Latest news with #MattCain
Yahoo
28-07-2025
- Yahoo
Green Bay Police Department changes interview, college credit requirements in new hiring process
In an attempt to reduce vacancies and speed up the hiring process, the Green Bay Police Department will implement a revised recruitment process for patrol officers in August. The police department currently has 15 vacant patrol positions, with seven more opening in the next year due to retirements, according to a Police and Fire Commission memo. Recruiting quality candidates has been increasingly difficult, the memo said, due in part to a lengthy recruitment process. According to the memo, the current process can take five to six months from the date a candidate applies to their final interview and hiring approval. Changes including a reduced college credit requirement, a revised written exam and eliminating in-person interviews were recommended to make the process more efficient. The changes were unanimously approved by the city's Police and Fire Commission on July 22. "We are all in heavy competition for the same candidates," Matt Cain, acting commander of the professional standards division, said at the meeting. "What we're trying to do is get that offer to them more quickly, get them through the process to the offer more quickly, so that we don't lose them to the competition." What is changing? The police department will be making changes to four aspects of its patrol officer recruitment process: processing of applications, education requirement, written exam and interview process. First, applications will be reviewed on a weekly basis as opposed to a quarterly review. The new process will also reduce the number of college credits required to submit an application. Previously, all candidates were required to have 60 college credits at the time of applying. In the new process, that requirement will only apply to applicants who have already completed the law enforcement academy. Individuals who have not gone through the law enforcement academy can apply with 40 college credits. Through the academy, the candidate would receive the remaining 20 credits needed to fulfill the state's 60-credit requirement. Some commission members expressed concern over lowering the department's education standards. However, after being assured the background check and field training processes won't be changing, commission member Ed Dorff said he recognized that 20 credits "isn't going to make a great deal of difference." "It's those other things that will make the difference," Dorff said. It has become more of an industry norm for candidates to apply without having completed the academy, Cain said. "If you look at those applications ... you see fewer and fewer people are willing to flip their own dime to put themselves through," he said. "All this changes is who can put an application in," commission chair Rod Goldhahn added. Currently, the department administers a report writing test quarterly as the second step in the recruitment process, following the application. In the new process, the test will be replaced with a more comprehensive written exam administered online by Public Safety Answers, the same recruitment vendor used for the city's fire department. The final change will impact the interviewing process. Instead of candidates having an initial interview with police department personnel and a later interview with the Police and Fire Commission, candidates will record online interviews through Public Safety Answers. The recorded responses will be reviewed by commission members, the police department's Professional Standards Division and human resources. The new process will reduce delays caused by scheduling challenges, according to the commission memo. The background investigation process will remain the same. After being assured that background standards are not being lowered and that the commission could follow up with candidates if they had additional questions, the commission members voted unanimously to approve the changes. "I trust the PD that if they realize that this isn't working, that this will be reevaluated," commission member John Laux said Vivian Barrett is the public safety reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach her at vmbarrett@ or (920) 431-8314. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @vivianbarrett_. This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay Police Department changes hiring process to combat vacancies Solve the daily Crossword
New York Times
06-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Hometown hero Logan Webb pitches Giants to stabilizing win in West Sacramento
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Matt Cain, throughout his long tenure as a load-bearing pillar in the San Francisco Giants rotation, adhered to a personal code whenever he'd hand over the baseball at the end of a day's work. No matter how well he pitched at the Giants' waterfront ballpark, no matter how few runs scored on his watch, no matter how comfortably the home team was ahead and no matter how loudly the crowd cheered his effort, the stoic right hander refused to tip his cap if he left a runner on base. Something about it just didn't feel right. Advertisement Logan Webb has a little Matt Cain in him. 'I wish I had given a wave or something,' said Webb, who walked off the mound with two on and two out in the seventh inning at Sutter Health Park Saturday night to the kind of ovation reserved for hometown heroes. 'It's always awkward in those moments and I don't know why. But I felt the love from the Sacramento crowd. It was awesome to pitch at home.' Because their Las Vegas-bound former Bay Area rivals are carpetbagging it in the Central Valley for at least three seasons, the Giants are playing a major-league series in a minor-league stadium. It happens to be the Triple-A ballpark down the road from where Webb grew up in Rocklin. He fidgeted in his seat here many times as a kid, watching the Sacramento River Cats when they were still an A's affiliate. Maybe something happens when so many of your formative memories of professional baseball come in a ballpark that doesn't have a second deck and where every seat is close to the action. Maybe there's less emotional distance between you and the players. It might be one of the reasons Webb has remained so grounded and so rocksteady since he established himself as one of the league's best pitchers in 2021. You can't injure yourself by falling off a pedestal when you never put yourself on one. Webb delivered another of his typical starts on an otherwise atypical night. He pumped strikes and mixed his pitches; a Giants lineup that included a freshly activated Matt Chapman and a resurgent Willy Adames did the rest in a 7-2 victory. The legions of Giants fans who barely had a moment to cheer here in Friday night's 11-2 loss came out of the auditory woodwork this time. But the sellout crowd of 12,298 could be better described as pro-Webb than pro-Giants. The moment Webb walked out of the bullpen in the bottom of the first inning, he was showered with shouts of 'Go Rocklin' and 'Go Thunder' from fans who more than likely once applauded the touchdown drives he directed in high school. Advertisement Webb's cheering section for home games in San Francisco is so vocal that his coaches would tease him about it. So you knew his loyalists would be out in full force when he started a game in his own backyard. You can't call it a cheering section when the support stretches from pole to pole. 'Every time I got an out or a strikeout, it felt like the whole crowd was cheering me on,' Webb said. Webb continues to raise his own high bar in what's turning into the best season of his career. He reclaimed the major-league lead with 120 1/3 innings and his 133 strikeouts are second only to Philadelphia's Zack Wheeler among NL pitchers. Giants manager Bob Melvin referred to Webb as a no-brainer to make his second NL All-Star team. He completed at least six innings for the eighth consecutive start and continues to be a stabilizing force every time he takes the mound. That's precisely what the Giants needed one night after Melvin questioned the team's focus in a sloppy loss. Perhaps it's no coincidence that the Giants played several of those unfocused games over the past four weeks without Chapman, who sustained a significantly sprained hand while getting picked off a month ago. The team was missing more than its leading home run hitter and Gold Glove third baseman. Chapman is also Melvin's conduit to the clubhouse and the unofficial captain who sets high standards for his teammates. 'That's what he's been about his whole career,' said Melvin, who also managed Chapman with the A's in Oakland. 'From the minute he's gotten here, he embraces the leadership role. He plays a certain style of baseball that we want to play. So it's huge to have him back and not just the production part. It's what he does on the field, it's his presence in the dugout, in the clubhouse. It's a big part of who we are.' Advertisement The Giants' lineup without Chapman lacked continuity, as well. Even after the stunning June 15 trade with the Boston Red Sox that netted Rafael Devers, one of the best left-handed hitters in the game, the lineup over the past couple weeks competed like a group that had dressed itself in the dark. The expectation now is that with Devers and Chapman in the middle of the order, and Casey Schmitt expected to become the everyday second baseman on Monday when he's eligible to be activated from the IL, a deeper and more stable lineup will be able to win its share of games without requiring near perfection from a rotation firmly led by Webb and Robbie Ray and a bullpen that has been baseball's best in the first half. 'I'd like to think I can make an impact,' Chapman said prior to the game. 'Finally, we get to play together (with Devers). We're one step closer to everybody being together and getting comfortable playing with each other and to start playing the baseball that we expect to play.' But there's no thinking more wishful than 'everybody being together' when you're dealing with a 26-man roster and a 162-game season. The next injury or inconsistent stretch is always right around the corner. Not an hour passed after Chapman's pregame session with reporters before there was a roster update: left-hander Erik Miller to the injured list with a left elbow sprain. The news wasn't too surprising. Something seemed off with Miller most of the year. There had to be occult forces behind his 1.50 ERA in 36 games because Miller totaled more walks and hit batters (22) than strikeouts (20) in 30 innings. His 14 percent drop in strikeout percentage is the largest year-over-year decrease among all major-league pitchers who've thrown at least 20 innings. Yet Miller remained an important part of the Giants' late-inning mix and he was a huge key to Wednesday's win at Arizona when he entered Landen Roupp's bases-loaded, no-out situation and limited the damage to one run on a sacrifice fly. A sprained elbow is often a precursor to Tommy John surgery but Melvin said Miller's MRI did not show major structural damage and the hope is that he will recover with a rest interval. For now, the Giants selected the contract of a familiar face, left-hander Scott Alexander, whom they recently signed on a minor-league deal, to replace Miller on the roster. Joey Lucchesi is another lefty in the bullpen but his role for as long as he's here is to pitch multiple innings. Former Tigers lefty Matt Gage signed a minor-league contract with the Giants on Saturday. Triple-A left-handed starter Carson Whisenhunt could be introduced to the big leagues in a relief role, too. The trade deadline is more than three weeks away and a team's needs tend to fluctuate, but left-handed relief almost certainly has sped to the top of club president Buster Posey's list. If only the Giants could clone Randy Rodriguez, who replaced Webb and stranded both inherited runners. Rodriguez is unscored upon in 36 of 38 appearances and is the Giants' top All-Star candidate after Webb and Ray. An argument could be made that, given his standing among his relief cohort, Rodriguez is the most deserving Giant on the team. 'The numbers say he's been the best reliever in baseball,' said Webb, who also lobbied for Tyler Rogers to become a first-time All-Star after several seasons in which he merited a place. 'I really hope he gets it.' 2 at-bats, 2 2-RBI singles for #2 — SFGiants (@SFGiants) July 6, 2025 The Giants will play two formidable opponents in the final homestand prior to the All-Star break when the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers come to San Francisco, but there's still a chance to create the momentum they couldn't gather while struggling with their own demons in the past several series against sub-.500 teams. Adames hasn't been out of action like Chapman, but his bat hasn't made an impact for most of the season. It's starting to heat up now. He hit a pair of two-run singles on Saturday, including a crisp line drive in the first inning after A's right-hander Luis Severino hit Heliot Ramos and Chapman with pitches. Advertisement Both hit batters glared back at the mound. Ramos has been hit 11 times this year after getting hit just twice last season. Chapman didn't appear to appreciate getting plunked in his first plate appearance after missing a month with a hand injury. A week ago, Webb expressed exasperation with the number of Giants batters getting hit and levied a not-so-veiled threat when he said that 'the game finds a way to even itself out.' Webb couldn't risk getting ejected Saturday night and didn't hit any batters in retaliation. But it sure was interesting that he made two kneecap pitches in the fourth inning — a 1-0 sinker to Jacob Wilson and an 0-1 sinker to Brent Rooker — that missed their spots by a lot more than his usual location mistakes. It was one more reminder: Some of Webb's most fervent fans never have to buy a ticket to see him pitch. They can watch from the dugout for free.
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Couchbase stock soars after $1.5 billion acquisition deal with Haveli
-- Couchbase Inc (NASDAQ:BASE) stock surged 29% following the announcement that the company has agreed to be acquired by Haveli Investments in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.5 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Couchbase stockholders will receive $24.50 per share in cash, representing a 29% premium to the company's closing stock price on June 18, 2025, the last full trading day prior to the announcement. The deal also marks a 67% premium to the closing price on March 27, 2025, when Haveli first invested in the company. The stock is currently trading at $24.46 per share, a 29.3% gain on the day, as of 9:51 ET. The transaction, which has been approved by Couchbase's board of directors, is expected to close in the second half of 2025, subject to stockholder approval and regulatory clearances. Upon completion, Couchbase will become a privately held company, and its common stock will no longer be listed on any public market. "Today's announcement marks a significant milestone for our stockholders and an exciting new chapter for Couchbase," said Matt Cain, Chair, President and CEO of Couchbase. "Haveli's investment is a strong affirmation of our market position and our future potential." The merger agreement includes a "go-shop" period expiring at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on June 23, 2025, during which Couchbase can solicit and consider alternative acquisition proposals. Haveli Investments, a technology-focused investment firm, views the acquisition as strategic given the increasing importance of data platforms in AI applications. Morgan Stanley is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Couchbase, while Jefferies is acting as lead financial advisor to Haveli. Related articles Couchbase stock soars after $1.5 billion acquisition deal with Haveli Reddit in talks to use Sam Altman's World ID for user verification - Semafor Regulators clear Canadian Natural's SLB acquisition after divestiture agreement Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Q1 Earnings Highlights: Couchbase (NASDAQ:BASE) Vs The Rest Of The Data Storage Stocks
As the Q1 earnings season comes to a close, it's time to take stock of this quarter's best and worst performers in the data storage industry, including Couchbase (NASDAQ:BASE) and its peers. Data is the lifeblood of the internet and software in general, and the amount of data created is accelerating. As a result, the importance of storing the data in scalable and efficient formats continues to rise, especially as its diversity and associated use cases expand from analyzing simple, structured datasets to high-scale processing of unstructured data such as images, audio, and video. The 5 data storage stocks we track reported a strong Q1. As a group, revenues beat analysts' consensus estimates by 3% while next quarter's revenue guidance was in line. Thankfully, share prices of the companies have been resilient as they are up 7.1% on average since the latest earnings results. Formed in 2011 with the merger of Membase and CouchOne, Couchbase (NASDAQ:BASE) is a database-as-a-service platform that allows enterprises to store large volumes of semi-structured data. Couchbase reported revenues of $56.52 million, up 10.1% year on year. This print exceeded analysts' expectations by 1.7%. Overall, it was a satisfactory quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts' EBITDA estimates but a significant miss of analysts' billings estimates. "We had a great start to fiscal 2026, delivering the highest first quarter net new ARR in company history," said Matt Cain, Chair, President and CEO of Couchbase. Couchbase delivered the slowest revenue growth of the whole group. The stock is up 5.6% since reporting and currently trades at $19.60. Is now the time to buy Couchbase? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free. Originally formed in 1988 as part of Bell Labs, Commvault (NASDAQ: CVLT) provides enterprise software used for data backup and recovery, cloud and infrastructure management, retention, and compliance. Commvault Systems reported revenues of $275 million, up 23.2% year on year, outperforming analysts' expectations by 4.8%. The business had a very strong quarter with an impressive beat of analysts' billings estimates and a solid beat of analysts' EBITDA estimates. Commvault Systems pulled off the biggest analyst estimates beat and highest full-year guidance raise among its peers. The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 15.2% since reporting. It currently trades at $190.99. Is now the time to buy Commvault Systems? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free. Started by brothers Ben and Moisey Uretsky, DigitalOcean (NYSE: DOCN) provides a simple, low-cost platform that allows developers and small and medium-sized businesses to host applications and data in the cloud. DigitalOcean reported revenues of $210.7 million, up 14.1% year on year, exceeding analysts' expectations by 1%. Still, it was a mixed quarter as it posted EPS guidance for next quarter missing analysts' expectations. DigitalOcean delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates and weakest full-year guidance update in the group. As expected, the stock is down 11.5% since the results and currently trades at $28.98. Read our full analysis of DigitalOcean's results here. 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. Snowflake reported revenues of $1.04 billion, up 25.7% year on year. This result surpassed analysts' expectations by 3.4%. More broadly, it was a satisfactory quarter as it also produced a solid beat of analysts' EBITDA estimates but a miss of analysts' billings estimates. Snowflake scored the fastest revenue growth among its peers. The company added 26 enterprise customers paying more than $1 million annually to reach a total of 606. The stock is up 17.7% since reporting and currently trades at $210.85. Read our full, actionable report on Snowflake here, it's free. Started in 2007 by the team behind Google's ad platform, DoubleClick, MongoDB offers database-as-a-service that helps companies store large volumes of semi-structured data. MongoDB reported revenues of $549 million, up 21.9% year on year. This number topped analysts' expectations by 4.1%. Overall, it was a very strong quarter as it also put up EPS guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts' expectations and a solid beat of analysts' EBITDA estimates. The company added 110 enterprise customers paying more than $100,000 annually to reach a total of 2,506. The stock is up 8.4% since reporting and currently trades at $216.65. Read our full, actionable report on MongoDB here, it's free. The Fed's interest rate hikes throughout 2022 and 2023 have successfully cooled post-pandemic inflation, bringing it closer to the 2% target. Inflationary pressures have eased without tipping the economy into a recession, suggesting a soft landing. This stability, paired with recent rate cuts (0.5% in September 2024 and 0.25% in November 2024), fueled a strong year for the stock market in 2024. The markets surged further after Donald Trump's presidential victory in November, with major indices reaching record highs in the days following the election. Still, questions remain about the direction of economic policy, as potential tariffs and corporate tax changes add uncertainty for 2025. Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Top 6 Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate. 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
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
BASE Q1 Earnings Call: Capella Migrations Drive Growth, Near-Term Revenue Lags Expectations
Database as a service company Couchbase (NASDAQ: BASE) fell short of the market's revenue expectations in Q1 CY2025, but sales rose 10.1% year on year to $56.52 million. Its non-GAAP loss of $0.06 per share was 1.9 cents above analysts' consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy BASE? Find out in our full research report (it's free). Revenue: $56.52 million (10.1% year-on-year growth) Adjusted EPS: -$0.06 vs analyst estimates of -$0.08 ($0.02 beat) Adjusted Operating Income: -$4.18 million vs analyst estimates of -$4.72 million (-7.4% margin, relatively in line) Revenue Guidance for Q2 CY2025 is $54.8 million at the midpoint, below analyst estimates of $56.46 million Operating Margin: -33.3%, up from -43.9% in the same quarter last year Annual Recurring Revenue: $252.1 million at quarter end, up 21.4% year on year Billings: $55 million at quarter end, down 6.8% year on year Market Capitalization: $1.00 billion Couchbase's first quarter results reflected the company's ongoing shift toward its Capella database-as-a-service platform and deeper penetration within large strategic accounts. Management pointed to accelerated annual recurring revenue (ARR) growth, with CEO Matt Cain highlighting strong upsell and expansion activity: 'Our pipeline of large strategic opportunities continues to grow, which in combination with our strong Q1 results reinforces my confidence in our strategy and our ability to maintain our momentum this fiscal year and beyond.' The quarter also saw continued momentum in Capella adoption, driven by customer migrations and increased credit consumption as more applications moved into production. Looking ahead, Couchbase's guidance reflects expectations for further Capella migrations, ongoing investment in product capabilities, and disciplined cost management. Management acknowledged that revenue growth will likely remain modest in the near term as customers transition from traditional enterprise licenses to the consumption-based Capella model, which changes how revenue is recognized. CFO Bill Carey noted, 'We expect migrations as well as grown consumption to be significant drivers for us this fiscal year, along with ongoing investments in product capabilities and strengthening our partner ecosystem.' The company remains focused on achieving operating income positivity next year, while maintaining its commitment to innovation, particularly in AI and edge computing use cases. Couchbase's management attributed first quarter results to growth in large strategic accounts, increased Capella adoption, and ongoing product enhancements tailored for developer needs. Strategic account expansion: The company reported notable growth within large enterprise customers, with multiple accounts deploying Couchbase solutions across tens or even hundreds of applications. Management emphasized that success is increasingly defined by becoming a core platform provider for these organizations, enabling long-term expansion opportunities. Capella adoption and migration: Capella, Couchbase's cloud-based database offering, saw continued traction as more customers migrated from legacy enterprise licenses. This transition fueled higher credit consumption, especially as new and existing clients moved applications into production. Management highlighted Capella's performance, ease of use, and scalability as key differentiators. Go-to-market improvements: Couchbase introduced enhancements such as a free Capella tier, credit card transactions for onboarding, and dedicated strategic account teams. These efforts were designed to lower barriers for developers and increase top-of-funnel demand, with trial volumes up significantly year over year. Product innovation in edge and AI: The launch of Couchbase Edge Server—an offline-first, lightweight database for edge environments—aims to support applications requiring reliable, local data access. Management also underscored ongoing investments in AI capabilities, including high-performance vector database features to power agent-based AI applications. Starter pack cohort dynamics: While customer count declined due to churn in the starter pack segment, management described successful ARR expansion among a subset of these customers, with some converting from small initial engagements to large, high-value accounts. Couchbase expects future performance to be shaped by continued Capella migrations, strategic account growth, and investments in AI and edge solutions. Capella migration and consumption: Management believes the transition of existing enterprise customers to Capella will remain a primary growth driver, though it creates short-term revenue recognition delays. As more applications reach steady-state usage, revenue and ARR are expected to converge, supporting longer-term growth. AI and edge computing initiatives: The company is investing in AI-related features, such as integrated vector search and agent-based workflows, and expanding its offerings for edge environments. Management views these capabilities as essential for addressing the evolving needs of application developers and differentiating Couchbase in a competitive market. Efficiency and profitability focus: Couchbase is prioritizing sales and marketing efficiency, operating leverage, and disciplined cost management. The company reaffirmed its aim to reach operating income positivity next year, while balancing growth investments with margin improvement. In upcoming quarters, the StockStory team will be monitoring (1) the pace and scale of migrations to Capella and whether usage growth offsets short-term revenue headwinds, (2) customer adoption of new AI-related and edge database features, and (3) progress in expanding strategic accounts into larger multi-application deployments. The company's ability to improve sales efficiency and profitability will also be important signposts. Couchbase currently trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 4.2×. In the wake of earnings, is it a buy or sell? See for yourself in our full research report (it's free). Market indices reached historic highs following Donald Trump's presidential victory in November 2024, but the outlook for 2025 is clouded by new trade policies that could impact business confidence and growth. While this has caused many investors to adopt a "fearful" wait-and-see approach, we're leaning into our best ideas that can grow regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate. Take advantage of Mr. Market by checking out our Top 6 Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 183% over the last five years (as of March 31st 2025). Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,545% between March 2020 and March 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Exlservice (+354% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
