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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3 Reasons to Sell WMT and 1 Stock to Buy Instead

WMT Cover Image

Over the past six months, Walmart has been a great trade, beating the S&P 500 by 25.8%. Its stock price has climbed to $92.72, representing a healthy 35.8% increase. This was partly due to its solid quarterly results, and the run-up might have investors contemplating their next move.

Is now the time to buy Walmart, or should you be careful about including it in your portfolio? See what our analysts have to say in our full research report, it’s free.

We’re happy investors have made money, but we're swiping left on Walmart for now. Here are three reasons why there are better opportunities than WMT and a stock we'd rather own.

Why Is Walmart Not Exciting?

Known for its large-format Supercenters, Walmart (NYSE: WMT) is a retail pioneer that serves a budget-conscious consumer who is looking for a wide range of products under one roof.

1. Long-Term Revenue Growth Disappoints

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. Unfortunately, Walmart’s 5.3% annualized revenue growth over the last five years was tepid. This was below our standard for the consumer retail sector. Walmart Quarterly Revenue

2. Low Gross Margin Reveals Weak Structural Profitability

Gross profit margins are an important measure of a retailer’s pricing power, product differentiation, and negotiating leverage.

Walmart has bad unit economics for a retailer, signaling it operates in a competitive market and lacks pricing power because its inventory is sold in many places. As you can see below, it averaged a 24.5% gross margin over the last two years. Said differently, Walmart had to pay a chunky $75.51 to its suppliers for every $100 in revenue. Walmart Trailing 12-Month Gross Margin

3. Weak Operating Margin Could Cause Trouble

Operating margin is a key profitability metric because it accounts for all expenses keeping the lights on, including wages, rent, advertising, and other administrative costs.

Walmart was profitable over the last two years but held back by its large cost base. Its average operating margin of 4.2% was weak for a consumer retail business. This result isn’t too surprising given its low gross margin as a starting point.

Walmart Operating Margin (GAAP)

Final Judgment

Walmart’s business quality ultimately falls short of our standards. With its shares outperforming the market lately, the stock trades at 35.1× forward price-to-earnings (or $92.72 per share). Investors with a higher risk tolerance might like the company, but we don’t really see a big opportunity at the moment. We're fairly confident there are better investments elsewhere. We’d suggest looking at KLA Corporation, a picks and shovels play for semiconductor manufacturing.

Stocks We Like More Than Walmart

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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