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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Snowflake (SNOW): Buy, Sell, or Hold Post Q3 Earnings?

SNOW Cover Image

Snowflake has had an impressive run over the past six months as its shares have beaten the S&P 500 by 23%. The stock now trades at $171.40, marking a 30.7% gain. 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 Snowflake, or should you be careful about including it in your portfolio? Get the full stock story straight from our expert analysts, it’s free.

Despite the momentum, we're sitting this one out for now. Here are two reasons why there are better opportunities than SNOW and a stock we'd rather own.

Why Is Snowflake Not Exciting?

Founded in 2013 by three French engineers who spent decades working for Oracle, Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW) provides a data warehouse-as-a-service in the cloud that allows companies to store large amounts of data and analyze it in real time.

1. Low Gross Margin Reveals Weak Structural Profitability

For software companies like Snowflake, gross profit tells us how much money remains after paying for the base cost of products and services (typically servers, licenses, and certain personnel). These costs are usually low as a percentage of revenue, explaining why software is more lucrative than other sectors.

Snowflake’s gross margin is worse than the software industry average, giving it less room than its competitors to hire new talent that can expand its products and services. As you can see below, it averaged a 67.1% gross margin over the last year. Said differently, Snowflake had to pay a chunky $32.90 to its service providers for every $100 in revenue. Snowflake Trailing 12-Month Gross Margin

2. Operating Losses Sound the Alarms

Many software businesses adjust their profits for stock-based compensation (SBC), but we prioritize GAAP operating margin because SBC is a real expense used to attract and retain engineering and sales talent. This metric shows how much revenue remains after accounting for all core expenses – everything from the cost of goods sold to sales and R&D.

Snowflake’s expensive cost structure has contributed to an average operating margin of negative 39.4% over the last year. Unprofitable, high-growth software companies require extra attention because they spend heaps of money to capture market share. As seen in its fast historical revenue growth, this strategy seems to have worked so far, but it’s unclear what would happen if Snowflake reeled back its investments. Wall Street seems to be optimistic about its growth, but we have some doubts.

Snowflake Operating Margin (GAAP)

Final Judgment

Snowflake isn’t a terrible business, but it doesn’t pass our bar. With its shares topping the market in recent months, the stock trades at 13.8× forward price-to-sales (or $171.40 per share). At this valuation, there’s a lot of good news priced in - we think there are better investment opportunities out there. We’d suggest looking at Chipotle, which surprisingly still has a long runway for growth.

Stocks We Like More Than Snowflake

The Trump trade may have passed, but rates are still dropping and inflation is still cooling. Opportunities are ripe for those ready to act - and we’re here to help you pick them.

Get started by checking out our Top 5 Growth Stocks for this month. 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 (+2,183% between December 2019 and December 2024) as well as under-the-radar businesses like Comfort Systems (+751% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free.

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