Forum Energy Technologies (NYSE: FET), a somewhat under-the-radar product supplier to the oil and gas and defense industries, saw a dramatic increase in its share price in June. This was due mainly to a large contract it secured to provide components for a military client across the Pacific Ocean. Investors clearly liked what they heard about the new deal, as they bid up the company’s stock by 32% during the month.
In mid-month, Forum announced that it had executed a contract with the Indonesian Navy for the supply of a submarine rescue vehicle (SRV) system. The contract covers the SRV, along with a custom-designed launch and recovery system (LARS) and a decompression system.
The SRV is an LR600, a craft purpose-designed and built for rescue operations, and will be equipped with the most up-to-date technology to locate submarines in need of rescue, Forum said. It can perform at depths of up to 605 meters (1,985 feet) and carry up to 20 people. According to the company, it is to be fully integrated with a hyperbaric rescue facility. The LR600 itself is being constructed at a Forum facility in England, while the LARS is to be manufactured in another facility in the company’s home state of Texas.
In the press release touting its Indonesian Navy contract, Forum quoted its CEO Neal Lux as saying, “Our cutting-edge technologies remain at the forefront of the subsea sector and the safety systems of choice for military and naval forces around the world,” adding, “This award also showcases the breadth of our product portfolio and extensive technology capabilities across many differentiated end markets.”
Forum did not provide any financial details of the Indonesian Navy contract.
Perhaps due to its work for government entities, Forum is not the most forthcoming company on the market. So, it feels entirely in character for it to provide only a bare-bones look at the Indonesia deal. Still, it’s admirable that the company was able to win what must be a sizable contract for the SRV and the technology accompanying it. Without knowing the financial particulars of the deal, it’s tough to gauge how it might impact Forum’s fundamentals.
We can say that the company knows how to improve its sales through contracts like this — on an annual basis, they have climbed steadily and, at times, steeply, from just under $512.5 million in 2020 to over $816 million last year. The bottom line is less encouraging, as it has eked out a headline annual net profit only once ($3.7 million in 2022) across the same stretch of time.
