Latest news with #DanShugar
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
How does a rockslide happen? 'The mountain that moves' was Canada's deadliest
A large rockslide in Banff National Park at Bow Glacier Falls left two hikers dead and up to 13 others injured Thursday, raising questions about how and why the disaster occurred. But a look at published research and archive news articles on rockslides provides some general information about the dangerous occurrences. A rockslide happens when a large chunk of rock detaches itself from the mountain where it sits and begins sliding down the slope. Why does this occur? Well, natural erosion or seismic activity can cause a rockslide, as can heavy rainfalls. Human activity such as excavation, construction or mining can also lead to a rockslide. As one chunk of rock begins its downward slide, it can quickly gain momentum and trigger massive amounts of other rock to also begin sliding, leading to devastating effects. notes a landslide or rockslide can occur 'when gravitational and other types of shear stresses within a slope exceed the shear strength (resistance to shearing) of the materials that form the slope.' Dr. Dan Shugar, a University of Calgary geoscience professor, said rockslides are a fairly common geological phenomenon, particularly in the Rocky Mountains, due to how steep the slopes are. The composition of rock is largely limestone, which is susceptible to water saturation, making the rocks heavier. 'Ultimately, the cause is gravity,' he said. 'Mountains get built up over geological time and then they get torn down. That's an entirely natural process. 'We see rockfalls, rock avalanches, rockslides — we see a variety of mass wasting in mountain environments all the time. They range from a small boulder that would hurt you if it hit you but wouldn't be that damaging to entire mountain sides collapsing, and everything in between.' A landslide occurs when sediment or loose dirt disengages from a hill or mountain and begins moving downwards. A rockslide, however, means solid rocks are also being swept down a slope during a similar type of event. Rockslides are also incredibly fast-moving, as they tend to move down a flat surface of a mountain. The Canadian Encyclopedia notes a rockslide can move up to 100 km/hr. The most horrific rockslide in Canadian history occurred in 1903 when a huge slab of Turtle Mountain crashed down onto the town of Frank and Crowsnest Pass (about 250 kilometres southwest of Calgary). At least 72 known residents were killed in the natural disaster, as were an undetermined number of others visiting or passing through the area. Some historians thus put the death toll closer to 90. An estimated 80 to 110 million tonnes of rock were involved in the deadly event that came to be known as Frank Slide. The rockslide only lasted about a minute and a half. Newspaper clippings and archive stories from the rockslide describe the horrific results that led to the deaths of men, women and children. As those clippings note, information about the state of some of the victims was disturbing, but shed light on how powerful the rockslide was: 'The leg and hip of a man was found lying fifty yards from the Imperial Hotel.' First Nations people in the area had noticed instability in the mountain decades earlier and even had a name for it that translated to 'the mountain that moves.' The geological structure of Turtle Mountain was said to be the primary cause of Frank Slide, but weather impacts and coal mining were also noted as factors in the deadly rockslide. An interpretive centre in Frank now tells the story of the slide and history of the area. Other Canadian rockslides of note include the 1841 rockfall in the Lower Town of Quebec City, killing 32 people and crushing eight homes, and the 1889 rockslide in the same area that killed more than 40, says the Canadian Encyclopedia. The worst rockslide worldwide was the Haiyuan Landslides of 1920 in China, when more than 200,000 people were killed. An earthquake caused those landslides. Apart from the Frank Slide, Shugar said Alberta has surprisingly not had that many significant rockfall events. He noted B.C. tends to get more, citing the Hope Slide of 1965 as an example. 'It certainly was a very big, impressive landslide right by the highway,' he said. The 680-tonne Big Rock, a type of quartzite, is an intriguing tourist attraction at Rocky Mountain House in Alberta, but how did this boulder measuring 9.7 metres by 9.4 metres by 5.5 metres get there? Well, the Rocky Mountain House Mountaineer reported the following 11 years back: 'Right around 20,000 years ago the Late Wisconsinan Glaciation was at its height; it was a glacier that could have been one kilometre thick. We know that all of the rocks in the Foothills Erratic Train come from the upper Athabasca drainage area south of Jasper,' said author and geologist Ben Gadd. 'A rockslide, almost certainly, dropped the rocks on the glacier. The glacier then eventually began to flow eastward until running into the Laurentide ice sheet (a glacier much larger than the one carrying the boulders) right around the Edson area. The larger glacier forced the smaller one to begin to move southeastward, right towards Rocky Mountain House.' Along with this Big Rock, another famous boulder that is part of the Foothills Erratic Train is the big rock in Okotoks, south of Calgary. The Okotoks Erratic is 16,500 tonnes in size, but was discovered in large pieces rather than a single stone. As the glacier, now on a new path, moved in the southeastward direction, it slowly began to melt. And as this process continued, the boulders that fell and became embedded in the glacier from the upper Athabasca drainage area began to drop from the flowing glacier. According to Shugar, the U of C geoscientist, the short answer is probably yes. The reason for that is due to how climate change is accelerating glacial retreat, which causes rock to become less stable. Temperature and precipitation changes are other components, as warmer temperatures can melt more ice and increased rainfall can change glacial mass or erode cliffs, making them steeper. 'These landscapes, as they become newly created or newly exposed by glacier retreat, they often are unstable,' Shugar said. 'There's a sort of relaxation time over which they adjust to this new paradigm, new reality for them. Quite often they're very steep because of glacier erosion and so they need time to relax back to a geographical equilibrium.' In glaciated mountains like in the Rockies, Shugar said that as glaciers retreat, we can expect to see more landslides. In the case of the Bow Glacier Falls rockslide, he suspects there have been side-effects due to the recent creation of a new proglacial lake, which formed just 70 years ago at the toe of the Bow Glacier. He suspects that over those seven decades, water from that new lake has been seeping into the rock, saturating it over the years and making it heavier. 'We see this all over the place,' he said. 'This isn't unique to this particular location, but I suspect part of the ultimate cause of this event yesterday (Thursday) was that saturated rock.'
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NXT Q1 Earnings Call: Missed Revenue Expectations, Expanding Product Portfolio, and Margin Outlook
Solar tracker company Nextracker (NASDAQ:NXT) fell short of the market's revenue expectations in Q1 CY2025, but sales rose 25.5% year on year to $924.3 million. Its non-GAAP EPS of $1.29 per share was 32% above analysts' consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy NXT? Find out in our full research report (it's free). Revenue: $924.3 million (25.5% year-on-year growth) Adjusted EPS: $1.29 vs analyst estimates of $0.98 (32% beat) Adjusted Operating Income: $162.8 million vs analyst estimates of $175 million (17.6% margin, 7% miss) Adjusted EPS guidance for the upcoming financial year 2026 is $3.84 at the midpoint, missing analyst estimates by 1.5% EBITDA guidance for the upcoming financial year 2026 is $737.5 million at the midpoint, below analyst estimates of $762.6 million Adjusted EBITDA Margin: 18.1% Backlog: $4.92 billion at quarter end, up 23% year on year Market Capitalization: $8.48 billion Nextracker's first quarter results were shaped by continued demand for utility-scale solar trackers and expanded international activity, which management said drove a sequential increase in backlog and bookings. CEO Dan Shugar emphasized the company's efforts to strengthen its market leadership, highlighting recent wins in regions such as Europe, Latin America, and Australia. President Howard Wenger pointed to the successful uptake of new products like the Hail Pro series and strong customer demand for fully domestic content in the U.S., supported by a flexible supply chain. Management also noted stable pricing and project execution, with the backlog providing enhanced visibility into near-term revenue streams. Looking ahead, Nextracker's guidance reflects increased investment in research and development, expansion into adjacent technologies, and ongoing policy uncertainty in the U.S. solar market. CEO Dan Shugar described a strategic move toward becoming a broader solar technology platform provider, with recent acquisitions such as Bentek Corporation expected to contribute to future growth. CFO Chuck Boynton cautioned that higher operating expenses and capital expenditures would impact margins, stating, 'We're leaning in on growth and investing in OpEx and CapEx to drive multi-year expansion.' Management acknowledged risks related to evolving U.S. policy, tariffs, and global project mix but pointed to a strong contracted backlog as a buffer for the coming year. Management attributed Q1 performance to a combination of robust international sales, the steady ramp of new product offerings, and the expansion of its order backlog. The quarter also saw the company continue its shift towards a comprehensive solar technology platform. International expansion momentum: Management highlighted that contracts were signed in 17 different countries during the quarter, including growth in less-discussed markets such as Saudi Arabia, Greece, Peru, Chile, and Bulgaria. Europe, especially Spain, saw record deliveries, attributed to the success of the XTR terrain-following tracker tailored for regional conditions. Domestic content demand: In the U.S., Nextracker observed rising demand for tracker systems with 100% domestic content, a trend tied to policy incentives and customer requirements. The company's flexible supply chain, with 90 manufacturing sites across 19 countries, allowed it to meet these needs and secure long-term customer relationships. New product adoption: The Hail Pro series and TrueCapture yield management platform gained strong traction, with over nine gigawatts of Hail Pro trackers sold and significant sales of the XTR series. These products address insurance and system performance requirements, which management claims are increasingly important for customers. Order backlog growth: The order backlog increased sequentially, with management reporting 'record bookings and backlog' and continued book-to-bill ratios above one. This backlog, encompassing both domestic and international projects, was described as providing visibility and reducing revenue uncertainty. Strategic acquisitions: The acquisition of Bentek Corporation and two specialty foundation companies marked a shift toward a solar power technology platform. Management stated that integrating tracker and electrical balance-of-system (eBOS) offerings would simplify procurement for customers and create new revenue streams beyond the traditional tracker business. Nextracker's outlook is shaped by ongoing investments in product development, expansion into new business lines, and uncertainties related to policy and market conditions. Platform expansion strategy: Management is prioritizing investment in adjacent technologies, such as electrical balance-of-system solutions, with the expectation that these new offerings will drive a significant portion of future revenue. CEO Dan Shugar stated that in five years, one-third of revenue could come from non-tracker sources. Margin headwinds from investment: CFO Chuck Boynton outlined that higher operating and capital expenditures—particularly to scale recent acquisitions and develop new products—will weigh on EBITDA margins in the near term. The company expects structural gross margins to remain in the low-30% range, but operating margins will be influenced by both investments and geographic revenue mix. Policy and market risks: Management identified evolving U.S. policy, including tax credit provisions and tariffs, as risk factors for future results. They noted that much of the coming year's business is already contracted, which limits near-term downside but leaves future periods exposed to potential regulatory shifts. In the coming quarters, the StockStory team will monitor (1) the pace of integration and revenue contribution from recent acquisitions such as Bentek, (2) signs of sustained demand for new product offerings like TrueCapture and Hail Pro, and (3) regulatory developments affecting domestic content requirements and tax credit incentives in the U.S. The durability of margins amid international expansion and investment will also be closely tracked. Nextracker currently trades at a forward P/E ratio of 14.9×. Is the company at an inflection point that warrants 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 5 Strong Momentum 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-micro-cap company Kadant (+351% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today. 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
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Nextracker Inc.'s (NXT) Surged Last Week
We recently published a list of . In this article, we are going to take a look at where Nextracker Inc.'s (NASDAQ:NXT) stands against other stocks that surged yesterday. Wall Street's main indices were a mixed bag anew on Thursday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq the sole loser, as investors continued to digest results of more corporate earnings and key economic data. The Nasdaq was down by 0.18 percent. In contrast, the Dow Jones grew by 0.65 percent while the S&P 500 rose by 0.41 percent. Beyond the major indices, 10 companies finished stronger on the back of impressive corporate earnings and planned mergers and acquisitions. In this article, we explore the specific reasons behind their surge. To come up with the list, we considered only the stocks with a $2 billion market capitalization and $5 million in trading volume. An empty shelf of bifacial PV modules ready to be installed in a large-scale solar project. Nextracker Inc. rallied for an eighth consecutive day on Thursday, jumping 11.9 percent to finish at $61.59 apiece following news that it acquired US-based electrical infrastructure manufacturer Bentek Corporation for $78 million. The acquisition effectively expanded Nextracker Inc.'s (NASDAQ:NXT) portfolio of products with the addition of electrical balance of system (eBOS), which ensures faster commissioning, better grid integration, and higher energy yield over the system's lifetime. 'In utility-scale solar, eBOS quality and reliability are critical to system uptime and long-term return on investment. Bentek is a proven eBOS innovator and pioneer with several families of IP and issued patents,' said Nextracker Inc. (NASDAQ:NXT) CEO Dan Shugar. The move builds on Nextracker Inc.'s (NASDAQ:NXT) previous acquisition in June 2024 when it acquired solar foundation firm Ojjo for $120 million, followed by Solar Pile International for $48 million in August last year. Overall, NXT ranks 3rd on our list of stocks that surged last week. While we acknowledge the potential of NXT as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NXT but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: and . Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at .
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Nextracker Stock Skyrocketed Today
The company posted the final quarterly-earnings release of its fiscal 2025. It powered well past analyst estimates for both revenue and net income. 10 stocks we like better than Nextracker › The sun was shining brightly on solar industry technology specialist Nextracker's (NASDAQ: NXT) stock on Thursday. After the company crushed analyst estimates in its latest quarterly-earnings report, satisfied investors pushed its share price up by nearly 12%, obliterating the S&P 500 index's 0.4% increase. After market hours Wednesday, Nextracker published its fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 figures, and it's little wonder the market was impressed. The company's revenue zoomed 25% higher on a year-over-year basis to hit $924 million. That, however, included advanced manufacturing, tax-credit vendor rebates of $75 million that were not accounted for in fiscal 2024's Q4. As for profitability, non-GAAP (adjusted) net income rose even more steeply, advancing by 36% to $193 ($1.29 per share). Analysts tracking Nextracker didn't expect the company do so well. On average, they were estimating only $766 million for revenue and adjusted net income of $0.73 per share. In its earnings release, Nextracker attributed its strong quarter to strong worldwide demand for solar solutions. It clearly expects to ride that momentum, as it quoted founder and CEO Dan Shugar as saying that "Our performance positions the company for further growth this year and enables continued investment in key strategic initiatives." Speaking of investment, Nextracker announced that it has acquired privately held Bentek Corporation. The company is paying roughly $78 million in cash for its new asset. Nextracker proffered guidance for the entirety of fiscal 2026, predicting that it would earn $3.2 billion to $3.4 billion in revenue, filtering down into adjusted net income of $3.65 to $4.03 per share. The consensus analyst estimates for the two fundamentals are just under $3.18 billion and $3.87 per share, respectively. The company's earnings release was one of those rare reports in which it's hard to find much of a fault. With the hunger for sustainable power continuing to grow, Nextracker should be able to take full advantage of this long-tail, global trend. Before you buy stock in Nextracker, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Nextracker wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $620,719!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $829,511!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 959% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 170% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 12, 2025 Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why Nextracker Stock Skyrocketed Today was originally published by The Motley Fool 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
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nextracker's (NASDAQ:NXT) Q1: Beats On Revenue, Guides for Strong Full-Year Sales
Solar tracker company Nextracker (NASDAQ:NXT) announced better-than-expected revenue in Q1 CY2025, with sales up 25.5% year on year to $924.3 million. The company's full-year revenue guidance of $3.3 billion at the midpoint came in 3.7% above analysts' estimates. Its non-GAAP profit of $1.29 per share was 32% above analysts' consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy Nextracker? Find out in our full research report. Revenue: $924.3 million vs analyst estimates of $830.5 million (25.5% year-on-year growth, 11.3% beat) Adjusted EPS: $1.29 vs analyst estimates of $0.98 (32% beat) Adjusted EBITDA: $242.5 million vs analyst estimates of $194.8 million (26.2% margin, 24.5% beat) Management's revenue guidance for the upcoming financial year 2026 is $3.3 billion at the midpoint, beating analyst estimates by 3.7% and implying 11.5% growth (vs 20.5% in FY2025) Adjusted EPS guidance for the upcoming financial year 2026 is $3.84 at the midpoint, missing analyst estimates by 0.8% EBITDA guidance for the upcoming financial year 2026 is $737.5 million at the midpoint, below analyst estimates of $759.4 million Operating Margin: 21.1%, down from 36.8% in the same quarter last year Free Cash Flow Margin: 24.6%, up from 14.8% in the same quarter last year Backlog: $4.5 billion at quarter end, up 12.5% year on year Market Capitalization: $7.77 billion 'We had a fantastic year, exceeding our financial, technology, customer satisfaction, and market growth targets,' said Dan Shugar, founder and CEO of Nextracker. With its technology playing a key role in the massive 1.2 gigawatt Noor Abu Dabhi solar farm project, Nextracker (NASDAQ:NXT) is a provider of solar tracker systems that help solar panels follow the sun. A company's long-term performance is an indicator of its overall quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but many enduring ones grow for years. Thankfully, Nextracker's 25.4% annualized revenue growth over the last four years was incredible. Its growth surpassed the average industrials company and shows its offerings resonate with customers, a great starting point for our analysis. Long-term growth is the most important, but within industrials, a stretched historical view may miss new industry trends or demand cycles. Nextracker's annualized revenue growth of 24.7% over the last two years aligns with its four-year trend, suggesting its demand was predictably strong. Nextracker's recent performance shows it's one of the better Renewable Energy businesses as many of its peers faced declining sales because of cyclical headwinds. We can better understand the company's revenue dynamics by analyzing its backlog, or the value of its outstanding orders that have not yet been executed or delivered. Nextracker's backlog reached $4.5 billion in the latest quarter and averaged 45% year-on-year growth over the last two years. Because this number is better than its revenue growth, we can see the company accumulated more orders than it could fulfill and deferred revenue to the future. This could imply elevated demand for Nextracker's products and services but raises concerns about capacity constraints. This quarter, Nextracker reported robust year-on-year revenue growth of 25.5%, and its $924.3 million of revenue topped Wall Street estimates by 11.3%. Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 6.9% over the next 12 months, a deceleration versus the last two years. This projection is underwhelming and indicates its products and services will face some demand challenges. At least the company is tracking well in other measures of financial health. Software is eating the world and there is virtually no industry left that has been untouched by it. That drives increasing demand for tools helping software developers do their jobs, whether it be monitoring critical cloud infrastructure, integrating audio and video functionality, or ensuring smooth content streaming. Click here to access a free report on our 3 favorite stocks to play this generational megatrend. Operating margin is a key measure of profitability. Think of it as net income - the bottom line - excluding the impact of taxes and interest on debt, which are less connected to business fundamentals. Nextracker has been a well-oiled machine over the last five years. It demonstrated elite profitability for an industrials business, boasting an average operating margin of 16.2%. This result was particularly impressive because of its low gross margin, which is mostly a factor of what it sells and takes huge shifts to move meaningfully. Companies have more control over their operating margins, and it's a show of well-managed operations if they're high when gross margins are low. Analyzing the trend in its profitability, Nextracker's operating margin rose by 8.3 percentage points over the last five years, as its sales growth gave it immense operating leverage. In Q1, Nextracker generated an operating profit margin of 21.1%, down 15.6 percentage points year on year. Conversely, its revenue and gross margin actually rose, so we can assume it was less efficient because its operating expenses like marketing, R&D, and administrative overhead grew faster than its revenue. Revenue trends explain a company's historical growth, but the change in earnings per share (EPS) points to the profitability of that growth – for example, a company could inflate its sales through excessive spending on advertising and promotions. Nextracker's EPS grew at an astounding 128% compounded annual growth rate over the last two years, higher than its 24.7% annualized revenue growth. This tells us the company became more profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded. We can take a deeper look into Nextracker's earnings quality to better understand the drivers of its performance. While we mentioned earlier that Nextracker's operating margin declined this quarter, a two-year view shows its margin has expanded by 13.3 percentage points. This was the most relevant factor (aside from the revenue impact) behind its higher earnings; taxes and interest expenses can also affect EPS but don't tell us as much about a company's fundamentals. In Q1, Nextracker reported EPS at $1.29, up from $0.84 in the same quarter last year. This print easily cleared analysts' estimates, and shareholders should be content with the results. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Nextracker's full-year EPS of $3.17 to grow 22.8%. We were impressed by how significantly Nextracker blew past analysts' revenue, EPS, and EBITDA expectations this quarter. We were also excited its full-year revenue guidance outperformed Wall Street's estimates. On the other hand, its backlog and full-year EPS and EBITDA guidance fell short. Overall, this print was mixed but still had some key positives. The stock traded up 3% to $56.80 immediately following the results. Nextracker may have had a good quarter, but does that mean you should invest right now? When making that decision, it's important to consider its valuation, business qualities, as well as what has happened in the latest quarter. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it's free. 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
