United Technologies Looks to Lift Its Image, And Its Stock Price
Although United Technologies Corp. has beaten out aerospace rivals such as Boeing Co. in terms of profits and stock-price gains, the company has an identity crisis. And it's all in the name.
What exactly is a united technology?
The Hartford, Conn., maker of Pratt & Whitney jet engines, Otis elevators and Carrier air conditioners is hoping an advertising campaign aimed at investors will help answer that question and will boost the price of United Technologies stock at the same time.
The company this month has plastered its name and products on subway platforms throughout New York, focusing particular attention on stations in the Wall Street area and on a Times Square building looking directly into Morgan Stanley's trading room. The campaign, which also includes print ads, portrays the staid New England aerospace and building-services conglomerate as a juggernaut with "momentum."
To a degree, the pitch is true. Shares of United Technologies, one of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, fell to the low $40s a few days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Since then, the stock has more than doubled, flirting in recent days with reaching $85, up more than 70% from its 52-week low of $48.80 on Oct. 9, 2002. The stock was at $83.21 Monday at 4 p.m.
But rather than buying into the idea that those gains signal a limitless future, many investors seem to have decided that United Technologies is a classic buy-and-hold stock. That is particularly true for big institutions that view United Technologies and its diversified mix of businesses as a stabilizing factor in their portfolios, a sort of proxy for the industrial economy. Steady, but not a star.
The company is hoping to change that view. Its stock trades at a discount of as much as 20% to the competition, based on price/earnings ratio. Using earnings for the past four quarters, the company has a P/E of 18.4, compared with the rest of its peer group, which has an average P/E of about 21. (While the company's eclectic mix of businesses makes direct comparisons difficult, company officials say its peer group includes Boeing Co., General Electric Co., 3M Co., Honeywell International Inc., Textron Inc. and Tyco International Ltd.)
George David, chairman and chief executive, acknowledges that the company has its work cut out for it. "Having had a dozen years of steady improvement, it gets a little harder" each year to continue to grow, he said during a recent speech to analysts.
It also doesn't help your stock price if the average investor has no idea what your company does.
"You can't go to the store and buy a UTC," says Stephen Page, the company's vice chairman and chief financial officer, who says he is often frustrated by the lack of understanding about what the company does, even among people who should know. "There are analysts out there who you want to shake by the lapels because they only think of us as an aerospace and defense company," he said.
This isn't the first time the company has used advertising in an attempt to burnish its image. In 2001, it ran a campaign that highlighted its products and employees. In one, a man was shown lying on his back with his mouth open beneath the tailpipe of an automobile, ready to drink a drop of pure water -- the exhaust from the hydrogen fuel cell that powered the car.
The most-recent campaign, developed by Doremus-C2C Communications in New York, includes a series of ads that try to explain the company's role in making life easier. "What do you take for granted?" asks one ad, showing a close-up black-and-white photo of a man wearing glasses. The answer: "Elevators and air conditioning."
Beyond the ad campaign, executives at the company have lately made an effort to stress nonaerospace products that they hope will generate big profits in the long term. The company recently invited investors to its research center in Hartford to look at products to be launched under the Carrier and UTC Power brands. Among them: a flameless commercial water heater that draws ambient heat from outside air to heat water.
But none of the new products is likely to make a big impact on the company's bottom line anytime soon, leaving investors to ponder the relative sluggishness in the aviation and building industries when deciding whether to invest.
Ray Cunha , an analyst at State Street Global Advisors, says he likes the company, but nevertheless has it rated as a "hold." "We would be buyers on weakness," he said.
As far as the ad campaign, Mr. Cunha says it can't hurt. "They really are trying to explain that United Technologies is more than just aerospace. In light of the downturn in aviation, it makes sense to talk about other strengths," he said.
Analysts say part of the recent surge in the stock price can be attributed to the overall rebound in the stock market. But part of it is tied to a growing perception that United Technologies' businesses are unlikely to generate surprises -- either pleasant or unpleasant -- because of the company's strong market share globally across its product lines.
Investors have been watching for Mr. David to expand through takeovers. He surprised them this year when the company acquired British electronic-security company Chubb PLC for slightly more than $1 billion, in an incremental bid to branch out into another area of the building-services industry.
Even though the Chubb acquisition represents a new business unit for United Technologies, many people are expecting Mr. David to seek a much bigger whale, like his effort in late 2000 to launch a $40 billion run at Honeywell International and its aviation-electronics businesses. His offer was trumped by a last-minute counter from General Electric's then-chairman, Jack Welch. The GE-Honeywell deal was scuttled several months later after European regulators refused to approve it, in part because of concerns raised by United Technologies.
Mr. David has acknowledged that major acquisitions are the best way for the company to grow and achieve the returns investors are looking for in the long term. But he said recently that none are on the horizon, particularly while the company is digesting Chubb.
Mr. Page, the chief financial officer, said he believes there are still plenty of ways to increase earnings with the existing businesses. Carrier, he said, has been posting 10% profit margins, short of the 15% the company believes is possible. Otis, the company's most consistent unit, should be expected to improve its profits by "another point a year for at least the next three years," he said. Other units, such as aircraft electronics and component maker Hamilton Sundstrand, are also expected to improve as the aviation industry improves.
联合技术的认知危机
虽然在利润和股价涨幅方面联合技术公司(United Technologies Corp.)已经超越了波音公司(Boeing Co.)等航空业竞争对手，但是该公司在业务特征方面正面临自我认知危机，这都要怪它令人费解的名称。
究竟什么才称得上是一项联合技术呢？
联合技术公司试图通过一场针对投资者的广告活动来回答这个问题，并提振该公司的股票价格。普拉特惠特尼(Pratt & Whitney)飞机引擎、奥的斯(Otis)电梯以及Carrier空调都是联合技术的产品。
本月，该公司在纽约所有的地铁站台上粉刷带有其名称和产品的广告，焦点尤其放在华尔街地区的地铁站及可以直接看到摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)交易大厅的时代广场(Times Square)一栋大楼上面。这项包括印刷广告在内的大型广告活动将这个沉静的新英格兰航空和建筑服务巨头描述为一种势不可挡的力量之神。
这种定位在一定程度上是正确的。联合技术公司的股价在911事件后曾跌至40美元低端，但此后该股上涨了1倍以上，最近几天一度上探85美元，较2002年10月9日的52周低点48.80美元上涨了70%以上。该股周一收盘报83.21美元。
但是许多投资者买入联合技术的股票并不是因为他们认为这些涨幅预示该股未来升幅无限，而是似乎已经将联合技术看作是一只传统的可以买进并持有的股票。大的机构投资者尤其如此，他们将联合技术及其多样化的业务组合视为他们投资组合中的一个稳定因素，在他们眼中联合技术是工业经济的一个代表：稳定，但不是明星。 该公司希望改变这种看法。从本益比看，其股票的估价较竞争对手最多低20%。基于过去4个季度的收益，该公司的本益比为18.4倍，而其他同类股票的平均本益比大约为21倍。虽然该公司折衷的业务组合使人们很难找出同类公司与之进行直接比较，但该公司管理人士称其同类公司包括波音公司，通用电气(General Electric Co.)，3M公司(3M Co.)，霍尼韦尔(Honeywell International Inc.)，Textron Inc.和泰科(Tyco International Ltd.)。
联合技术董事长兼首席执行长乔治?大卫(George David)承认，这给公司的发展带来困难。他在近期的分析师会议上说，经过12年的稳步增长后，目前每年的持续增长变得有些困难。
而且，如果一般的投资者不了解公司的业务，也很难支撑其股价。
公司副董事长兼首席财务长斯蒂芬?佩奇(Stephen Page)说，他常常因为人们缺乏对公司业务的了解而感到沮丧，甚至那些应该知道的人也缺乏了解。他说，你甚至想抓住一些分析师的衣领对他们大吼，因为他们仅仅认为联合技术公司是一家航空和国防公司。
这并不是该公司第一次使用广告来宣传其形象。联合技术公司在2001年曾发动一次介绍其产品和雇员的广告活动。在其中一个广告中，一个男子躺在地上，张开嘴巴对准一辆汽车的排气管，准备喝一滴纯净水，而这纯净水是驱动汽车的氢燃料电池的排放物。
最新的广告活动展现了该公司在改善生活方面所担任的角色。广告由纽约的Doremus-C2C Communications设计。其中一个广告是一位戴眼镜男子的特写黑白照片，上面有一个问题：你认为什么东西是理所当然要有的？答案是：电梯和空调。
除了广告之外，联合技术公司的管理人士近期还努力强调那些他们希望能够在长期带来巨额利润的非航空产品。该公司近期邀请投资者到其哈特福得的研究中心参观即将推出的Carrier和UTC Power品牌的产品，包括一种无火焰商用热水器，该产品能够从外部空气中吸取热量，为水加热。
但是这些新产品都不太可能在近期对联合技术的收益产生重大影响，因此投资者在作出投资决定时仍然会考虑到航空和建筑行业的相对疲软。
State Street Global Advisors分析师雷?库尼亚(Ray Cunha)说，他喜欢这家公司，但将其股票的评级定为持有。他说，如果该股下跌，他们可能会逢低买进。
库尼亚在谈到广告活动时说，这种广告没有坏处。他们的确希望解释联合技术的业务不仅仅在于航空业。鉴于航空业低迷，谈论其他业务的强劲表现具有重要意义。 分析师们说，该股近期大幅上涨的部分原因是股市的总体反弹。但是还有一部分原因是，越来越多的人认识到联合技术公司的业务可能不会产生意外－无论是令人高兴的意外还是使人不快的意外－原因是该公司在其产品领域中拥有很高的全球市场占有率。
投资者一直期待大尉通过收购来实现业务扩张。今年联合技术以略高于10亿美元收购英国电子安全公司Chubb PLC的举动已经让投资者大为震惊，这使得联合技术逐步进入到建筑服务行业的另一个领域。
即使收购Chubb为联合技术带来了一个新的业务子公司，许多人仍预计大卫将寻求更大的收购目标，就像他在2000年底以400亿美元竞标霍尼韦尔及其航空电子业务一样。他的收购报价在最后时刻被通用电气当时的董事长杰克?韦尔奇(Jack Welch)所超越。几个月后，由于欧洲监管机构拒绝批准该交易，通用电气和霍尼韦尔的交易失败。而该交易得不到批准的部分原因就是联合技术提出的质疑。
大卫曾经承认，进行大型收购是取得增长并实现投资者寻求的长期回报率的最好途径。但他最近表示，近期不会进行这种大规模收购，尤其是在公司整合Chubb的时候。
首席财务长佩奇说，他认为仍有很多方式可以提高现有业务的收益。他说，Carrier的利润率为10%，而公司认为其可能达到15%。他说，该公司最稳定的子公司－奥的斯至少在未来3年中能够为公司利润带来1个百分点的增幅。其他子公司，如飞行器电子和零部件制造商Hamilton Sundstrand，预计也将随著航空业形势的改善而增长。
