In 2015, Aerojet Rocketdyne (NYSE: AJRD) had a problem. Actually, it had a couple of problems, but the most obvious one was this: In five years' time, Aerojet had succeeded in doubling its revenues to $1.7 billion. But while Aerojet's sales soared, its profits soured.
2015 was Aerojet's second money-losing year in a row -- its third year of losing money out of the previous five. And while business was about to get better (Aerojet would only lose money in one of the succeeding seven years), Aerojet didn't know that yet.
Worse, as Aerojet's numbers moved in the wrong direction, a new rival in the form of Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin space company was moving in on Aerojet's engine business, bidding to build the new main engine for Aerojet customer United Launch Alliance (ULA). If that happened, Aerojet wouldn't be able to sell ULA its new AR1 rocket engine!
For further details see:
Aerojet Rocketdyne and ULA: A Match Made in Heaven?