Latest news with #ITindustry
Entrepreneur
5 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
EU unveils new water conservation plan targeting tech industry
The European Union has announced a comprehensive plan to strengthen drought resilience and enhance water quality throughout its member states. The initiative includes unprecedented measures that will place water usage... This story originally appeared on Calendar The European Union has announced a comprehensive plan to strengthen drought resilience and enhance water quality throughout its member states. The initiative includes unprecedented measures that will place water usage restrictions on the growing information technology sector. This new strategy comes as parts of Europe have faced increasing water scarcity challenges in recent years, with climate change exacerbating drought conditions across the continent. The EU's approach signals a recognition that water management requires coordination across all economic sectors, including those not traditionally associated with high water consumption. Tech Industry Water Consumption Under Scrutiny In a notable shift, the EU plan specifically targets the IT industry, which has largely avoided water usage regulations despite its growing environmental footprint. Data centers, which form the backbone of cloud computing services, require massive amounts of water for cooling systems. A typical data center can use millions of gallons of water annually to prevent servers from overheating. The new measures will implement monitoring systems and usage limits on technology companies operating within EU borders. This marks the first time the bloc has directly addressed water consumption in the digital sector as part of its environmental policy. 'Water is a shared resource that faces increasing pressure from multiple sectors,' stated an EU official familiar with the plan. 'The IT industry must participate in conservation efforts alongside agriculture and manufacturing.' Comprehensive Water Quality Improvements Beyond usage restrictions, the EU plan outlines several approaches to improve water quality across member states: Enhanced monitoring of groundwater and surface water sources Stricter enforcement of pollution standards for industrial discharge Funding for municipal water treatment upgrades Cross-border cooperation on shared water resources The strategy aims to address both immediate concerns about water availability and long-term issues related to contamination and the health of ecosystems. By adopting a holistic approach, EU officials aim to establish sustainable water management practices that can withstand the increasing pressures of climate change. Economic Implications The new regulations will likely impact operational costs for tech companies with significant European operations. Industry analysts suggest that while initial compliance may require investment, the long-term effect could drive innovation in water-efficient cooling technologies. Some tech industry representatives have expressed concerns about the potential regulatory burden, but others see an opportunity. 'This could actually level the playing field by rewarding companies that have already invested in water conservation,' noted a sustainability director at a major European tech firm. Agricultural and industrial sectors, which have long faced water usage restrictions, have generally welcomed the inclusion of the IT sector in water management policies. The EU plan represents part of a broader strategy to align environmental policies across different economic sectors. Water scarcity has become an increasingly pressing issue, with several member states experiencing severe droughts that have affected agriculture, energy production, and drinking water supplies in recent years. Implementation of the new measures is expected to begin next year, with a phased approach that will give businesses time to adapt to the new requirements. The EU has indicated that it will provide technical assistance and possibly financial support to help smaller companies comply with the regulations. The post EU unveils new water conservation plan targeting tech industry appeared first on Calendar.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Investors Could Be Concerned With Metrofile Holdings' (JSE:MFL) Returns On Capital
To avoid investing in a business that's in decline, there's a few financial metrics that can provide early indications of aging. Businesses in decline often have two underlying trends, firstly, a declining return on capital employed (ROCE) and a declining base of capital employed. This combination can tell you that not only is the company investing less, it's earning less on what it does invest. And from a first read, things don't look too good at Metrofile Holdings (JSE:MFL), so let's see why. AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early. For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for Metrofile Holdings, this is the formula: Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities) 0.15 = R188m ÷ (R1.5b - R216m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024). Therefore, Metrofile Holdings has an ROCE of 15%. In isolation, that's a pretty standard return but against the IT industry average of 39%, it's not as good. Check out our latest analysis for Metrofile Holdings Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for Metrofile Holdings' ROCE against it's prior returns. If you want to delve into the historical earnings , check out these free graphs detailing revenue and cash flow performance of Metrofile Holdings. In terms of Metrofile Holdings' historical ROCE movements, the trend doesn't inspire confidence. To be more specific, the ROCE was 19% five years ago, but since then it has dropped noticeably. And on the capital employed front, the business is utilizing roughly the same amount of capital as it was back then. Since returns are falling and the business has the same amount of assets employed, this can suggest it's a mature business that hasn't had much growth in the last five years. If these trends continue, we wouldn't expect Metrofile Holdings to turn into a multi-bagger. In the end, the trend of lower returns on the same amount of capital isn't typically an indication that we're looking at a growth stock. Despite the concerning underlying trends, the stock has actually gained 36% over the last five years, so it might be that the investors are expecting the trends to reverse. Regardless, we don't like the trends as they are and if they persist, we think you might find better investments elsewhere. Metrofile Holdings does have some risks, we noticed 4 warning signs (and 2 which can't be ignored) we think you should know about. If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive returns on equity. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Fast Company
21-05-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
Boom-bust-what's next: Preparing for supply chain instability by learning from our past
The tech sector often produces rapid innovation and growth in waves. A few years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented unpredictability, leading to an initial stall, followed by a massive boom in the SaaS and IT industries driven by the need for remote work solutions, cloud services, and digital collaboration tools. Foundational technologies like enterprise IT networking also saw increased investment as companies rushed to purchase hardware and software to accelerate their digital transformation efforts and support secure, hybrid work. Like other variables during the pandemic, the 'boom' period was short-lived. Instead of sustained growth across the tech market, and the IT networking space in particular, a staggering demand overestimation by more than $120 billion caused a frenetic 'bust' that threatened to paralyze the industry. Supply chain volatility plays a significant role in these boom/bust cycles. Lockdowns and delays during the COVID pandemic dragged raw material supplies down substantially, creating initial pent-up demand and backorders. Tariffs also impact this cycle, with extreme price pressure for raw materials imported from foreign countries causing turbulence, especially in the enterprise hardware technology market. With the 25th anniversary of the dot-com peak and a challenging tariff environment along with a new IT industry buying cycle due to extreme demand for AI infrastructure and compute power, what lessons from the past can inform better supply chain management decisions? THE IMPACT OF TARIFFS ON THE TECH INDUSTRY AND THE SUPPLY CHAIN The potential impact of U.S. tariffs continues to loom large over the tech industry—especially following implementation on April 2nd, and the reciprocal behavior from other countries. Tariffs on imported goods from countries such as China, including the components needed to create fully formed tech and IT hardware, are likely to slow growth and create pricing pressure across the supply chain. For example, enterprise network switches have 300 different components sourced from different countries around the world. Any disruption in the supply chain due to tariffs could make these components costlier to use and import, stunting AI's promise and technological advancements needed to make IT management easier, more efficient, and more effective. Fortunately, the last supply crunch taught valuable lessons about the importance of real-time planning, optimization, transparency, and a pragmatic approach to managing a dynamic supply chain. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the initial rush to adopt new technologies was driven by necessity, but it also led to hasty decisions and overinvestment in some areas. As technology buyers anticipate the potential impact of tariffs, it's essential to take a holistic approach to understanding your supply chain, assessing where pricing pressures will likely be the strongest, adjusting as needed, and replacing suppliers and operations with countries that have a more tariff-friendly environment. ACTIONABLE ADVICE FOR MANAGING SUPPLY CHAIN DURING MARKET CHAOS Taking a measured approach to managing the global supply chain before making significant investments is critical. Be prudent with this process and carefully evaluate the long-term value and sustainability of new technologies and new supply partners, and weigh the impacts of tariffs before making any major decisions. Leveraging technology can help, for example, overhaul legacy and manual supply chain management processes, and implementing automation tools, such as inventory management systems and cloud-based platforms, can support real-time planning, re-routing, and execution across various functions. Throughout this process, technology vendors should prioritize transparency and communication with partners and customers. Being open and honest about supply chain drag and upstream pricing pressure can ease concerns and empower customers to make more prudent decisions when planning for future technology purchases and deployments, particularly for extensive AI networking, infrastructure, and data center expenditures. Additionally, establishing a dedicated team of supply chain and IT experts to drive continuous improvement and innovation in supply chain management is imperative, especially in the emerging environment. ARE WE MORE PREPARED THIS TIME AROUND? In what should come as no surprise, most companies are exploring AI to drive operational efficiencies and employee productivity, though a recent survey found 32% of CIOs and senior IT leaders had not yet seen significant ROI from AI investments nor efficiency improvements post-implementation. As AI matures, it will be used to create better user experiences, necessitating infrastructure upgrades and supply chain improvements to accommodate current applications. Significant investments have also gone into building new infrastructure for AI, leading to the rise of the 'AI factory,' or new data centers purpose-built for AI applications and power consumption. New AI-native infrastructures are seen as future-proof investments, as opposed to retrofitted ones that may not scale into the future. Legacy network systems and conventional supply chain cycles will not be able to support AI unless they evolve from single-purpose to multi-purpose systems, are capable of accelerated computing,and have full software-defined workloads. Companies are already investing in accelerated computing as the foundation of new infrastructure, paving the way for new revenue streams. The question remains: Are we better prepared this time around to help customers navigate the complexities of innovative technology and the potential impact of tariffs? The answers lie in our ability to help end customers understand how to effectively plan to ensure their technology investments deliver real, tangible ROI while also avoiding rushed decisions related to the latest newsworthy developments in AI. By focusing on practical applications of AI, adopting integrated platforms, and leveraging the expertise of Managed Service Providers (MSPs), organizations can navigate the challenges of the future and emerge stronger than ever. The technology boom-bust cycle during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the previous cycle of U.S. tariffs from the first Trump administration, have taught us valuable lessons about the importance of transparency, prudence, and a pragmatic approach to new technologies. As we enter the age of AI in networking, these lessons will be essential in helping us avoid another boom-bust supply and demand cycle and achieve sustainable, long-term growth.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cancom First Quarter 2025 Earnings: EPS: €0.10 (vs €0.29 in 1Q 2024)
Revenue: €410.5m (down 6.9% from 1Q 2024). Net income: €3.18m (down 69% from 1Q 2024). Profit margin: 0.8% (down from 2.3% in 1Q 2024). The decrease in margin was driven by lower revenue. EPS: €0.10 (down from €0.29 in 1Q 2024). This technology could replace computers: discover the 20 stocks are working to make quantum computing a reality. All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period Looking ahead, revenue is forecast to grow 4.7% p.a. on average during the next 3 years, compared to a 6.3% growth forecast for the IT industry in Germany. Performance of the German IT industry. The company's shares are down 3.2% from a week ago. Before we wrap up, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Cancom that you should be aware of. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Data Storage First Quarter 2025 Earnings: EPS: US$0.003 (vs US$0.05 in 1Q 2024)
Revenue: US$8.08m (down 1.8% from 1Q 2024). Net income: US$24.1k (down 93% from 1Q 2024). Profit margin: 0.3% (down from 4.3% in 1Q 2024). The decrease in margin was primarily driven by higher expenses. EPS: US$0.003 (down from US$0.05 in 1Q 2024). This technology could replace computers: discover the 20 stocks are working to make quantum computing a reality. All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period Looking ahead, revenue is forecast to grow 11% p.a. on average during the next 2 years, compared to a 10% growth forecast for the IT industry in the US. Performance of the American IT industry. The company's shares are up 6.5% from a week ago. You should always think about risks. Case in point, we've spotted 2 warning signs for Data Storage you should be aware of. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
