TRW shares rise on strong earnings

NEW YORK - Shares of TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. rose Thursday, a day after the auto parts supplier reported a third-quarter profit that beat Wall Street predictions and raised its fiscal year projections.

TRW shares rose $1.04, or 5.7 percent, to $19.29 in midday trading after jumping as high as $19.80 earlier in the session. On Wednesday, the Livonia, Mich.-based company's shares rose 7.5 percent.

TRW, which makes automotive safety systems, earned $56 million, or 50 cents per share, compared with a loss of $54 million, or 53 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding restructuring and other charges, the company earned 68 cents per share.

The auto supplier attributed the improvement to cost cuts that offset the effects of lower sales stemming from the continued weak global demand for new vehicles.

TRW also said it expects to post 2009 sales of $11.4 billion, up from its previous prediction of between $10.5 billion and $10.9 billion.

On Thursday, KeyBanc's Brett D. Hoselton upgraded TRW to "Buy" from "Hold" and set a price target of $29.

"We are confident that global light vehicle production has begun its gradual trend toward more normalized levels and, as global light vehicle production moves higher, TRW operating margins are likely be higher than the historical range of 4 percent to 5 percent," Hoselton wrote in a note to investors.

In addition, Hoselton said he expects the company to generate solid free cash flow going forward and that there's a good chance TRW's U.S. operations could become profitable once vehicle production returns to normalized levels.

Deutsche Bank's Rod Lache also upgraded TRW to "Buy" from "Hold" and raised his price target by $2 to $23.

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