About Cabling Installation & Maintenance

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.
  • Standards: Tracking the activities of North American and international standards-making organizations, we provide updates on specifications that are in-progress, looking forward to how they will affect cabling-system design and installation. We also produce articles explaining the practical aspects of designing and installing cabling systems in accordance with the specifications of established standards.

Cabling Installation & Maintenance is published by Endeavor Business Media, a division of EndeavorB2B.

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Three Reasons Why WDC is Risky and One Stock to Buy Instead

WDC Cover Image

Over the last six months, Western Digital’s shares have sunk to $71.51, producing a disappointing 7.6% loss - a stark contrast to the S&P 500’s 14.2% gain. This may have investors wondering how to approach the situation.

Is there a buying opportunity in Western Digital, or does it present a risk to your portfolio? Get the full breakdown from our expert analysts, it’s free.

Even with the cheaper entry price, we're swiping left on Western Digital for now. Here are three reasons why we avoid WDC and a stock we'd rather own.

Why Do We Think Western Digital Will Underperform?

Founded in 1970 by a Motorola employee, Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) is a leading producer of hard disk drives, SSDs and flash memory.

1. Revenue Spiraling Downwards

A company’s long-term performance is an indicator of its overall quality. While any business can experience short-term success, top-performing ones enjoy sustained growth for years. Western Digital struggled to consistently generate demand over the last five years as its sales dropped at a 1.6% annual rate. This fell short of our benchmarks and is a sign of poor business quality. Semiconductors are a cyclical industry, and long-term investors should be prepared for periods of high growth followed by periods of revenue contractions.Western Digital Quarterly Revenue

2. Low Gross Margin Reveals Weak Structural Profitability

In the semiconductor industry, a company’s gross profit margin is a critical metric to track because it sheds light on its pricing power, complexity of products, and ability to procure raw materials, equipment, and labor.

Western Digital’s gross margin is one of the worst in the semiconductor industry, signaling it operates in a competitive market and lacks pricing power. As you can see below, it averaged a 20.9% gross margin over the last two years. Said differently, Western Digital had to pay a chunky $79.11 to its suppliers for every $100 in revenue. Western Digital Trailing 12-Month Gross Margin

3. Cash Burn Ignites Concerns

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.

Western Digital’s demanding reinvestments have drained its resources over the last two years, putting it in a pinch and limiting its ability to return capital to investors. Its free cash flow margin averaged negative 6.8%, meaning it lit $6.84 of cash on fire for every $100 in revenue.

Western Digital Trailing 12-Month Free Cash Flow Margin

Final Judgment

Western Digital falls short of our quality standards. Following the recent decline, the stock trades at 8.7x forward price-to-earnings (or $71.51 per share). While this valuation is optically cheap, the potential downside is still huge given its shaky fundamentals. There are superior stocks to buy right now. We’d recommend looking at Wabtec, a leading provider of locomotive services benefiting from an upgrade cycle.

Stocks We Like More Than Western Digital

The elections are now behind us. With rates dropping and inflation cooling, many analysts expect a breakout market to cap off the year - and we’re zeroing in on the stocks that could benefit immensely.

Take advantage of the rebound by checking out our Top 9 Market-Beating Stocks. 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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