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Business Wire
15 minutes ago
- Business Wire
Compass Precision Purchases Pocasset Machine
CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Kent Family has come full circle with their ownership of Pocasset Machine Corporation. Al Kent bought the company, which was a two-man tool & die shop in Waltham, Massachusetts at the time, from a friend who was close to retirement in 1977. His two sons, Barry and Chris, successfully operated and grew the company for nearly five decades. But now ready to retire themselves, they are officially selling Pocasset Machine. Compass Precision, LLC a Charlotte-based manufacturer of custom, close-tolerance metal components for mission-critical applications, announced Monday that it has acquired Pocasset Machine Corporation in Pocasset, MA from the Kent family. Barry and Chris are expected to remain with Pocasset Machine through the transition phase. After that, Compass will replace both men with the rest of the company's staff remaining intact. Pocasset Machine will become the ninth operating company under the Compass umbrella, and the fifth situated outside the Charlotte area, location of the company's headquarters. 'We are thrilled to be joining forces with Pocasset Machine,' explained Bill Canning, Compass's President & Chief Operating Officer. 'Barry and Chris have developed a terrific niche CNC machining business focused mostly on serving the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market, some of which is concentrated on and near Cape Cod.' 'We see many opportunities to grow Pocasset as an integral portion of Compass,' added Jim Miller, Compass's Vice President of Sales. 'Compass loves to acquire shops with differentiated capabilities serving mission-critical markets. Pocasset Machine is all of that and more. They are a great fit for us.' Two years after Al bought the company, the Kents began moving the machine shop to Cape Cod. While most people view the Cape as a tourist destination, Al and his sons saw a business opportunity. 'I checked it out with the associated industries of Massachusetts and found that this corner of the state could use a machine shop,' Al said. 'It was thought of mostly as a vacation spot, but the oceanographic industry spawned a lot of small company spinoffs.' 'We were familiar with the Cape. Everything we made back then was small, location wasn't all that important,' Chris said. 'So, we had the bright idea of over a few months, slowly moving everything out to the Cape.' On the cape, the machine shop became an intricate supplier in Oceanographic instrument products and scientific research. Many decades later, that led to the development of the AUV market, which Pocasset Machine is heavily involved in today. Barry began working at the company immediately in 1977. Chris started a few years later after high school. The two brothers learned under the company's previous ownership – the Paquette brothers. Barry and Chris assumed leadership roles at Pocasset Machine in the early 1980s. Al transitioned from his previous manufacturing company, Millipore, to Pocasset by 1983. He brought Millipore work with him, but he mostly stayed 'out of the way,' as he described it, to allow his sons to operate the company. Pocasset fits Compass' operating model, which has proven highly effective in integrating and supporting geographically dispersed operating units. Compass particularly emphasizes numerous cross-selling and cross-sourcing opportunities to enable each operating company to succeed in ways not possible by itself. Pocasset had other potential buyers, but the Kents saw Compass as the best fit. 'They speak our language. They know what a job shop life is,' Barry said. 'Until you have lived that life, you can try to explain to people what you do, but they really don't understand it until you've lived it. It's a pretty unique life, good or bad.' The Kent family members expressed how proud they are that Compass wanted to acquire the shop. They are looking forward to Compass continuing their traditions to help the machine shop continue to grow and prosper. 'Chris and Barry have grown this unbelievably successful company. They have done a great job, and we have a lot of really nice employees,' Barry's wife, Vicky, said. 'Because of that, we wanted to make sure that the company lived on and continued and didn't just close up and end what they had worked so hard for. 'So, that's the very, very important part of it. 'With Compass, the type of company that they are, adding Compass' family, friends, employees, is what we were looking for too.' Chris sees Compass taking Pocasset Machine to the next level. Al stressed how important it will be for Compass to keep the machine shop's integrity, which he is confident the parent company will be able to do. 'I'd like to see that integrity factor that Pocasset Machine has developed to continue working under the Compass umbrella,' said Al. Compass Precision was formed with the acquisition of Advanced Machining & Tooling, LLC; Quality Products & Machine, LLC; and Tri-Tec Industries, LLC in October 2019. In August 2020, Compass added Gray Manufacturing Technologies, LLC as its first add-on acquisition. Seven months later, Douglas Machining Services, LLC became Compass's second add-on acquisition in March 2021. R&D Machine, LLC was acquired in April 2022, Strom Manufacturing, LLC in July 2022, and Bergeron Machine, LLC in April 2023, becoming Compass's third, fourth and fifth add-ons. Together, Compass's operating companies, now numbering nine including Pocasset Machine, serve a diversified group of blue-chip customers in the aerospace & defense, space, semiconductor, medical, industrial automation, power generation, telecommunications, high tech, and specialty industrial markets. In addition to expansion via acquisition, Compass has also grown significantly since its formation in 2019 by investing aggressively in advanced equipment and adding new customers drawn to the company's mantra of 'we do the tough stuff'. In particular, Compass has concentrated its CAPEX expansion on machines capable of running unattended, lights-out, and/or in multi-tasking mode whereby previous discrete CNC machine processes are combined into a single operation. 'The technology underlying CNC machining is advancing quickly,' said Compass CEO Gary Holcomb. 'We are capitalizing on these developments by buying the latest machines capable of doing even more difficult parts faster and with fewer set-ups and operator intervention. We put our money where our mouth is regarding 'we do the tough stuff.'
CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
Melius says Apple needs to make a 'bold move' in AI — here's why Cramer agrees
Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a "Morning Meeting" livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here's a recap of Monday's key moments. 1. The stock market is starting the week higher, as investors await trade developments and the start of Big Tech earnings. Both the S & P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite hit new all-time intraday highs early in the session. The money being pumped into the markets is "extraordinary," said Jim Cramer, who cited several reasons, including President Donald Trump's "big beautiful bill," in his Sunday think piece. Meanwhile, political pressure is still mounting on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on CNBC Monday that he's suggesting an entire review of the Federal Reserve, extending beyond the controversial building renovations. This follows reports that Trump disputed a piece in The Wall Street Journal that said Bessent talked him out of firing Powell due to economic and market impact concerns. The Club made a few trades Monday: We trimmed Abbott Laboratories , Danaher , and Eaton , and redeployed those funds to buy Cisco and TJ Maxx . 2. Meta Platforms got a price target raise at Morgan Stanley, to $750 from $650. Analysts cited two keys for second-half outperformance: strong quarterly results and guidance that show it hit an EPS of at least $30 in 2026; and proof its AI investments have been worth it by successfully launching next-gen Llama models and GenAI products. Jim compared Meta to the Steinbrenner family's strategy of building the New York Yankees. "Let's just get every great player and win the World Series. That's Mark Zuckerberg. He wants to win the World Series so he goes into the free agency market," Jim said, referencing Meta's poaching of top AI execs. The company is set to report earnings next Wednesday, July 30. 3. Apple was again encouraged to buy AI startup Perplexity by Melius analyst Ben Reitzes. In a note to clients Monday, Reitzes said Apple's stock would surge if it bought the AI-powered search engine and charged users $200 annually for a subscription. Apple should "move from toll taker to AI leader by any means necessary," Reitzes wrote. The analysts also threw in the idea of partnering with Elon Musk and xAI. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley analysts predict a solid quarter for Apple, but pointed out that the DOJ's antitrust case against Google could jeopardizes Apple's $20 billion search agreement. "I think the law has made it so Apple's model is a failure. So they have to buy someone. It would be Perplexity," Jim said. 4. Stocks covered in Monday's rapid fire at the end of the video were: XYZ , Domino's Pizza , Verizon Communications , Pinterest , and Target . (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long AAPL, ABT, CSCO, DHR, ETN, META, TJX . See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
MP Materials Corp. (MP): 'Not As Big As Everyone's Trying To Make It,' Says Jim Cramer
We recently published . MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed. MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) is an American rare earth metals company. Trade tensions between the US and China, which have seen China use rare earth metals as leverage, have injected new life into its shares as they have gained 288% year-to-date. MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)'s shares have gained 112% in July on the back of several catalysts, such as Pentagon and Apple investments. Here's what Cramer said about the firm: 'MP's not as big as everyone's trying to make it out to be. But it's just so, the Defense Department's in there, Apple's in there, they're gonna get what, look I remember the days when everyone owned Moly. Molycorp. Because that was the predecessor. I remember when Lee Cooper called me and said listen. . .you've got to buy MP Materials because of the whole Moly thing. I said Moly lost billions. He goes yes, so did MP. And that's what's happening. We need more than just that strip. We need more than that part of California. But I'm sure that we're gonna do it. It's a different world. We've got such religion again.' Cramer previously discussed MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)'s partnership with the Pentagon in detail: 'This morning, MP Materials announced that the Defense Department's taken a big stake in their company, which controls the largest rare earth mine in the country. The deal, which includes a $1 billion construction loan from a couple of banks along with a separate $150 million loan and a $400 million equity investment from the Defense Department, will ensure that MP can keep developing its Mountain Pass site and build a new rare earth magnet factory essential to our national security. It's all about having a reliable source of rare earths in order to reduce our dependence on China… Heavy machinery at work in a mining facility, excavating the earth for rare earth minerals. Now, suddenly, we know the strategic value of these rare earths… The Defense Department's assured us that the United States will be in a better position in the future by putting a price for the Mountain Pass site's key materials. You know what? It's an ingenious deal because it would simply cost too much for MP to refine all the rare earth minerals that our country needs by itself. We're finally getting serious about a national Achilles heel, and it's not just rare earths. Earlier this week, President Trump announced a 50% tariff on copper.' While we acknowledge the potential of MP as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the . READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
