Latest news with #shareholderValue
Bloomberg
13-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Dye & Durham's Ex-CFO Urges Sale After Stock Drops, Debt Mounts
A former senior executive and shareholder of Canadian technology firm Dye & Durham Ltd. is asking the board to consider a full sale of the company, citing a plunge in shareholder value and growing competitive pressures. Ronnie Wahi, who was chief financial officer until 2018, criticized the company's strategic direction in a letter sent to directors on Thursday, saying nearly C$1 billion ($740 million) in equity value has been lost under the current board.
Zawya
12-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Dubai Investments renews liquidity provider agreement with xCube
Dubai, UAE - Dubai Investments PJSC (DFM: DIC), a diversified investment group listed on the Dubai Financial Market, has renewed its agreement with xCube LLC to continue as the Liquidity Provider (LP) for its shares. Dubai Investments continues to pursue strategic initiatives that enhance shareholder value and market performance. The renewal of its partnership with xCube as Liquidity Provider reinforces this vision by ensuring improved tradability and confidence in the company's listed shares. Khalid Bin Kalban, Vice Chairman and CEO of Dubai Investments, commented: "Renewing the agreement with xCube reflects the Group's ongoing commitment to improving market liquidity and enhancing long-term shareholder value. Over the past year, we've seen a clear uplift in trading activity, which coupled with the Group's strong financial performance, has further increased investor confidence in our shares." Saad Chalabi, CEO of xCube, commented: "The renewal of our mandate with Dubai Investments reflects the effectiveness of disciplined, data-driven liquidity provision. We're proud to contribute to the stock's improved performance and remain committed to supporting market quality and investor confidence. About Dubai Investments Dubai Investments is a publicly listed UAE based multi-asset investment Group, managing a diverse portfolio of businesses, generating sustainable financial returns to its shareholders. Established in 1995, Dubai Investments is one of the leading investments Group in the UAE, initiating new businesses and partnering with dynamic entities, creating strategic investment opportunities across the region. With 15,956 shareholders, a paid-up capital of Dhs. 4.25 billion and total assets worth more than Dhs. 22 billion, the Group applies insight and experience to expand and be a reliable growth driver for businesses within sectors like real estate, manufacturing, healthcare, education, investments and services. The Group's diverse portfolio consists of wholly and partly owned companies and reflects the Company's continued focus on business diversification to drive growth in line with evolving industry trends. Focused on leveraging strengths with an interest in establishing existing and new business opportunities with a long-term, strategic and creative approach and with an emphasis on sustainable returns and capital growth, Dubai Investments collaborates on investment strategies meeting the changing needs of the economy and the societies in which it operates. Complementing the strategic objectives and creating value for stakeholders, the Group pursues growth through mergers and acquisitions and business expansions. To know more visit – About xCube LLC xCube is a leading market making and brokerage firm based in Dubai. As the largest market maker on the DFM, xCube also offers issuer services that support liquidity and enhance shareholder value. xCube brokerage provides an online securities brokerage app with access created to enhance the long-term health of capital markets by nurturing and empowering investors. With a commitment to inclusivity, our platform provides access to markets with no financial requirements at the touch of a button – simple, fast, secure and affordable for all.
Al Bawaba
12-06-2025
- Business
- Al Bawaba
Dubai Investments Renews Liquidity Provider Agreement with xCube
Dubai Investments PJSC (DFM: DIC), a diversified investment group listed on the Dubai Financial Market, has renewed its agreement with xCube LLC to continue as the Liquidity Provider (LP) for its Investments continues to pursue strategic initiatives that enhance shareholder value and market performance. The renewal of its partnership with xCube as Liquidity Provider reinforces this vision by ensuring improved tradability and confidence in the company's listed Bin Kalban, Vice Chairman and CEO of Dubai Investments, commented: "Renewing the agreement with xCube reflects the Group's ongoing commitment to improving market liquidity and enhancing long-term shareholder value. Over the past year, we've seen a clear uplift in trading activity, which coupled with the Group's strong financial performance, has further increased investor confidence in our shares." Saad Chalabi, CEO of xCube, commented: "The renewal of our mandate with Dubai Investments reflects the effectiveness of disciplined, data-driven liquidity provision. We're proud to contribute to the stock's improved performance and remain committed to supporting market quality and investor confidence. © 2000 - 2025 Al Bawaba ( Signal PressWire is the world's largest independent Middle East PR distribution service.
Harvard Business Review
11-06-2025
- Business
- Harvard Business Review
Research: Why CEOs Should Start with the New Year
Boards know the importance of careful succession planning. The benefits of a strong transition to a new CEO are obvious, but a failed succession can cost companies billions in shareholder value, be distracting and disruptive for employees, and cause other top talent to head for the door. In a new study, we discovered a way boards can help their appointees drive value: start them at the beginning of the calendar or fiscal year. In new research, published in the Journal of Management, we studied CEO 'phase entrainment'—in other words, the synchronizing of the appointment of a new CEO (firm cycle) with the beginning of a yearly cycle (dominant cycle)—to see whether it had an impact on the firm's post-succession performance. Our sample consisted of 690 CEO successions carried out by S&P 500 firms between 2005 and 2019. We compared start dates of new CEOs against firms' return on assets (ROA) over the 12 quarters following the succession (as past research has found that it takes three years to fully capture the effects of a new leader). We found that when CEOs began their tenures within 10 days of the calendar or their firm's fiscal year (which is around 25% of successions in our sample), their firms experienced, on average, a 0.4% higher ROA than firms whose CEOs started at any other point in the year. This effect might seem small but it equates to a nearly 31% difference in ROA compared to our sample's average ROA and begins to fade after the first 10 days. We also found that this synchronization resulted in heightened net income for these firms, on average, over the same post-succession period—and the effects were even stronger for CEOs who were firm outsiders, under 46 years of age, women, or members of racial or ethnic minority groups. Why Synchronization Matters In analyzing our data—and conducting additional surveys and interviews with incoming and outgoing CEOs, CHROs, board members, and other stakeholders, we found that appointing a new CEO to synchronize with the beginning of the calendar or fiscal year creates benefits for three reasons: Alignment of Goals and Objectives The end of the calendar or fiscal year marks a time in which results are expected to be achieved, and the beginning of the year is when new goals are set. Appointing a new CEO in the new year allows them to set the company's goals and objectives according to their own vision for the firm. Temporally aligning the efforts of organizational members with the goals and objectives of the new CEO allows organizational members to work in a more coordinated manner towards the realization of those goals. Minimization of Disruption The appointment of a new CEO is a major disruptive event for any company regardless of the reason for the CEO change. The beginning of a calendar or fiscal year presents a natural breakpoint to interrupt the work of organizational members. Synchronizing a new CEO succession with the beginning of the calendar or fiscal year allows enough time for organizational members to regain focus and attention on tasks and projects before results are expected, thus reducing disruptive effects associated with CEO succession. Decrease in Time Pressure There is always pressure to perform—particularly if you're a new CEO. However, this pressure is especially strong closer to the end of a calendar or fiscal year, when firm results are more closely scrutinized and employees often have performance reviews. CEOs that begin their tenures in the middle of the year are, for example, more likely to feel the pressure of earnings management, which can negatively impact their decision-making. Thus, appointing CEOs at the beginning of the calendar or fiscal year can alleviate time-induced pressure, enhancing decision-making and ultimately operational performance. Additionally, employees, too, feel the end-of-year crunch to prove in numbers their successful fulfillment of goals. If new goals or directions were handed-down mid-year, this gives them less time to make progress toward them by the time they're evaluated—not meeting goals can feel demoralizing and risks hurting employee engagement. Why The Effects Are Stronger for Atypical CEOs Although our analyses revealed that firms reap operational performance benefits regardless of who they choose as successor, we found that these effects are particularly strong when the new CEO is 'atypical,' meaning that they have characteristics that are not commonplace in the broader CEO population. Specifically, we considered CEOs as atypical when they were outsiders (i.e., appointed from outside the firm), young (46 years old or younger), women, or members of racial or ethnic minority groups. A new calendar or fiscal year—more than just a marker of time—is imbued with meaning for people, often making them feel like they've been given a fresh start. At the beginning of these cycles, employees are more open-minded and willing to learn new skills or accept new ideas. As previous research has shown, atypical CEOs are more likely to enact major strategic change; we propose that aligning firm cycles with this period of heightened openness means that atypical CEOs' strategic initiatives are more likely to be accepted or enacted. We believe this helps explain firms' stronger performance when atypical CEOs' start dates are phase entrained. Some Caveats We recognize that appointing a new CEO at the start of the calendar year or the fiscal year might not always be possible for firms. At times, companies need to dismiss their CEOs and rapidly appoint new ones. Or a CEO might need to suddenly step down for health or personal reasons, hindering ideal appointment times. This said, we believe that even those firms that must make more sudden changes could benefit from our studies' insights; for example, considering how they might frame a succession as a fresh start or adjusting employee performance evaluations to give them more time to execute on a new vision. Additionally, our study was based on calendar events that are particularly relevant to Western societies (e.g., January 1 as the New Year in the Gregorian calendar). However, such dates may not have the same meaning in other non-Western countries. Boards should assess what times are relevant to their particular contexts. . . . After long and often laborious search processes, boards want to do everything in their power to ensure their appointee is successful in their new role. Our study provides strong evidence that synchronization is an important mechanism that boards can use to give their new CEO a competitive advantage, helping them to align their vision with their employees while driving operational performance.
Globe and Mail
02-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Should You Hold on to MSFT Stock in 2025 Beyond its 9% YTD Growth?
Microsoft 's MSFT solid 9.2% year-to-date (YTD) return has left many investors questioning whether the tech giant remains attractively valued or if a better entry opportunity lies ahead. With the company reporting record quarterly results and accelerating its artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives, the investment thesis presents both compelling growth drivers and legitimate valuation concerns for the second half of 2025. Strong Financial Foundation Supports Current Valuation Microsoft's fiscal third-quarter 2025 results demonstrated remarkable resilience across its core business segments. The company achieved $70.1 billion in quarterly revenues, representing 13% growth, while Microsoft Cloud revenues reached $42.4 billion with 22% constant currency growth. This performance was particularly impressive given the challenging macroeconomic environment and increased competition in cloud services. The Intelligent Cloud segment, which includes Azure, generated $26.8 billion in revenues with 21% growth. Azure's 33% growth rate, including a substantial 16-percentage-point contribution from AI services, underscores the company's successful positioning in the artificial intelligence revolution. The strong commercial bookings of 18% growth and a record $315 billion in remaining performance obligations provide visibility into future revenue streams. Free cash flow of $20.3 billion in the quarter reflects Microsoft's ability to convert growth into shareholder value, while the company's diversified revenue base across productivity, cloud, and consumer segments offers defensive characteristics during economic uncertainty. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Microsoft's fiscal 2025 revenues is pegged at $278.8 billion, suggesting 13.47% year-over-year growth. The consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $13.33 per share, indicating a 12.97% year-over-year increase. Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar. AI Innovation Driving Long-Term Growth Prospects Recent product launches signal Microsoft's commitment to maintaining its competitive edge in artificial intelligence. The introduction of the Agent Store in May 2025 creates a new marketplace for AI-powered workplace assistants, potentially opening additional revenue streams beyond traditional software licensing. The platform already features more than 70 agents and provides developers with monetization opportunities through Microsoft 365 Copilot integration. Microsoft's gaming initiatives, including the worldwide rollout of Edge Game Assist, demonstrate the company's ability to leverage AI across diverse user experiences. The in-game browser represents a strategic move to capture more user engagement time and data, potentially supporting future advertising revenue growth. The company's NLWeb project, designed to transform websites into AI-powered applications, positions Microsoft as an enabler of the broader AI ecosystem. This open-source approach could drive adoption of Microsoft's underlying AI infrastructure while creating network effects that benefit the Azure platform. Microsoft will invest $400 million in Switzerland, with the money going toward developing its cloud computing and AI infrastructure. Capacity Constraints Present Near-Term Headwinds Despite strong demand signals, Microsoft faces AI capacity constraints that may limit growth acceleration in the near term. Management indicated expectations for some AI capacity limitations beyond June 2025, suggesting that revenue growth could be supply-constrained rather than demand-limited. This dynamic, while validating the company's market position, may create temporary growth headwinds. The substantial capital expenditure requirements, including a recent $400 million investment in Switzerland's AI and cloud infrastructure, reflect the ongoing need for significant infrastructure spending. While these investments support long-term competitive positioning, they pressure near-term margins and free cash flow conversion rates. Valuation Considerations for Entry in the Second Half of 2025 Microsoft's current valuation reflects optimistic expectations for AI monetization and cloud market share gains. The 9.2% year-to-date (YTD) appreciation has occurred alongside broader technology sector strength, potentially limiting the margin of safety for new investors. Forward price-to-earnings ratios remain elevated relative to historical averages, though justified by the company's market-leading positions and growth prospects. The stock's current valuation of 11.2 times forward sales appears to fully account for near-term growth potential, exceeding the Zacks Computer - Software industry average of 9.8 times. MSFT's P/S F12M Ratio Depicts Stretched Valuation The stock's sensitivity to interest rate movements and technology sector sentiment could create more attractive entry points during the second half of 2025. Potential catalysts for volatility include quarterly earnings surprises, changes in AI spending patterns among enterprise customers, or shifts in competitive dynamics with cloud rivals. Microsoft also faces significant competitive pressure in the AI space from tech giants, including Alphabet 's GOOGL Google, Nvidia NVDA and Amazon AMZN. Microsoft has outperformed the Zacks Computer & Technology sector and its competitors in the year-to-date period. While shares of Google and Amazon have lost 9.3% and 6.6%, respectively, Nvidia has returned 0.6% in the same time frame. Year-to-Date Performance Investment Recommendation: Hold With Tactical Patience Current shareholders should maintain their positions given Microsoft's strong competitive moats, diversified revenue streams, and leadership in high-growth AI markets. The company's ability to generate substantial free cash flow while investing in future growth platforms supports long-term wealth creation. However, prospective investors may benefit from patience, waiting for potential pullbacks in the second half of 2025 before establishing new positions. The combination of elevated valuations, capacity constraints, and broader market volatility suggests better entry opportunities may emerge during earnings-driven corrections or macroeconomic uncertainty. Microsoft's fundamental outlook remains robust, but tactical timing could significantly impact investment returns for those not yet holding the stock. Microsoft currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor Stock It's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom. With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028. See This Stock Now for Free >> 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 Inc. (AMZN): Free Stock Analysis Report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA): Free Stock Analysis Report Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL): Free Stock Analysis Report
