Navistar (NAV) is dropping after Oshkosh (OSK) announced last night that it had been awarded a contract to develop the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, or JLTV. Oshkosh will partner with Lockheed Martin (LMT) and Humvee maker AM General on the JLTV project, with the contracts worth $56M-$66M. The JLTV will replace the Humvee "with a lightweight vehicle that offers greater protection, mobility and transportability," Oshkosh said in its statement. Navistar also bid on the Defense Department project but was not awarded a contract, according to Reuters. In a note sent earlier today to investors, Wells Fargo wrote that Navistar's failure to win the contract appears to be negative for the company in the near-term. Navistar's inability to win the contract may cause the company to increasingly rely on its struggling NAFTA commercial vehicle business, Wells believes. Navistar still thinks that it may be able to win a contract to manufacture the JLTV, according to Wells, which estimates that JLTV production contracts could be worth $6B over seven years. However, the production phase won't start until after 2014 and Navistar is unlikely to win a production contact, according to Wells, which maintained a Market Perform rating on the stock. In mid-morning trading, Navistar retreated $1.08, or 4.34%, to $23.83, while Oshkosh added 1.13% to $25.04.
Some Asian stock markets rose on Wednesday following a positive lead from Wall Street, with Japan's Nikkei reaching …