Latest news with #Guam
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
1 Cash-Heavy Stock with Competitive Advantages and 2 to Question
A cash-heavy balance sheet is often a sign of strength, but not always. Some companies avoid debt because they have weak business models, limited expansion opportunities, or inconsistent cash flow. Just because a business has cash doesn't mean it's a good investment. Luckily, StockStory is here to help you separate the winners from the losers. Keeping that in mind, here is one company with a net cash position that balances growth with stability and two best left off your watchlist. Net Cash Position: $160.5 million (13.5% of Market Cap) A pioneer in connected home audio systems, Sonos (NASDAQ:SONO) offers a range of premium wireless speakers and sound systems. Why Should You Sell SONO? Sales tumbled by 6.3% annually over the last two years, showing consumer trends are working against its favor Suboptimal cost structure is highlighted by its history of operating margin losses Negative returns on capital show management lost money while trying to expand the business Sonos's stock price of $9.93 implies a valuation ratio of 47.3x forward P/E. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than SONO. Net Cash Position: $102.4 million (3.9% of Market Cap) Founded in 1897 as a financial anchor for the newly annexed Hawaiian territory, Bank of Hawaii (NYSE:BOH) is a financial institution providing banking, investment, and insurance services primarily to customers in Hawaii, Guam, and other Pacific Islands. Why Are We Wary of BOH? Net interest income was flat over the last four years, indicating it's failed to expand this cycle Net interest margin of 2.2% reflects its high servicing and capital costs Sales over the last five years were less profitable as its earnings per share fell by 6.8% annually while its revenue was flat At $65.22 per share, Bank of Hawaii trades at 1.8x forward P/B. If you're considering BOH for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more. Net Cash Position: $195.4 million (12.6% of Market Cap) Founded by famous lawyer Robert Shapiro, LegalZoom (NASDAQ:LZ) offers online legal services and documentation assistance for individuals and businesses. Why Do We Like LZ? Subscription Units have grown by 10.5% annually, allowing for more profitable cross-selling opportunities if it can build complementary products and features Share buybacks catapulted its annual earnings per share growth to 289%, which outperformed its revenue gains over the last three years Free cash flow margin jumped by 13.1 percentage points over the last few years, giving the company more resources to pursue growth initiatives, repurchase shares, or pay dividends LegalZoom is trading at $8.65 per share, or 9x forward EV/EBITDA. Is now the right time to buy? 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 for free. Find your next big winner with StockStory today. Find your next big winner with StockStory today Sign in to access your portfolio
New York Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Inside the Chaos Swirling Through a D.N.C. Desperate for Cash
Just months into the tenure of a new party leader, Ken Martin, the Democratic National Committee's financial situation has grown so bleak that top officials have discussed whether they might need to borrow money this year to keep paying the bills. Fund-raising from major donors — some of whom Mr. Martin has still not spoken with — has slowed sharply. At the same time, he has expanded the party's financial commitments to every state, and even to far-flung territories like Guam. Fellow Democrats are grumbling that Mr. Martin, who quietly accepted a raise after taking the post, has been badly distracted by internal battles. So far, they say, he has been unable to help unite his party against Republicans, who control the federal government. A protracted and public fight with David Hogg, the 25-year-old activist turned D.N.C. vice chair who blindsided party officials with a plan to challenge incumbent Democrats, made things worse. The clash included the leak of embarrassing audio of Mr. Martin questioning his own role and ended in Mr. Hogg's unceremonious exit this month. That was soon followed by the news that two of the country's most influential labor leaders, who represent a combined 3.2 million workers, were also leaving the D.N.C. Both questioned the party's direction under Mr. Martin. Rufus Gifford, who served as the finance chairman of Kamala Harris's 2024 campaign and maintains relationships with many top donors, suggested Democrats were being sent the wrong message at a time when they are desperately looking for 'fight and leadership.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Leonard Kaae Promoted to President of Black Construction Corporation
LOS ANGELES, June 17, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tutor Perini Corporation (NYSE: TPC) (the "Company"), a leading civil, building and specialty construction company, announced today that Leonard Kaae has been recently promoted to President of Black Construction Corporation ("Black Construction"), the Company's Guam-based subsidiary. Mr. Kaae has worked for Black Construction for more than 40 years, most recently leading the firm's operations and its approximately 2,000 employees as Senior Vice President and General Manager. Under Mr. Kaae's leadership, Black Construction has grown to be the largest general contractor in Guam and the second-largest employer on the island (behind the U.S. federal government). Black Construction has consistently been one of Tutor Perini's most successful and profitable business units, with a record backlog and a large pipeline of bidding opportunities that are expected to increase over the next decade as the U.S. government prioritizes funding for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative and other strategic infrastructure investments in Guam and throughout the Indo-Pacific region. "Leonard exemplifies the type of high caliber leader that Tutor Perini is very fortunate to have leading our Indo-Pacific operations. He is a consummate professional and vital to the continued growth of our business in the region and globally," said Gary Smalley, CEO and President of Tutor Perini. "We congratulate Leonard on his well-deserved promotion." About Tutor Perini Corporation Tutor Perini Corporation is a leading civil, building and specialty construction company offering diversified general contracting and design-build services to private customers and public agencies throughout the world. We have provided construction services since 1894 and have established a strong reputation within our markets by executing large, complex projects on time and within budget while adhering to strict safety and quality control measures. We offer general contracting, pre-construction planning and comprehensive project management services, and have strong expertise in delivering design-bid-build, design-build, construction management, and public-private partnership (P3) projects. We often self-perform multiple project components, including earthwork, excavation, concrete forming and placement, steel erection, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), and fire protection. View source version on Contacts Tutor Perini CorporationJorge Casado, 818-362-8391Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate 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
RNZ News
4 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
No King's protest in Guam demands protection of democracy and equal rights
Demonstrators in Dededo, Guam, holding signs with various messages during the 2025 No King's rally. Photo: RNZ Pacific / Naina Rao Chanting under the midday sun and holding signs that read 'No Kings in America' and 'In Solidarity with Los Angeles,' more than a dozen residents and visitors gathered in northern Guam on Saturday to join a national day of protest opposing what organisers describe as authoritarian overreach by President Donald Trump's administration. The rally is part of a broader grassroots mobilisation across the United States, marking the first 'No Kings' protest held in a US territory. "We've seen hundreds of new events on the No Kings Day map since the weekend," said Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible, one of the groups behind the "day of defiance" to the Guardian . "We've seen hundreds of thousands of people register for those events." A website for the protest cites Trump's defying of the courts, mass deportations, attacks on civil rights, and slashing of services as reasons for protest. Demonstrators in Guam, where American citizens lack federal voting rights, used the opportunity to call attention to both local concerns and nationwide threats to democratic institutions. "We're on the front lines trying to save our democracy," said Diane Thurber, an assistant professor at University of Maryland Global Campus, Guam. "And everything that happens in America, happens to Guam first." "If we don't stand up and speak out, who's going to stand up for us?" said Guam Public Auditor, BJ Cruz, adding that Guam is still fighting for many rights that citizens in the continental U.S. already have. "I learned that the Big Beautiful Bill - a big ugly Bill - did not include our request for RECA compensation. And we were downwind. So, we've got to stand up and tell everybody we're here." A group of demonstrators holding signs for the 2025 nationwide No King's rally. Photo: RNZ Pacific / Naina Rao The demonstration also drew teachers, visitors, and local union leaders who expressed alarm over Project 2025, a sweeping blueprint championed by Trump allies and supporters to consolidate executive power and dismantle federal agencies. It was published by The Heritage Foundation, an American conservative think tank, ahead of Trump's 2024 election victory. Critics say the project threatens fundamental civil liberties, including the right to protest, birthright citizenship, and public education. Sophia Underwood, a US history teacher on island, said it's become increasingly difficult to teach students about constitutional principles while witnessing what she described as the erosion of democratic norms. "He's probably the most, I would say, anti-constitutional president we've had," she said. Underwood said a lot of her students rely on TRIO programs and Pell grants to pursue a college education. "And seeing that [President Trump] is defunding higher education, those are the things that really bind all of us with the people that are in the continental US." Guam residents are US citizens who cannot vote for president and lack full voting representation in Congress, despite having one of the highest US military enlistment rates per capita and are federal taxpayers. Demonstrators highlighted this contradiction as a central point of frustration. "We couldn't even vote for this joker, but yet here he is," said Tim Fedenko, a longtime Guam resident and local teachers' union president. He pointed out Guam's straw poll results from the last election, which voted for Kamala Harris as president. "Give us a voice, right? But they don't want to give the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, American Samoa or Guam a vote. It's because they're scared of the brown vote." Others travelled from off-island to join the protest, including 74-year-old political activist Taynay Matsumoto, who is visiting Guam with family. A former delegate for District three in Georgia at the Democratic Convention, Matsumoto said her activism is motivated by concern for her grandchildren's future. "I'm worried that if my 16 [year-old] got pregnant, I don't want anybody to know, she should be able to have an abortion, that's her right," she said. "Use your power as a person. It's very powerful. And Trump wants you to think that you don't have it, that he as all of it. Those are lies." Signs calling peace for Palestine and an end to violence are displayed along a chain-link fence in Guam for the 2025 No King's rally. Photo: RNZ Pacific / Naina Rao Despite Guam's geographic isolation, protesters emphasised the interconnectedness of national policy decisions and their local impacts like federal budget cuts to stalled compensation for Cold War-era nuclear fallout. "This administration is anti-everything that I'm for," Underwood said. "Even though we're far away, we still have the same fears. Being a teacher, I'm concerned about the Department of Education, right? And the arts being affected." Local grassroots group Prutehi Guåhan organised the demonstration, and said "Prutehi Guåhan joins the "No Kings" movement to resist fascism, ongoing war crimes in Palestine, and violence against immigrant communities and protesters in Los Angeles and elsewhere." "We're the first No Kings rally in the country," BJ Cruz said, adding, "And we're in solidarity with the rest of the country, and hopefully they'll stand up for us eventually."
RNZ News
4 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Tests show 'forever chemicals' in CNMI, Guam
Photo: Supplied Tests on drinking water in Saipan, in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and Guam have revealed high levels of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS, commonly referred to as 'forever chemicals'). The information, shared in a conference in Saipan, said that wells on the CNMI island are among the most contaminated in the US. Travis Spaeth, chief engineer and safe drinking water program manager at the CNMI Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality, said Saipan has four drinking water entry points ranked among the 15 most PFAS-contaminated systems in the entire United States. One well near the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport, previously used for firefighting training, had concentrations exceeding more than 1,700 times above the new federal maximum contaminant level . The CNMI has its own maximum level - which is higher - but authorities are racing to comply with the stricter US standard, which requires full compliance by 2031. To meet that, the Commonwealth Utlities Corporation has installed granular activated carbon filters at multiple sites, bringing PFAS levels down to undetectable levels in some areas. However, Spaeth warned that maintaining the filters and managing the spent material off-island is expensive and logistically difficult. Spaeth said long-term options such as aquifer remediation, expanded rainwater catchment systems, and even energy-intensive desalination must be considered. The CNMI is also exploring partnerships with the US military and the Federal Aviation Administration - both historically linked to PFAS use - for support in cleanup funding and possible future blood testing for exposed residents and first responders. In Guam, PFAS hotspots include landfills, firefighting training sites, airport crash zones, and military bases. Two staff from Guam's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Sierra Armstrong-Bettis and Nicole Ha'ane Diras, also presented at the symposium. Using data from EPA region nine and Guam Waterworks Authority, their analysis found PFAS contamination across all parts of the island, with particularly high levels in Hagåtña, Sinajana, Agana Heights, and Mongmong-Toto-Maite. The Guam EPA team overlaid contaminant data with population risk factors such as daycare centres, schools, low-income housing, and clinics. They found the most at-risk groups often live in areas with limited access to alternative water sources like water refill stations. Granular activated carbon remains the main treatment tool in Guam, but like in Saipan, disposal and replacement of spent filters is a growing challenge. Diras and Armstrong-Bettis called for greater US government investment.
