BE Aerospace (BEAV) has provided the market with an excellent track record of positive earnings surprises. Add in the idea of rising estimates for 2012 and aggressive growth investors will be happy to see this stock is a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy).

Company Description

BE Aerospace, Inc. engages in the design, manufacture, sale, and service of commercial aircraft and business jet cabin interior products worldwide.

Earnings Surprises Streak

BEAV has delivered a positive earnings surprise in each of the last seven quarters. Most of the beats are only a few cents, but it shows that management realizes the importance of under promising and over delivering.

The last two earnings surprises have resulted in some good moves for the stock. The September 2011 quarter was revealed to Wall Street in late October and the stock gained 4.3% as a result. The most recent earnings report was released on February 1, 2012 and it saw stock price appreciation of nearly 6%..

UTEK Reported Earnings

On February 1, 2012 the company reported revenue of $655 million up from $542 million in the year ago period. In addition, earnings per share came in at $0.60 up from $0.47 posted a year ago and $0.04 higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.56.

Valuations

BEAV trades at a premium to the industry average for most metrics that aggressive growth investors pay attention to. A forward PE of 16x may not seem like much, but in comparison to the industry average of 10x, the premium tends to stand out. One metric that BEAV carries a discount to the industry average is price to book. The company trades at 2.5x compared to the 2.6x for the industry.

The Chart

The price and consensus chart shows that analysts believe the company will continue to deliver higher and higher earnings. When we see a stock significantly lower than the earnings lines on this chart, it is generally a sign that the company is undervalued and primed for growth. BEAV is a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy).

BE Aerospace - ticker BEAV> <P ALIGN=

Brian Bolan is the Aggressive Growth Stock Strategist for Zacks.com. He is also the Editor in charge of the Zacks Home Run Investor service

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research