Chaos at airports: American communications company stock plummets

L3Harris stock plunged in after-hours trading on Wall Street after U.S. Transportation Secretary revealed that the company's team was working on upgrading the FAA's communications network when the system crashed, leading to a four-hour flight grounding and thousands of cancellations.

L3Harris (LHX), an American defense and communications company, saw its stock plunge in after-hours trading on Wall Street late Saturday, after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy revealed that a team from the company was working on upgrading the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) communications network when the system crashed. The flight grounding in the U.S. lasted over four hours, and thousands of flights were canceled. Authorities are investigating whether it was a human error by the company's team or a faulty router, and do not believe it was a cyberattack. The stock lost about 4% in after-hours trading, following a decline of about 10% over the past year. On the business side, in the third quarter, the company's revenue grew by 7%, earnings per share surged by 33%, and the order backlog reached a record $53.2 billion. The company raised its annual profit forecast. Investors will await the investigation results and the market opening on Monday.