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Ceradyne (CRDN)
In The Graduate, Dustin Hoffman was told the future lay in plastics. Joel Moskowitz heard ceramics. The CEO of Costa Mesa (Calif.) Ceradyne Inc. makes high-performance ceramics for everything from orthodontics to automotive applications. But the real driver in the past few years has been the defense industry, where Ceradyne's products are used in the bulletproof vests and other types of armor that are critical to saving soldiers' lives in Afghanistan and Iraq. In the past two years, Ceradyne has seen its earnings quadruple, to $46 million, on sales of $368 million. The company is currently shipping its body armor at a rate of 16,000 units a month.
Company Info |
|
| 2005 Rank | 36 |
| Market Value* ($ Millions) | 1,420.2 |
| Sales* ($ Millions) | 434.8 |
| Sales Growth (3-yr. avg. annual) |
84.7 % |
| Profits* ($ Millions) | 65.4 |
| Profit Growth (3-yr. avg. annual) | 157.8 % |
| Return on Inv. Capital (3-yr.) | 12.0 % |
| Share Price 12-Mo. Hi/Lo | 64/19 |
| Share Price As of 4/28/06 | 53 |
| Return on Equity | 23.4 % |
| P/E Ratio | 21 |
| No. of Employees | 1,835 |
| Industry | Aerospace & Defense |
| CURRENT MARKET INFO | CRDN > |
| COMPANY WEB SITE > | |
| Location | Costa Mesa, Calif. |
| Phone | 714 549-0421 |
*Trailing 12 months
Stock price data as of 4/28/06
DATA: Standard & Poor's Compustat
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Company Snapshot
Ceradyne engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of technical ceramic products, powders, and components for defense, industrial, automotive/diesel, and commercial applications in the U.S. The company's products comprise lightweight ceramic armor for soldiers and other military applications; ceramic industrial components for erosion- and corrosion-resistant applications; and ceramic powders, including boron carbide, boron nitride, titanium diboride, calcium hexaboride, and zirconium diboride, which are used in manufacturing armor and various industrial products. In addition, it offers evaporation boats for metallization of materials for food packaging and other products; ceramic diesel engine components; functional and frictional coatings primarily for automotive applications; translucent ceramic orthodontic brackets; ceramic impregnated dispenser cathodes for microwave tubes, lasers, and cathode ray tubes; ceramic crucibles for melting silicon in the photovoltaic solar cell manufacturing process; and ceramic missile radomes for the defense industry. It serves primarily the U.S. government and prime government contractors, as well as industrial, automotive/diesel, and commercial manufacturers in domestic and international markets. Ceradyne was co-founded by Joel P. Moskowitz in 1967 and is based in Costa Mesa, Calif.
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