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Our mission: Bringing practical business and technical intelligence to today's structured cabling professionals

For more than 30 years, Cabling Installation & Maintenance has provided useful, practical information to professionals responsible for the specification, design, installation and management of structured cabling systems serving enterprise, data center and other environments. These professionals are challenged to stay informed of constantly evolving standards, system-design and installation approaches, product and system capabilities, technologies, as well as applications that rely on high-performance structured cabling systems. Our editors synthesize these complex issues into multiple information products. This portfolio of information products provides concrete detail that improves the efficiency of day-to-day operations, and equips cabling professionals with the perspective that enables strategic planning for networks’ optimum long-term performance.

Throughout our annual magazine, weekly email newsletters and 24/7/365 website, Cabling Installation & Maintenance digs into the essential topics our audience focuses on.

  • Design, Installation and Testing: We explain the bottom-up design of cabling systems, from case histories of actual projects to solutions for specific problems or aspects of the design process. We also look at specific installations using a case-history approach to highlight challenging problems, solutions and unique features. Additionally, we examine evolving test-and-measurement technologies and techniques designed to address the standards-governed and practical-use performance requirements of cabling systems.
  • Technology: We evaluate product innovations and technology trends as they impact a particular product class through interviews with manufacturers, installers and users, as well as contributed articles from subject-matter experts.
  • Data Center: Cabling Installation & Maintenance takes an in-depth look at design and installation workmanship issues as well as the unique technology being deployed specifically for data centers.
  • Physical Security: Focusing on the areas in which security and IT—and the infrastructure for both—interlock and overlap, we pay specific attention to Internet Protocol’s influence over the development of security applications.
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Three Reasons Why SSD is Risky and One Stock to Buy Instead

SSD Cover Image

Simpson trades at $186.77 and has moved in lockstep with the market. Its shares have returned 10.6% over the last six months while the S&P 500 has gained 13%.

Is now the time to buy Simpson, or should you be careful about including it in your portfolio? Get the full breakdown from our expert analysts, it’s free.

We're sitting this one out for now. Here are three reasons why there are better opportunities than SSD and a stock we'd rather own.

Why Is Simpson Not Exciting?

Aiming to build safer and stronger buildings, Simpson (NYSE: SSD) designs and manufactures structural connectors, anchors, and other construction products.

1. EPS Took a Dip Over the Last Two Years

While long-term earnings trends give us the big picture, we also track EPS over a shorter period because it can provide insight into an emerging theme or development for the business.

Sadly for Simpson, its EPS declined by 1.2% annually over the last two years while its revenue grew by 3.8%. This tells us the company became less profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded.

Simpson Trailing 12-Month EPS (Non-GAAP)

2. Free Cash Flow Margin Dropping

If you’ve followed StockStory for a while, you know we emphasize free cash flow. Why, you ask? We believe that in the end, cash is king, and you can’t use accounting profits to pay the bills.

As you can see below, Simpson’s margin dropped by 8 percentage points over the last five years. Simpson’s five-year free cash flow profile was compelling, but shareholders are surely hoping for its trend to reverse. Continued declines could signal that the business is becoming more capital-intensive. Its free cash flow margin for the trailing 12 months was 4.3%.

Simpson Trailing 12-Month Free Cash Flow Margin

3. New Investments Fail to Bear Fruit as ROIC Declines

A company’s ROIC, or return on invested capital, shows how much operating profit it makes compared to the money it has raised (debt and equity).

We typically prefer to invest in companies with high returns because it means they have viable business models, but the trend in a company’s ROIC is often what surprises the market and moves the stock price. Over the last few years, Simpson’s ROIC has decreased. We like what management has done in the past, but its declining returns are perhaps a symptom of fewer profitable growth opportunities.

Simpson Trailing 12-Month Return On Invested Capital

Final Judgment

Simpson isn’t a terrible business, but it doesn’t pass our bar. That said, the stock currently trades at 21.2x forward price-to-earnings (or $186.77 per share). Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but our analysis shows the upside isn’t great compared to the potential downside. We're pretty confident there are superior stocks to buy right now. We’d recommend looking at CrowdStrike, the most entrenched endpoint security platform.

Stocks We Like More Than Simpson

With rates dropping, inflation stabilizing, and the elections in the rearview mirror, all signs point to the start of a new bull run - and we’re laser-focused on finding the best stocks for this upcoming cycle.

Put yourself in the driver’s seat by checking out our Top 5 Strong Momentum Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 175% over the last five years.

Stocks that made our list in 2019 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+2,691% between September 2019 and September 2024) as well as under-the-radar businesses like Comfort Systems (+783% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free.

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