AMSC Announces Contract From U.S. Navy for High Temperature Superconductor (HTS) Equipment
May 19 2015 - 8:45AM
AMSC (Nasdaq:AMSC), a global solutions provider serving the wind
and power grid industry, today announced that the U.S. Navy awarded
a contract worth up to $8.5 million to provide high temperature
superconductor (HTS)-based ship protection system equipment.
"We've worked with the U.S. Navy for a number of years on the
deployment of these systems, and we are pleased to have a contract
vehicle in place that will allow the U.S. Navy to purchase ship
protection system equipment," said Daniel P. McGahn, President and
CEO, AMSC.
AMSC and the U.S. Navy have collaborated on AMSC's advanced HTS
degaussing system. The core components of the degaussing system are
transferable to other applications being targeted for ship
implementation. AMSC is continuing its work to expand HTS
technology into the fleet through a variety of applications for
power, propulsion, and protection equipment. AMSC refers to its
HTS-based protection products for the U.S. Navy as "Ship Protection
Systems."
About AMSC (Nasdaq:AMSC)
AMSC generates the ideas, technologies and solutions that meet
the world's demand for smarter, cleaner … better energy. Through
its Windtec™ Solutions, AMSC provides wind turbine electronic
controls and systems, designs and engineering services that reduce
the cost of wind energy. Through its Gridtec™ Solutions, AMSC
provides the engineering planning services and advanced grid
systems that optimize network reliability, efficiency and
performance. The company's solutions are now powering gigawatts of
renewable energy globally and enhancing the performance and
reliability of power networks in more than a dozen countries.
Founded in 1987, AMSC is headquartered near Boston, Massachusetts
with operations in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. For
more information, please visit www.amsc.com.
AMSC, Windtec, Gridtec, and Smarter, and Cleaner … Better
Energy, are trademarks or registered trademarks of American
Superconductor Corporation. All other brand names, product names,
trademarks or service marks belong to their respective holders.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
as amended (the "Exchange Act"). Any statements in this release
about expectations regarding the value of the contract placed by
the U.S. Navy for HTS-based ship protection system equipment and
that the contract in place will serve as a vehicle for the U.S.
Navy to purchase ship protection system equipment, and other
statements containing the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans,"
"expects," "will" and similar expressions, constitute
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking
statements represent management's current expectations and are
inherently uncertain. There are a number of important factors that
could materially impact the value of our common stock or cause
actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such
forward-looking statements. Such factors include: We have a history
of operating losses, which may continue in the future. Our
operating results may fluctuate significantly from quarter to
quarter and may fall below expectations in any particular fiscal
quarter; we have a history of negative operating cash flows, and we
may require additional financing in the future, which may not be
available to us; Our Term Loans include certain covenants and other
events of default. Should we not comply with these covenants or
incur an event of default, we may be required to repay our
obligation in cash, which could have an adverse effect on our
liquidity; We may be required to issue performance bonds or provide
letters of credit, which restricts our ability to access any cash
used as collateral for the bonds or letters of credit; Changes in
exchange rates could adversely affect our results from operations;
If we fail to maintain proper and effective internal controls over
financial reporting, our ability to produce accurate and timely
financial statements could be impaired and may lead investors and
other users to lose confidence in our financial data; Our success
in addressing the wind energy market is dependent on the
manufacturers that license our designs; Our success is dependent
upon attracting and retaining qualified personnel and our inability
to do so could significantly damage our business and prospects; We
may not realize all of the sales expected from our backlog of
orders and contracts; Our financial condition may have an adverse
effect on our customer and supplier relationships; Failure to
successfully execute the consolidation of our Grid manufacturing
operations or achieve expected savings could adversely impact our
financial performance; Our business and operations would be
adversely impacted in the event of a failure or security breach of
our information technology infrastructure; We may not be able to
launch operations at our newly leased manufacturing facility in
Romania, and, if we are able to do so, we may have manufacturing
quality issues, which would negatively affect our revenues and
financial position; We rely upon third-party suppliers for the
components and subassemblies of many of our Wind and Grid products,
making us vulnerable to supply shortages and price fluctuations,
which could harm our business; Many of our revenue opportunities
are dependent upon subcontractors and other business collaborators;
If we fail to implement our business strategy successfully, our
financial performance could be harmed; Problems with product
quality or product performance may cause us to incur warranty
expenses and may damage our market reputation and prevent us from
achieving increased sales and market share; New regulations related
to conflict-free minerals may force us to incur significant
additional expenses; Our contracts with the U.S. government are
subject to audit, modification or termination by the U.S.
government and include certain other provisions in favor of the
government. The continued funding of such contracts remains subject
to annual congressional appropriation which, if not approved, could
reduce our revenue and lower or eliminate our profit; Many of our
customers outside of the United States are, either directly or
indirectly, related to governmental entities, and we could be
adversely affected by violations of the United States Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act and similar worldwide anti-bribery laws
outside the United States; We have limited experience in marketing
and selling our superconductor products and system-level solutions,
and our failure to effectively market and sell our products and
solutions could lower our revenue and cash flow; We may acquire
additional complementary businesses or technologies, which may
require us to incur substantial costs for which we may never
realize the anticipated benefits; Our success depends upon the
commercial use of high temperature superconductor (HTS) products,
which is currently limited, and a widespread commercial market for
our products may not develop; Growth of the wind energy market
depends largely on the availability and size of government
subsidies and economic incentives; We have operations in and depend
on sales in emerging markets, including China and India, and global
conditions could negatively affect our operating results or limit
our ability to expand our operations outside of these countries.
Changes in China's or India's political, social, regulatory and
economic environment may affect our financial performance; Our
products face intense competition, which could limit our ability to
acquire or retain customers; Our international operations are
subject to risks that we do not face in the United States, which
could have an adverse effect on our operating results; Adverse
changes in domestic and global economic conditions could adversely
affect our operating results; We may be unable to adequately
prevent disclosure of trade secrets and other proprietary
information; Our patents may not provide meaningful protection for
our technology, which could result in us losing some or all of our
market position; There are a number of technological challenges
that must be successfully addressed before our superconductor
products can gain widespread commercial acceptance, and our
inability to address such technological challenges could adversely
affect our ability to acquire customers for our products; We have
not manufactured our Amperium wire in commercial quantities, and a
failure to manufacture our Amperium wire in commercial quantities
at acceptable cost and quality levels would substantially limit our
future revenue and profit potential; Third parties have or may
acquire patents that cover the materials, processes and
technologies we use or may use in the future to manufacture our
Amperium products, and our success depends on our ability to
license such patents or other proprietary rights; Our technology
and products could infringe intellectual property rights of others,
which may require costly litigation and, if we are not successful,
could cause us to pay substantial damages and disrupt our business;
We have filed a demand for arbitration and other lawsuits against
our former largest customer, Sinovel, regarding amounts we contend
are overdue. We cannot be certain as to the outcome of these
proceedings; We have been named as a party in various legal
proceedings, and we may be named in additional litigation, all of
which will require significant management time and attention,
result in significant legal expenses and may result in an
unfavorable outcome, which could have a material adverse effect on
our business, operating results and financial condition; Our common
stock has experienced, and may continue to experience, significant
market price and volume fluctuations, which may prevent our
stockholders from selling our common stock at a profit and could
lead to costly litigation against us that could divert our
management's attention.
These and the important factors discussed under the caption
"Risk Factors" in Part 1. Item 1A of our Form 10-K for the fiscal
year ended March 31, 2014, and our other reports filed with the
SEC, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially
from those indicated by forward-looking statements made herein and
presented elsewhere by management from time to time. Any such
forward-looking statements represent management's estimates as of
the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such
forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim
any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views
to change. These forward-looking statements should not be relied
upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the
date of this press release.
CONTACT: AMSC Contact:
Kerry Farrell
Phone: 978-842-3247
Email: kerry.farrell @ amsc.com
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