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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Smooth Transition as Teledyne CEO Steps Down

The share price of Teledyne Technologies Inc. has fluctuated in the weeks following the announcement that Chief Executive Robert Mehrabian will step down from that position next year. Mehrabian, who has been with the Thousand Oaks company since its founding, will become executive chairman effective Jan. 1. Al Pichelli, who has served as president and chief operating officer, will become chief executive. In a conference call on Oct. 24 with analysts to discuss third-quarter earnings, Mehrabian said that his employment contract has been extended through December 2023. “Furthermore, it’s important to note that I’m continuing in an operating capacity throughout this period with primary focus on strategy, technology, mergers and acquisitions, and margin expansion programs including procurement,” he said during the call. Mehrabian was born to Armenian parents in Iran, according to his online biography. He emigrated to the United States for school and got a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1968. He was president of Carnegie Mellon University from 1990 to 1998 and then became involved with Teledyne at its formation in 1999. On the day the management change was announced on Oct. 23, Teledyne’s share price dropped by nearly $4 to $221.29 and then slipped an additional $1.32 the following day after earnings were reported. Shares closed Nov. 7 at $235.09. For the third quarter ending Sept. 30, Teledyne reported net income of $90.3 million ($2.43 a share) on revenue of $725 million. Analysts on average expected earnings of $2.05 a share on revenue of $711 million, according to Thomson Financial Network. In the conference call, Mehrabian explained the total sales increase was nearly all organic and was the highest total company organic growth in over a decade. During the call, Mehrabian was asked by George Godfrey, an analyst with C.L. King & Associates, if the organic growth momentum would continue into next year. His response was that the organic growth could very well continue, especially if the economy remains good and oil prices hold. Godfrey also asked about the pipeline of acquisition opportunities. “We’re working on both small and midsize acquisitions at the present time and we certainly have the capacity – the funding capacity – to do them,” Mehrabian explained.

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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