|
TWST: Please start with an overview of your coverage in homeland
security.
Mr. Hamilton: My coverage is more geared toward commercial aerospace
suppliers and defense IT service providers. Obviously, we are not going
to discuss the commercial aerospace suppliers here, but under the realm
of the homeland security conversation, I think that defense IT providers
will benefit from federal spending and will support homeland security
technology initiatives. The names that I cover within that space are
CACI International (CAI), Dynamics Research (DRCO), ManTech
International (MANT), Modern Technologies Corporation (MTCT), SI
International (SINT) and SRA International (SRX). TWST: Let's take a look at this homeland security space. It has had an
awful lot of press, but not as much seems to have happened. What's going
on?
Mr. Hamilton: That's right. 9/11 and the creation of the Department of
Homeland Security created a focus where there was no focus before.
Obviously, it was a huge feat to try to merge all the departments '
about 22 departments ' into one to serve as a center for crisis
management and prevention. I think the Department of Homeland Security
was set up with good intentions. Since the inception of the Department
of Homeland Security, there has been a lot of talk for a long time,
especially among defense IT names, about exposure and leverage to
homeland security and all the financial benefits that will be realized
when the money starts to be spent by the Department of Homeland
Security. We are still waiting for that to occur. So hopefully, nobody
has really held their breath. I think what's going on for the most part
is that we have an ever-changing threat. Wars are no longer fought on
one front at a time, nor are they fought by one enemy. The threat is
ever changing and is coming from every angle. The problem is that there
is an ever-changing threat and the definition of homeland security is
ever growing, and I think the Department of Homeland Security is trying
to come to grips with that. Currently, many things fall under the
umbrella of homeland security, ranging from the US-VISIT program, which
is supposed to track everybody who comes into the country, Hurricane
Katrina aid, and many others. It appears that homeland security has a
broad definition. So I think the Department of Homeland Security is
trying to define what the ever-changing threat is and where those
dollars should be focused. That said, everyone keeps waiting for the
post-9/11 dollars to be spent. Now, the budget is about $32 billion, so
the money is there. I think it's just a question of the department
trying to figure out where to spend the money due to those ever-changing
threats and how contractors should position themselves based on the
federal spending trends there. The money should come once the threat and
the definition of the Department of Homeland Security is clearer.
Tickers included in this excerpt: CAI, DRCO, HSIN, MANT, MTCT, SINT, SRX, UAV
For more information call (212) 952 7433. The
Wall Street Transcript does not endorse any of the comments made by interviewees, and does
not make stock recommendations.
|
|
