George J. Blickley, consulting editor

Slower economy unfolding in 2001— except in industrial controls

Based on data for the fourth quarter of 2000, many economists are painting a grim picture for much of 2001. Rising energy costs and declining consumer confidence have combined to create a bleak forecast—at least for 2001's first half. Users post big gainsIndividual user industries all posted sales increases with Utilities and Oil, Gas & Coal leading the way.

U.S. economy expands; control will follow

The first quarter of 2004 (1Q04) faced the tough challenge of trying to match the performance of the previous two quarters, particularly the almost runaway recovery of the fourth quarter of 2003 (4Q03). Nevertheless, the recovery continued, and the major market indexes for 1Q04 were either up or down about 2% from 4Q03.

Market update: good news for controls in 4Q03

Finally, we have a quarter that looks like everything has turned upward. The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached the magic 10,000 plateau in the fourth quarter of 2003 (4Q03), and the NASDAQ reached its equally magic 2,000 level. Both indexes were up 12% for 4Q03, and the other two indexes increased by approximately the same amount.

Jobs down in 3Q ’03, but other signs point up

The third quarter of 2003 (3Q03) seemed to bring good news to many sectors of the U.S. economy. The nation's GDP appears to be heading for a 4% increase, which would be good news for everybody. It showed more than a 3% increase in 3Q03. The Control Engineering Index gained more than 10% during the third quarter, indicating that its member companies performed well as a group.

Controls market posts significant gains in 2Q03

Performance of the controls industry improved greatly in the second quarter (2Q03), mirroring the market in general. The Control Engineering (CE) Stock Index tracks the market value of companies that are acknowledged leaders in the controls and automation fields. Some of the larger companies have only small divisions engaged in industrial controls products and systems, but they generally cont...

Controls index lags in 1Q03; broader market rebound follows

In the first quarter of 2003 (1Q03), the industrial controls market declined a little bit more than other markets. The Control Engineering Index was down more than 10% during 1Q03, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor's 500 stock indexes lost about 4% each. Surprisingly, the NASDAQ composite held pretty much even during this period.

Control and automation firms report good health

A good way to measure a company's performance is to take a peek at its annual report. A good way to measure an industry's performance is to look at a number of annual reports of the companies that serve that industry. The bar chart accompanying this article includes data from the annual reports of a representative sample of industrial controls companies.

First half of 2000 shines for control users, suppliers

The first half of 2000 turned out to be rosy for the controls industry due to increasing sales and profits earned by users and suppliers of control products, especially when performance is compared with industry as a whole. These results were tallied in Business Week magazine's Scoreboard, which compared performances of more than 900 companies during the first halves of 2000 and 1999.

Who’s on first in controls industry following mergers?

With all the mergers, acquisitions, consolidations and affiliations that occurred in the past decade, it's hard to determine the leaders in any particular industrial segment. Almost all of the largest industrial controls manufacturers have been gobbled up by companies with larger interests. The best that can be done is to identify companies with either a significant part of their volume i...

Annual reports, stock indexes reflect progress, despite fluctuations

Annual report snapshots and broader stock indexes both show ongoing gains by most control and automation companies, despite specific organizational changes and overall market fluctuations.Several annual reports showed sales for 1999 generally exceeded sales for 1998. The overall increase was a healthy 8%, though not as robust as 1998, which posted a 20% increase over the previous year.

Controls users, suppliers make sales, profit gains

Suppliers of electrical control products experienced a dramatic profit turnaround in 1999. They accomplished this with a slightly smaller sales increase than the instruments sector as tabulated in Business Week magazine's 900-company Corporate Scoreboard for 1999. Instruments had an even greater turnaround in profits.

Controls industry aiming at a good year

T he performance of the controls industry in 3Q99 followed the performance of industry in general. All the market indexes shown here were down, except the NASDAQ index, which was up 2%. This is surprising in light of the beating small caps took in the quarter and can be partially attributed to big gains made by small Internet companies during that period. The CE Index was down 7% in 3Q99, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 6% and the S&P 500 declined about 6.5%.

Controls suppliers’ orders gain, profits mixed

With sales increases averaging 12% per supplier, 1999's first half looked good compared to that of 1998 for industrial control companies. Profit comparisons were mixed, with instruments down about 2%, though electrical products increased a whopping 89%.This information was derived from Business Week magazine's Corporate Scoreboard, which gathers data from 900 companies and reports them ...

Controls firms keep pace with overall market gains

The controls field is benefiting from the U.S. economy's strong performance in 1999's first half and its ongoing expansion and investors are renewing their confidence in the industry, which had been keeping up with the stock market until it fell behind in 1Q99. Controls played catch up in 2Q99 as the CE Stock Index increased 21%, while the Dow Jones increased 12%.

Control suppliers, users’ sales up, profits down

Now in its record-breaking ninth year of expansion, the overall U.S. economy performed well in 1998, spurred by a blazing fourth quarter. The industrial controls sector and most of its user-industries didn't equal the nation's overall success, but did outpace the All-Industry Composite (AIC) of the 900 companies in Business Week magazine's Corporate Sales Scoreboard.

Controls industry posts mixed results in 1Q99

Just before the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached the magical 10,000 level at the end of first quarter 1999 (1Q99), three of four indexes tracked in Market Update grew beyond 4Q98 levels. Dow Jones increased 6.6%, S&P 500 index was up 4.7%, and NASDAQ grew 12.3%. However, the Control Engineering (CE) index decreased 6.

Controls field expands with other industries

Control companies generally kept pace with the U.S. stock market in 1998, and even exceeded it in the fourth quarter (4Q98). The Control Engineering Stock Index jumped 20.5% during 4Q98, compared to a 17% increase in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. CE Index gains also paralleled increases in the S&P and NASDAQ indexes.

Control stocks follow Dow Jones’ ups and downs

During 3Q98, the Control Engineering (CE) Stock Index paralleled fluctuations in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The CE Stock Index experienced a 22% decline, compared to about 12% for the other indexes (see four-line graph).The decline in the CE Market Value Index is about as expected due to the drop in the stock prices for its participating companies.

Controls companies merge into larger, global firms

Acquiring companies that produce and market industrial controls appears to be good business. Because the big-fish-eat-the-little-fish scenario seems to be more prevalent in this market, it can be hard to find independent, traditional controls companies. Corporate image prevails most of the time, and acquired company names are absorbed into larger firms, relegating reputations and products...

Mixed first half for controls sparked by market volatility

Comparing the first half of 1998 with the first half last year revealed some surprises for the controls industry.The all-industry composite for the 900 companies in Business Week magazine's recent Scoreboard showed an acceptable increase of 7% in sales along with a 10% increase in profits between the first six months of 1998 and 1997.

Industrial controls perform well in 1997

One way to determine the health of a business or industry is to examine annual reports of major companies in that sector. However, this method is becoming difficult as more companies are gobbled up by corporations that serve increasingly diverse industries.In the industrial controls field, many companies that once offered somewhat homogeneous products are disappearing into the confines of...

Sales up, profits mixed for control users, suppliers

As the U.S. economy enters its eighth year of expansion, some forecasters predict a slowdown is sure to come. These sages said the same thing about 1997, and though the economy faltered a little at year end, a slowdown just didn't happen. Even with slower earnings in 4Q97, the economy chalked up a formidable 4.

Controls Industry Outperforms Other Markets

The industrial controls business in 1997 outdid even the volatile and booming stock market. Dancing around the 8,000 level, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and other market indexes managed to recover on "Turnaround Tuesday" most of the losses suffered on "Meltdown Monday" in late October.