist.' ----- TheStreet.com's MIDDAY UPDATE Nov. 23, 1998 Herb on TheStreet: Why Orbital May Go Back into Orbit By Herb Greenberg Senior Columnist MonDayne: In orbit: Whenever I talk to Joan Lappin of Gramercy Capital, I remind her of a comment she made to me five or six years ago, when Orbital Sciences (ORB:NYSE) was her favorite stock. It was such a favorite that she urged me: "Do yourself a favor, buy some and put it away for your kids' college education. You'll never regret it." Lucky me that my job prevented me from buying individual stocks -- and yet another lesson in why not to take tips from even the smartest and most well-intentioned money managers. Orbital, which is in the business of designing, launching and operating satellites, performed like a rocket that couldn't get off the launch pad. In retrospect, she says, "I really didn't understand how hard it is to operate in space. You see it now with Loral (LOR:NYSE) and Hughes (GMH:NYSE) and all the others having failures of massive proportions. Everybody is years late." She sold the stock two years ago and got back in a few months ago. "If you're a serious investor and you keep up with companies -- even when you don't own them -- you know when the right moment is to get back in." The difference? Now the company has a constellation of satellites that are used for such varied purposes as transmitting data, tracking stolen cars and lost hikers and taking photos from space. "They have a real balance sheet now," including a $1 billion backlog of government business, Lappin says. At an analyst meeting several weeks ago, Orbital said it now expects annual growth of more than 40%, with earnings rising from around 85 cents per share, expected for this year, to $1.50 next year and more than $4 by 2002. That's assuming everything goes right, of course. But with the stock still trading at 39 3/4 -- below its March high of 50 -- Lappin doesn't expect Orbital can misfire. (FYI: She's also a fan of Iridium (IRIDF:Nasdaq), whose satellites are used for cellular phones.)