Despite the market declines, it's been an excellent year for stocks with exposure to commercial aviation, and the theme remains an attractive one in which to invest. Although Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX) , AAR Corp (NYSE: AIR) , and Hexcel (NYSE: HXL) are vastly different businesses, they have all seen improvement in their commercial aviation-focused businesses, and they are all investment options in a challenging market.
On the surface, Raytheon's guidance for the full-year 2022 has been steady as a rock. Management hasn't changed its guidance for full-year adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $4.60 to $4.80 and free cash flow of $6 billion. However, those figures only tell half the story. In reality, defense-focused businesses (Raytheon Intelligence & Space and Raytheon Missiles & Defense) have suffered from supply chain issues and an inability to adequately procure materials such as titanium structural castings. Moreover, meeting management's guidance for Raytheon Missiles & Defense will be challenging .
In contrast, management recently raised its guidance for its commercial aviation-focused businesses -- Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney. As you can see below, both segments are set to improve profitability more than management expected at the start of 2022.
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Outperforming the Market by 21% to 31% in 2022, These 3 Stocks Still Look Like a Good Value