ABB Wins Order To Supply Transformers For Indian Railways

Swiss technology giant ABB Ltd. (NYSE:ABB) recently announced that it has won an order from Alstom (PA:ALSO) to supply 1600 traction transformers for 800 new electric freight locomotives in India.

Indian Railways – the worlds’ second-largest rail network – manages more than 12,500 trains and 23 million passengers daily. The new locomotives have been added to expand its capacity on busy routes for both freight and passenger services. The transformers will be manufactured in ABB’s Vadodara facility in Gujarat to support the Indian government’s “Make in India” initiative.

Per the contract, ABB will provide 25 kilovolt (kV)/50 hertz (Hz) underframe traction transformers for the 800 locomotives. The company’s transformers have been engineered to deliver flawless performance even in challenging conditions, including extreme temperatures and voltage fluctuations. ABB’s traction transformers have earned a solid reputation among clients, supplying feed power at safe voltages for essential train functions like traction, brakes, lighting, heating and ventilation.

This new order from Alstom strengthens ABB’s long-standing partnership with the company. As a matter of fact, ABB has been winning strategic awards that can fuel its growth momentum. During fourth-quarter 2016, the company won an order of $40 million to provide advanced power equipment to the 800 kV Dianxibei-Guangdong ultra-high-voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission link in China.

ABB is one of the best managed industrial infrastructure, power and automation companies in the world. It that stands to benefit from investments made in the upgrade of power infrastructure and its focus on reduction of energy intensity across all end markets. Over the long haul, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company believes that its prospects are bright for all the three major markets, namely utilities, industry, and transport & infrastructure.

Stocks to Consider

Better-ranked stocks in the industry include Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) , The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) and Smith Corp. (NYSE:AOS) . All three stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Applied Industrial Technologies is one of North America's leading distributors of bearings, linear technologies, power transmission components, rubber products and specialty maintenance items to the MRO and OEM markets. The company managed to beat estimates thrice over the trailing four quarters and has a positive earnings surprise of 4.9%.

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Elgin, IL-based Middleby Corporation provides cooking, warming, food preparation and packaging equipment to commercial, industrial processing and residential markets. The company has beaten earnings in each of the trailing four quarters, resulting in an average surprise of 15.9%.

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