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Tyrese Hunter tossed in a game-high 26 points to lead Memphis to a 99-97 upset victory over No. 2 UConn on Monday in the first round of the Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii. Hunter, who played at Iowa State and Texas before transferring to Memphis, made eight field goals with 7-of-10 3-point shooting. The Tigers (5-0) connected on 12 of their 22 3-point attempts in the win. UConn's Hassan Diarra made a free throw to cut the Memphis lead to 99-97 with 2.2 seconds left. He intentionally missed the second free throw and collected the loose ball, but his desperation shot was off the mark. It was 92-92 when UConn's Liam McNeeley was called for an offensive foul with 40.3 seconds left. UConn coach Dan Hurley received a technical for arguing the foul call, and PJ Carter made all four free throws to give the Tigers a four-point lead. Memphis, which squandered a 13-point lead with four minutes to play in regulation, received 22 points from PJ Haggerty, 19 from Colby Rogers and 14 from Dain Dainja. Memphis will play the winner of Monday night's game between Colorado and Michigan State in Tuesday's semifinals. UConn will face the loser of that contest. Tarris Reed Jr. had a team-high 22 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for UConn (4-1) before he fouled out with 3:18 to play. He made 10 of his 13 field goal attempts. Alex Karaban added 19 points for the Huskies. Jaylin Stewart scored a career-high 16 points, Diarra had 12 and McNeeley added 10. UConn trailed 82-79 after Diarra made two free throws with 24.2 seconds to play in regulation. The Huskies then forced a turnover and tied the game on a 3-pointer by Solo Ball with 1.2 on the clock. Although Memphis shot 56.5 percent from the field (13 for 23) and 50 percent from 3-point territory (5 for 10) in the first half, the game was tied 40-40 after 20 minutes. Neither team led by more than six points in the half. UConn received 29 points from its bench in the first half. Reed scored 15 of those points and Stewart supplied the other 14. --Field Level Media
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NoneInvestment management firm Vanguard offers a variety of sector-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that mirror the performance of all 11 Global Industry Classification Standard stock market sectors. The Vanguard Information Technology ETF ( VGT 0.37% ) has a mere 0.1% expense ratio and a minimum investment of just $1, making it an easy way to dip your toes into the tech sector at a low cost. The semiconductor industry has been the main driver behind the tech sector's sustained rally. But software giant Salesforce ( CRM 1.86% ) just blasted to a new all-time high. And Adobe ( ADBE 1.53% ) is up over 15% from 52-week lows from May. Let's find out if a boom in software stocks could help take the Vanguard Tech ETF to new heights and some risks worth considering before investing in top software stocks. How enterprise software is investing in AI Talking about the tech sector without mentioning artificial intelligence (AI) is impossible. After all, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has become the most valuable company in the world because of the massive growth potential of AI. More computing power is needed to power AI models, and Nvidia is on the cutting edge of making graphics processing units and associated hardware for data centers. But for the AI narrative to last, companies must develop and profit from AI tools. The pressure is on enterprise software companies like Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) , Salesforce, and Adobe to prove that AI spending is worth it. Microsoft's research and development spending has soared as it invests in AI solutions . AI assistants called Copilots are embedded in several applications, such as Microsoft 365, GitHub, Azure, and more. On Oct. 21, Microsoft unveiled new autonomous agents for business processes such as sales, finance, and supply chains. Salesforce has touted the benefits of its Agentforce suite of AI agents . Agentforce could become a lucrative value add for Salesforce's industry-leading customer relationship management platform and Salesforce-owned Tableau and Slack. Adobe has been developing many AI tools , such as its generative AI text-to-image tool Firefly and an AI Assistant for Adobe Acrobat that can give summaries of PDFs. Despite their potential, AI developments have not yet led to blistering growth for Salesforce and Adobe. Adobe's margins have stalled, and Salesforce only recently began generating consistent operating income. Neither company has grown its top line at an impressive rate in recent years. Salesforce's trailing-12-month revenue is up just 37.7% in three years, and Adobe's is up only 32.7%. Enterprise software companies that rely on software-as-a-service (SaaS) business models must balance innovation without reducing their customer base. For example, the Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps business plan is $89.99 per month per license. Suppose Adobe improves its suite of apps by so much that it can charge $135 per month per license. But because each user can accomplish so much more, an Adobe business customer decides it only needs 10 licenses instead of 20. Adobe would end up with higher revenue per license but lower overall sales. In other words, its innovation would lead to a crack in its business model. The biggest question facing enterprise software companies is how they will modernize the SaaS business model in the age of AI so that they aren't so dependent on the number of licenses. The uncertainty facing software companies is one reason why semiconductor companies are leading the tech sector, not software. Software companies face the challenge of monetizing AI without jeopardizing their existing business models, whereas a company like Nvidia benefits from overall AI adoption. So, Nvidia is a safer and more straightforward way to bet on AI than a specific enterprise software company. Breaking down the Vanguard Tech ETF Even if Salesforce and Adobe continue to surge higher, they wouldn't be able to impact the Vanguard Tech ETF meaningfully. As you can see in the following table, a whopping 44.6% of the Vanguard Tech ETF is invested in Apple , Nvidia, and Microsoft -- illustrating the sheer size of these giants compared to other tech companies. Company Weight in the Vanguard Information Technology ETF Apple 15.8% Nvidia 15.4% Microsoft 13.4% Broadcom 4.6% Salesforce 1.8% Oracle 1.8% Advanced Micro Devices 1.5% Cisco Systems 1.5% Adobe 1.4% Accenture 1.4% Data source: Vanguard. It's also worth understanding how the ETF is allocated by industry. As you can see in the following table, around a third of the ETF is now in semiconductor companies. The semiconductor industry's influence on the tech sector extends far beyond Nvidia . Category Weight in the Vanguard Information Technology ETF Application and Systems Software 35.2% Semiconductors and Semiconductor Materials & Equipment 33.1% Technology Hardware, Storage, Distributors, & Periphera 18.3% Electronic Components, Equipment, Instruments, and Manufacturing Services 4.4% IT Consulting & Other Services 3.7% Communications Equipment 3.6% Internet Services & Infrastructure 1.7% Data source: Vanguard. For example, diversified semiconductor, hardware, and networking company Broadcom alone makes up a larger share of the ETF than Salesforce and Adobe combined. A better way to target software stocks The Vanguard tech ETF is a great way to get broad-based exposure to the tech sector, but it isn't the best way to invest in application and infrastructure software companies. Investors interested in top enterprise software companies like Oracle, Salesforce, Adobe, ServiceNow , and Intuit may prefer to simply buy shares of those individual names or take a closer look at software ETFs like the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF ( IGV 1.44% ) . By focusing exclusively on software companies and leaving out chip stocks and big hardware companies like Apple, investors get way more exposure to enterprise software names. For example, the ETF has a 9.4% weighting in Salesforce, which is more than five times higher than the Vanguard Tech ETF. In sum, Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft have gotten so big that they will continue driving the Vanguard Tech ETF. Investors who already own these three companies and don't want further exposure may want to consider investing in other tech stocks or ETFs instead.
RICHARDSON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / December 19, 2024 / Optex Systems Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:OPXS), a leading manufacturer of precision optical sighting systems for domestic and worldwide military and commercial applications, announced financial results for the year ended September 29, 2024. Danny Schoening, CEO of Optex Systems Holdings, Inc., commented, "To build on last year's comments, this was again, another strong year for Optex. This was accomplished with multi-year wins on every major platform that we support. Laser Protected Periscopes, Laser Filter Units, Laser Interference Filters, M22 Binoculars, and other optical assemblies have filled our backlog and driven favorable factory leverage at both of our facilities. In addition, our suppliers have stepped up to the delivery challenges and we've selectively increased various internal bottlenecks to fuel the output. I would like to thank all of our employees, customers, and shareholders for their continued support in 2024 as we anticipate these trends to continue in 2025." Backlog as of September 29, 2024 was $44.2 million. This compares to a backlog of $41.8 million as of October 1, 2023, representing an increase of $2.4 million, or 5.7%. For the year ended September 29, 2024, our total revenues increased by $8.3 million, or 32.5%, compared to the prior year. The increase in revenue reflects increases at both the Optex Richardson segment of $6.1 million and the Applied Optics Center segment of $2.2 million. The increase in revenue was driven by increased customer demand for military products across both operating segments partially offset by lower customer demand in optical assemblies at the Applied Optics Center. Gross profit increased $2.9 million, or 44.0%, and the gross margin percentage increased by 2.2 points from 25.8% in the 2023 fiscal year to 28.0% in the 2024 fiscal year. Optex Systems gross profit increased by $1.4 million and the gross margin percentage increased to 20.7% as compared to 19.7% in the prior year. Applied Optics Center gross profit increased by $1.5 million and the gross margin percentage increased to 34.1% as compared to 29.3% in the prior year. The increase in each segment and consolidated gross profit is primarily attributable to higher revenue and increased absorption of fixed cost. Consolidated operating income increased by $2.0 million, or 73.0%, in the year ended September 29, 2024 to $4.8 million as compared to the prior year operating income of $2.8 million. Both operating segments realized an increase in operating income which is primarily attributable to higher revenue and gross profit, partially offset by increases in general and administrative costs. As of September 29, 2024, Optex Systems Holdings had working capital of $15.1 million, as compared to $13.5 million as of October 1, 2023. During the twelve months ended September 29, 2024, we generated operating cash of $1.8 million, primarily driven by increased revenue and net income. For the twelve months ended September 29, 2024, there was no net change against the outstanding credit facility balance of $1.0 million. At September 29, 2024, the Company had approximately $1.0 million in cash and an outstanding payable balance of $1.0 against its $3.0 million line of credit. As of September 29, 2024, our outstanding accounts receivable balance was $3.8 million, which has been collected during the first quarter of fiscal 2025. During the first quarter of 2025, we paid down our credit facility to zero. Our key performance measures for year ended September 29, 2024 and October 1, 2023 are summarized below. During the twelve months ended September 29, 2024, the Company booked $36.4 million in new orders, representing a 5.2% increase from the prior year period orders of $34.6 million. The orders for the most recently completed twelve months consist of $23.5 million for our Optex Richardson segment and $12.9 million attributable to the Applied Optics Center segment. The table below summarizes our twelve-month operating results for the periods ended September 29, 2024 and October 1, 2023, in terms of both the GAAP net income measure and the non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA measure. We believe that including both measures allows the reader better to evaluate our overall performance. Adjusted EBITDA has limitations and should not be considered in isolation or a substitute for performance measures calculated under GAAP. This non-GAAP measure excludes certain cash expenses that we are obligated to make. In addition, other companies in our industry may calculate Adjusted EBITDA differently than we do or may not calculate it at all, which limits the usefulness of Adjusted EBITDA as a comparative measure. During the year ended September 29, 2024, we recorded net income of $3.8 million as compared to net income of $2.3 million during the year ended October 1, 2023. The increase of net income of $1.5 million is primarily attributable to increased operating income of $2.0 million, offset by increased federal income taxes of ($0.5) million. Our Adjusted EBITDA increased by $2.3 million to $5.7 million during the twelve months ended September 29, 2024 as compared to $3.4 million during the twelve months ended October 1, 2023. The increase in EBITDA is primarily driven by increased net income, offset by increased taxes, depreciation and amortization, and stock compensation. Highlights of the Consolidated and Segment Results of Operations have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. These financial highlights do not include all information and disclosures required in the consolidated financial statements and footnotes and should be read in conjunction with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the twelve months ended September 29, 2024 filed with the SEC on December 19, 2024. Optex Systems Holdings, Inc. Consolidated Balance Sheets The accompanying notes in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the twelve months ended September 29, 2024 filed with the SEC on December 19, 2024 are an integral part of these financial statements. Optex Systems Holdings, Inc. Consolidated Statements of Income The accompanying notes in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the twelve months ended September 29, 2024 filed with the SEC on December 19, 2024 are an integral part of these financial statements. ABOUT OPTEX SYSTEMS Optex, which was founded in 1987, is a Richardson, Texas based ISO 9001:2015 certified concern, which manufactures optical sighting systems and assemblies, primarily for Department of Defense (DOD) applications. Its products are installed on various types of U.S. military land vehicles, such as the Abrams and Bradley fighting vehicles, Light Armored and Armored Security Vehicles, and have been selected for installation on the Stryker family of vehicles. Optex also manufactures and delivers numerous periscope configurations, rifle and surveillance sights, and night vision optical assemblies. Optex delivers its products both directly to the military services and to prime contractors. For additional information, please visit the Company's website at www.optexsys.com . Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including those relating to the products and services described herein. You can identify these statements by the use of the words "may," "will," "could," "should," "would," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "continue," "estimate," "project," "intend," "likely," "forecast," "probable," and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements represent our expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies concerning future events, including, but not limited to, any statements regarding growth strategy; product and development programs; financial performance and financial condition (including revenue, net income, profit margins and working capital); customer demand; orders and backlog; expected timing of contract deliveries to customers and corresponding revenue recognition; increases in the cost of materials and labor; costs remaining to fulfill contracts; contract loss reserves; labor shortages; follow-on orders; supply chain challenges; the continuation of historical trends; the sufficiency of our cash balances for future liquidity and capital resource needs; the expected impact of changes in accounting policies on our results of operations, financial condition or cash flows; anticipated problems and our plans for future operations; and the economy in general or the future of the defense industry. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, continued funding of defense programs and military spending, the timing of such funding, general economic and business conditions, including unforeseen weakness in the Company's markets, effects of continued geopolitical unrest and regional conflicts, competition, changes in technology and methods of marketing, delays in completing engineering and manufacturing programs, changes in customer order patterns, changes in product mix, continued success in technological advances and delivering technological innovations, changes in the U.S. Government's interpretation of federal procurement rules and regulations, changes in spending due to policy changes in any new federal presidential administration, market acceptance of the Company's products, shortages in components, production delays due to performance quality issues with outsourced components, inability to fully realize the expected benefits from acquisitions and restructurings or delays in realizing such benefits, challenges in integrating acquired businesses and achieving anticipated synergies, changes to export regulations, increases in tax rates, changes to generally accepted accounting principles, difficulties in retaining key employees and customers, unanticipated costs under fixed-price service and system integration engagements, changes in the market for microcap stocks regardless of growth and value and various other factors beyond our control. You must carefully consider any such statement and should understand that many factors could cause actual results to differ from the Company's forward-looking statements. These factors include inaccurate assumptions and a broad variety of other risks and uncertainties, including some that are known and some that are not. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. The Company does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement. You should carefully evaluate such statements in light of factors described in the Company's filings with the SEC, especially on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. In various filings the Company has identified important factors that could cause actual results to differ from expected or historic results. You should understand that it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors. Consequently, you should not consider any such list to be a complete list of all potential risks or uncertainties. Contact: IR@optexsys.com 1-972-764-5718 SOURCE: Optex Systems Holdings, Inc. View the original on accesswire.comChiefs are no longer relishing close wins as the stress of the postseason push begins to mount
William Blair Forecasts Medtronic’s Q3 Earnings (NYSE:MDT)
