![]() ![]() Anderson: ''We're not going to be decimated. ''Rockwell has positioned itself so it can look into that black hole and smile,'' Mr. For the most part, those decisions have been the right ones, say analysts and company executives. ![]() Although company executives say they will maintain the two headquarters indefinitely, El Segundo is where the decisions are made. It has two headquarters offices: one in Pittsburgh, that was set up when the company specialized in industrial products, and a newer one at the edge of Los Angeles International Airport in El Segundo, near its high-technology aerospace operations. The diversification has given Rockwell something of a split personality. And in addition to its growing military and commercial electronics business, the company makes a variety of industrial products including truck axles and Goss printing presses. Even without the B-1, it is flush with Government business -including the space shuttle orbiter and main engines research on the Strategic Defense Initiative, popularly known as Star Wars, and major satellite and missile contracts. Rockwell also seems well situated strategically. The company's stock, which was as low as $37 last year, traded in the high $50's last week. For its first quarter, Rockwell had net income of $149.4 million, or $1.05 a share, up 19 percent over the previous year. ![]() Still, Rockwell faces the end of the B-1 project in fairly good financial shape. And Rockwell has little prospect of winning another major military airframe project soon. SOME 18,000 Rockwell workers will probably have lost their jobs by the time the B-1 program ends. And within the military sphere, demand for sophisticated electronic systems to guide and operate weaponry continues to increase, spurring investments in that area. Thus, in an era of little or no growth in the defense budget, contractors must look elsewhere for their own growth. Demisch, an analyst at the First Boston Corporation. ''For defense contractors, the nightmare is always what to do when this contract runs out, to avoid falling into a black hole,'' said Wolfgang H. Such companies often experience boom and bust cycles caused by programs that go full tilt for years, then end abruptly. Wall Street has grown wary of most companies that are highly dependent on Government contracts. The shift underscores what is happening throughout the aerospace industry. They are transforming Rockwell from a company largely dependent on big aerospace contracts to one stressing smaller, technology-rich commercial and military electronics businesses. They are pursuing a strategy designed to cope both with the end of the bomber program and changes in the military contracting environment. ''This was a hell of a great company before the B-1 and will be a stronger company should the B-1 wind down as presently scheduled,'' Mr. In answering it, both men are eager to minimize the impact of the project on Rockwell's fortunes. ![]()
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