Latest news with #data-driven
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Realty Income's $5B Plan and Global Reach: Is the Growth Sustainable?
Realty Income O is expanding its global real estate platform through disciplined, data-driven investments. In the second quarter of 2025, it deployed $1.2 billion at a 7.2% initial weighted average cash yield, with $889 million (76%) in Europe and $282 million in the United States, backed by a 15.2-year average lease term. The company sourced a record $43 billion in opportunities during the quarter, resulting in a selectivity ratio of less than 3%, reflecting its broad market expansion is a central growth driver, benefiting from a fragmented market, favorable financing and a larger addressable market than the United States. Since 2019, Realty Income has significantly expanded across the continent, with Europe now accounting for 17% of its annualized base rent, recently adding Poland via a sale-leaseback involving Eko-Okna. Global reach and access to diverse capital pools enable efficient execution of cross-border deals while preserving risk-adjusted the United States, Realty Income remains selective, generating a 7% yield on second-quarter investments and achieving a 103.4% rent recapture rate across 346 leases. Active portfolio optimization included $117 million in sales, mainly vacant assets, to recycle capital into higher-quality years of proprietary predictive analytics guide sourcing, underwriting and asset management. These capabilities support a 98.6% occupancy rate across more than 15,600 properties and 1,630 clients in 91 industries, with a heavy weighting toward defensive sectors like grocery and convenience raised 2025 investment guidance to $5 billion, leveraging its ability to provide full-service capital, including credit solutions, and positioning Realty Income to capture a portion of the $14 trillion global net lease market. Where Are Other Retail REITs Investing? Simon Property Group SPG continues to enhance its retail real estate portfolio through targeted development, redevelopment and acquisitions. In the second quarter of 2025, Simon Property Group acquired its partner's interest in Brickell City Centre, and its $512 million investment comprises retail and parking components, a premier mixed-use property in Miami. By the second quarter-end, Simon Property Group had active development projects across all platforms, representing its share of net costs at $1 billion with a blended yield of 9%. Around 40% of these costs were allocated to mixed-use Realty KIM is advancing its investment strategy through high-yield redevelopments, selective acquisitions and capital recycling. In 2025, it targets $100-$125 million in net acquisitions, funded partly by $100-$150 million in dispositions of low-growth assets. Redevelopment projects are expected to deliver blended yields up to 17%, while its structured investment program, yielding 9-10%, builds a strategic acquisition pipeline. O's Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates Shares of Realty Income have risen 8.4% year to date against the industry's decline of 7%. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research From a valuation standpoint, Realty Income trades at a forward 12-month price-to-FFO of 13.29, below the industry. It carries a Value Score of D. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The Zacks Consensus Estimate for O's 2025 funds from operations per share has been revised marginally downward over the past 30 days. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research At present, Realty Income carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO) — a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Simon Property Group, Inc. (SPG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Kimco Realty Corporation (KIM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Realty Income Corporation (O) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research 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
Harvard Business Review
6 days ago
- Business
- Harvard Business Review
Accelerating Data-Driven Transformation in the Hybrid Cloud Webinar
Featuring Jean-Philippe Player, Field CTO, Cloudera; Anu Mohan, Vice President, Data Strategy, Cloudera; Jaidev Karthickeyan, Sr. Director & Global Head, Value Advisory, Cloudera; and Alex Clemente, Harvard Business Review Analytic Services (HBR-AS) Many companies are trying to become more data-driven, so they can make better, faster decisions and boost their profitability. And many also want to integrate AI into all aspects of their operations and strategy. But organizations tend to prioritize data production over data consumption, putting more resources into building and managing AI data pipelines than educating employees on how to apply insights from data and AI into their decision-making and daily workstream. The goals of becoming more data-driven and incorporating AI into their business operations and strategy require some degree of data transformation.
The Australian
28-07-2025
- Business
- The Australian
ADMA recruits Tom Goodwin to shake up committee
Futurist and global marketing provocateur Tom Goodwin has been appointed to the Association for Data-Driven Marketing and Advertising (ADMA) as the body's first internationally based member of its advisory committee (AAC). ADMA said the move aimed to 'broaden the perspectives and specialisms' with the AAC to help its members with 'future-focused capability building, progressive regulatory reform and leadership that actively shapes the future of marketing'. His appointment will also bring international insights and perspective, in a move that reflects the increasingly global nature of the marketing ecosystem. However, the move also signals an appetite for change for the organisation, which has struggled in recent years to capture the relevancy of other industry bodies. Mr Goodwin's appointment to the advisory committee follows the appointment of marketing veteran David Morgan as the chair of the AAC in April. Mr Morgan, whose career includes senior marketing roles with Procter & Gamble, Samsung, Citibank, Nestle and Standard Chartered, is the first new chair in a decade for ADMA and a sign that the organisation is looking for a shake-up. Mr Goodwin's appointment is further confirmation that ADMA is evolving. Mr Goodwin has built a strong international reputation for disruptive opinions and practical viewpoints. He told The Australian that he aimed to help 'lost' marketers navigate an industry in the throes of immense change and upheaval. 'I do think that marketers around the world are a little bit lost,' Mr Goodwin said. 'I think they're sold a narrative that everything they've done before is wrong and AI is going to take their job and that everything is different now. They're told that the skills they have are no longer relevant and I think that the role that ADMA has in providing leadership and stewardship is important.' 'The magical thing about marketing is we're actually really important. It's quite an odd thing to say, but we forget that we're helpful to people. We forget that we give people confidence in the decisions they make. We make people feel better and more confident in the holiday that they choose to go on, or the baked beans they buy. 'The reality is that the majority of what we do hasn't changed that much. And I think [marketers] are terrified by the fact that it doesn't need to be as hard as we think it has to be and that common sense and empathy will get us quite far.' With the immense focus on the impact of AI dominating all conversations, Mr Goodwin said marketers should remember that it was not their job to be a tech expert and they should focus on ensuring that they understood enough. 'It's all of our jobs to know quite a lot about AI, to experiment with AI and be thoughtful and curious, but it's not our job to the expert,' he said. '[Marketers] don't need to know whether Google vo3 is better than Mid journey's latest update. It's our job to have the right altitude and then to pull in expertise and know when to say no, when things aren't ready yet, when we should learn more, and ultimately, when to take a step back and ask, is this good?' Mr Goodwin is a proponent on the value of stepping back to gain perspective and view the full picture. It's a view being embraced by ADMA as the marketing organisation prepares to double-down on marketing's importance in driving strategic business growth. Danielle Long Editor, The Growth Agenda Danielle Long is the editor of The Growth Agenda. She joined The Australian in 2024 after two decades covering the marketing, media and advertising industry for specialist publications in Australia, Asia and the UK. The Growth Agenda Rideshare brand DiDi has launched a provocative advertising campaign as it aims to take on Uber and grow its share of the market. The Growth Agenda The impact of AI on the advertising and marketing industry is an opportunity for the market to get back to what it does best: creativity, according to WPP global creative chief Rob Reilly.
Forbes
26-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How Astronomer Turned A Viral Scandal Into An AI And Data-Driven Win
Astronomer turned a viral CEO scandal into a data-driven PR win—showcasing the power of real-time ... More analytics, AI infrastructure, and brand storytelling. What started as an awkward moment for Astronomer on a stadium screen has become one of the most unexpected marketing pivots in tech and a case study in how AI infrastructure companies can build brand resilience as effectively as they build data pipelines. Astronomer: Personal Goes Public On July 16, 2025, during a Coldplay concert at Gillette Stadium, Astronomer's CEO Andy Byron and Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot were caught on the venue's kiss cam. What might have been a fleeting, lighthearted moment turned viral when viewers realized the pair were executives at the same tech company and neither had intended for their embrace to become a public spectacle. Within hours, the clip was circulating online. Media headlines followed and commentary poured in. As scrutiny mounted, both Byron and Cabot were placed on leave. Shortly afterward, they resigned. Astronomer initiated an internal investigation focused on leadership ethics and conduct to preserve internal trust and external confidence. Most companies in crisis would go quiet. Astronomer instead responded with data-driven creativity. What Is Astronomer? From Airflow to Air Time Astronomer is not your average startup. Valued at approximately 1.3 billion dollars and based in New York, it is one of the most prominent players in the data orchestration space. The company was founded by Paola Peraza Calderon, Ry Walker, Greg Neiheisel, Viraj Parekh, and Pete DeJoy. It builds tools for managing and scaling Apache Airflow, the open-source project that has become the backbone for modern data pipelines. Its flagship offering, Astro, is a managed platform for Airflow. It gives companies a reliable way to build and monitor workflows across analytics, machine learning, and real-time AI. If data is the new oil, Astronomer provides the refinery. Astronomer is a data company for AI. It builds tools for managing and scaling Apache Airflow, the ... More open-source project that has become the backbone for modern data pipelines. That is why it matters. In a world where AI is only as good as the data feeding it, Astronomer enables companies to orchestrate complex pipelines, feeding models with the right data at the right time with full observability. Astronomer And The Viral Moment Meets a Data-Aware Pivot Instead of issuing a corporate apology and retreating, Astronomer's team recognized something rare. The scandal had momentum but also context. People were talking. And the brand, known primarily among data engineers, was suddenly in mainstream conversation. They leaned in. Within days, Astronomer released a self-aware video starring Gwyneth Paltrow. The actress and entrepreneur, also known as Chris Martin's ex-wife, appeared as the company's temporary spokesperson. The video poked fun at the scandal, made a subtle nod to the Coldplay connection, and most importantly, repositioned the company's story. This was no longer just about the incident. This was about data. In the video, Paltrow promoted Astronomer's upcoming Beyond Analytics conference and explained, with humor and clarity, what the company does. For a data infrastructure firm, it was a standout moment in data storytelling. Why It Worked For Astronomer The move was not just bold. It was aligned with the company's mission to deliver real-time data orchestration and observability. The same principles that govern resilient pipelines showed up in how Astronomer managed the public narrative. They kept it simple. No corporate speak. No walls of text. Just a bold, unexpected move. The Paltrow campaign dropped just as the conversation peaked, redirecting media attention while elevating brand awareness. Astronomer used the moment to educate a wider audience on what they do and why it matters in today's AI-driven economy. Meanwhile, the company stayed operationally strong. Co-founder Pete DeJoy stepped in as interim CEO. The product roadmap stayed intact. Customers, many of whom build AI workflows that depend on reliable data infrastructure, kept moving forward. The Bigger Astronomer Picture: Data Infrastructure For AI Is Having a Moment Astronomer's story fits into a larger trend. AI dreams depend on data infrastructure. As companies rush to deploy language models, recommendation engines, and AI agents, they are discovering that data systems are often the limiting factor. From Machine Learning (ML) observability to feature pipelines to distributed scheduling, the underlying technical work is challenging. Astronomer exists to help teams manage that complexity at scale. In a landscape full of generative AI hype, Astronomer reminds us that infrastructure still matters. Astronomer And The Kiss Cam That Sparked a Data Moment It is not often that a kiss cam sparks a discussion about workflow orchestration. But Astronomer's response was more than clever PR. It was a live demonstration of what data-first thinking looks like in the real world. When the inputs are messy, the signal is chaotic, and the public is watching, can your company adapt with clarity and speed? Astronomer did. And that may be the best endorsement of their platform yet.
Forbes
21-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Balancing Risk And Reward With Data-First Identity Governance
Leslie Milne, Chief Financial Officer, Gathid. CFOs are increasingly being called upon to look beyond balance sheets and profit margins. Their role now extends into the realms of risk management, compliance, and operational governance. And at the heart of this shift lies one powerful force: data. More specifically, data-driven decision-making has become fundamental to how governance challenges are assessed and addressed. With cyber threats growing in complexity, compliance mandates becoming more rigorous, and business operations accelerating through digital transformation, CFOs must use data not only to report performance but to inform and secure it. This is where identity and access governance can provide a compelling lens into the broader strategic value of data-first thinking. The Strategic Role Of The CFO In Governance The CFO has long been regarded as the guardian of financial stability. Today, that remit has expanded to encompass enterprise-wide oversight. We are expected to play a critical role in governance, ensuring the organization maintains internal controls, complies with regulations, and manages risk without impeding innovation or efficiency. Effective governance in a digital world requires timely, accurate and actionable data. This means not just tracking financial metrics but having clear visibility into the systems and processes that underpin financial operations, including access to sensitive data, the flow of information across departments, and the technology stack that supports our people. Identity and access governance offers a case in point. At its core, identity governance ensures the right people have the right access to the right resources at the right time. This is a deceptively simple mandate that, when poorly executed, can lead to significant financial and operational risk. The CFO must understand and support the systems that manage access to critical financial applications, data repositories, and reporting platforms, particularly in environments where remote work and cloud adoption have made traditional perimeters obsolete. Data As A Governance Asset Good governance starts with good data. CFOs need reliable, integrated insights to ensure decisions are aligned with both risk appetite and business goals. Data-driven governance helps organizations answer essential questions such as: If we, once again, take identity governance as our example, modern identity and access platforms can now provide CFOs and governance leaders with almost continuous visibility into user access patterns, policy violations, and potential vulnerabilities. These platforms use knowledge graphs and digital twins to identify outliers, automate role reviews and highlight risky or excessive access—all of which helps inform more strategic governance decisions (full disclosure: Gathid offers these solutions). For example, rather than allocating costly audit resources equally across departments, finance leaders can use access intelligence to focus oversight where risks are greatest. Or when planning budgets for IT and compliance initiatives, CFOs can leverage identity data to support cost-benefit analyses and prioritize investments that mitigate the most critical risks. Reducing Risk Through Proactive Governance Many governance failures stem not from malicious behavior, but from complexity and lack of oversight. Former employees retaining access to systems, contractors being over-provisioned, or critical applications lacking clear ownership—these are all common issues that data-driven governance can help detect and resolve early. The average cost of a data breach continues to rise, with IBM reporting a global average of $4.88 million in 2024. For CFOs, this is not just an IT statistic; it's a direct risk to business continuity and brand reputation. By ensuring that governance practices are informed by data, rather than guesswork, CFOs can create a foundation for resilience. Moreover, data-driven governance enables informed decision-making. In fast-moving markets, the ability to pivot quickly while maintaining compliance is a competitive advantage. With access to data at our fingertips, CFOs can adjust policies, remediate issues, and respond to incidents with confidence and speed. Balancing Efficiency And Control Governance can often feel like a balancing act between control and agility. Lean too far into control, and you slow down the business. Emphasize speed at all costs, and you open the door to unnecessary risk. The key lies in using data to strike the right balance. Access governance platforms, for instance, can enforce least-privilege policies without impeding productivity. They can automate provisioning and deprovisioning, reducing the manual overhead and human error that frequently accompany identity processes. Importantly, this is not just about technology. It's about culture. CFOs can champion a governance culture that sees data not only as a control mechanism but as an enabler of smart decisions. When finance, IT and risk teams collaborate around shared data, the result is a more aligned, informed and agile organization. Common Challenges To Consider Of course, implementing or scaling data-first governance solutions comes with challenges. CFOs should be aware of several key considerations, including: • Stakeholder Alignment: Governance touches every part of the business. Ensuring alignment between finance, IT, HR and operations is critical to success. • Integration Complexity: Legacy systems may not easily integrate with modern platforms. A phased approach and strategic investment in interoperability are often required. • Change Management: New governance processes may require shifts in behavior and mindset. Providing training, clear communication, and ongoing support is vital. • Data Quality: Poor quality data undermines governance efforts. Before deploying analytics, organizations must ensure that identity and access data is accurate, complete and up to date. By anticipating and planning for these hurdles, CFOs can reduce friction and increase the likelihood of successful adoption. A Strategic Lever For Financial Leadership In the end, data-first governance is not about technology for its own sake. It is about enabling trust, transparency and accountability in a fast-changing world. For CFOs, it offers a way to lead with insight, manage risk proactively and allocate resources more effectively. Identity and access governance may be just one example, but it underscores a larger truth: When you harness data with intent, you can transform governance from a compliance exercise into a strategic asset. As stewards of financial stability and long-term growth, CFOs have a pivotal role to play in driving this shift, balancing risk and reward through smarter, data-driven decisions. Forbes Finance Council is an invitation-only organization for executives in successful accounting, financial planning and wealth management firms. Do I qualify?
