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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nLIGHT’s Q2 Earnings Call: Our Top 5 Analyst Questions

LASR Cover Image

nLIGHT’s second quarter results were shaped by robust execution in its aerospace and defense segment, which management described as the primary contributor to revenue and margin outperformance. CEO Scott Keeney credited record shipments for directed energy and laser sensing programs and highlighted the transition of amplifier products into advanced manufacturing as a key driver. Notably, the company began shipping to a new international defense customer, expanding its global footprint. Commercial markets, including industrial and microfabrication, showed sequential improvement, but management emphasized these gains were due to backlogged orders and not a sustained change in market demand.

Is now the time to buy LASR? Find out in our full research report (it’s free).

nLIGHT (LASR) Q2 CY2025 Highlights:

  • Revenue: $61.74 million vs analyst estimates of $55.63 million (22.2% year-on-year growth, 11% beat)
  • Adjusted EPS: $0.06 vs analyst estimates of -$0.09 (significant beat)
  • Adjusted EBITDA: $5.55 million vs analyst estimates of -$1.52 million (9% margin, significant beat)
  • Revenue Guidance for Q3 CY2025 is $64.5 million at the midpoint, above analyst estimates of $56.66 million
  • EBITDA guidance for the full year is $4 million at the midpoint, above analyst estimates of -$4.94 million
  • Operating Margin: -6.9%, up from -25.1% in the same quarter last year
  • Market Capitalization: $1.36 billion

While we enjoy listening to the management's commentary, our favorite part of earnings calls are the analyst questions. Those are unscripted and can often highlight topics that management teams would rather avoid or topics where the answer is complicated. Here is what has caught our attention.

Our Top 5 Analyst Questions From nLIGHT’s Q2 Earnings Call

  • Daniel Eggerichs (Craig-Hallum Capital Group) asked what drove the outperformance in aerospace and defense. CFO Joseph Corso credited stronger execution on amplifier shipments for the HELSI-2 program and clarified there were no new surprise customers.
  • Eggerichs (Craig-Hallum) also requested details on laser sensing program wins and revenue timing. Corso explained that existing programs saw higher volumes as customers restocked inventory, while new classified programs are progressing but awaiting next-phase orders.
  • Eggerichs (Craig-Hallum) questioned the sustainability of the high product gross margin. Corso responded that the Q2 margin benefited from multiple small operational wins and cautioned that Q3 guidance assumes more normalized performance.
  • James Ricchiuti (Needham & Company) inquired about the increased 2025 outlook and A&D growth drivers versus prior expectations. Corso highlighted broad-based growth across defense programs, with HELSI-2 and new international wins as incremental contributors.
  • Ruben Roy (Stifel) probed the amplifier production transition’s impact and required milestones. John Marchetti, VP of Corporate Development, emphasized internal process improvements and quality controls as key to scaling production for future growth.

Catalysts in Upcoming Quarters

In the coming quarters, the StockStory team will be watching (1) the pace of shipments and backlog conversion for key defense programs like HELSI-2 and international directed energy contracts, (2) progress in transitioning amplifier production to high-volume manufacturing and its impact on gross margins, and (3) the company’s ability to win new classified and Golden Dome-related sensing contracts. Shifts in U.S. and allied defense budgets and any signs of sustained improvement in commercial laser demand will also be key markers of execution.

nLIGHT currently trades at $27.25, up from $20.46 just before the earnings. In the wake of this quarter, is it a buy or sell? The answer lies in our full research report (it’s free).

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