ridium Eyes Big Market for New Aviation Connectivity Technology
Iridium NEXT satellite. Photo courtesy of Iridium
New aircraft terminals, a next-generation satellite network and support for a global air traffic surveillance system has Iridium CEO Matt Desch feeling confident about his company’s future position in aviation. During Iridium’s second quarter earnings call, the chief executive provided updates on Aireon’s space-based ADS-B service and new L-band airplane terminals designed to provide speedier cockpit connections for pilots and flight operations departments.
Iridium’s aircraft connectivity focus moving forward is centered around Certus, which is the company’s multi-service communications platform designed to provide connectivity to multiple industries, especially maritime and aviation operators. The service will provide support for commercial airliners, and also lower cost hardware for general aviation fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.
Hardware suppliers for Certus are already rolling out the new terminals that will be equipped to ships and airplanes to provide connectivity. For example, in May, Cobham Satcom unveiled its first Iridium Certus connected terminal, the Sailor 4300, for maritime operators. At NBAA 2016, Thales unveiled its FlytLink connected cockpit and crew operational satellite-based connectivity platform, enabled by Certus.
“We kind of focus a bit more on the cockpit and operational services for airlines as opposed to the cabin. Certus will change that slightly, but still I think it is going to be primarily focused on the cockpit,” said Desch.
Desch also provided more clarity about the speeds Certus will support. He said speeds will become progressively faster as new software and satellites become available.
“The initial version of Certus is a speed of 350 kbps, which is upgradable in the terminals through firmware changes to 700 kbps as the network is complete. But that is more like a software version almost of our Certus capabilities. The original version is going to be uploaded to each of the new NEXT satellites as they go on,” said Desch.
Furthermore, the terminals manufactured by Cobham and Thales will have what Desch calls “dual mode” capability, meaning they will operate both on existing Iridium satellites and the NEXT constellation. Initial speeds will vary between 128 kbps on the legacy network and 350 kbps as more NEXT satellites are deployed.
Progressively, terminal speeds will evolve to 700 kbps and eventually 1.4 mbps, which Desch says is less dependent on how many satellites are being deployed and more on what software version is featured on the satellites.
The higher speed connections will be made available for the commercial airliner market, while lower speed terminals will target general aviation fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.
The earnings call also featured some updates on progress with Aireon’s efforts to make global space-based ADS-B surveillance a reality. Aireon’s most recent progress includes the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Air Navigation Services (SANS) to develop a concept of operations for space-based ADS-B in Saudi Arabian airspace. Netherlands’ air navigation service provider LVNL has also signed a new agreement with Aireon to evaluate the cost and efficiency of space-based ADS-B as a secondary and contingency air traffic surveillance system.
Desch also discussed Aireon’s progress in working with the FAA to evaluate the deployment of spaced-based ADS-B for the U.S. National Airspace System. Both Desch and Tom Fitzpatrick, CFO of Iridium, are confident that the FAA will eventually sign on for space-based ADS-B. A recent report published by the FAA NextGen Advisory Committee showed the desire of U.S.-based airlines to use space-based ADS-B for reduced oceanic separation.
The FAA is working toward a decision in 2018. "So it still continues to be more a matter of when they will deploy it as supposed to if they will deploy it, and I think that will become a lot clearer as we get into 2018," said Desch.
Maradona points out 2 of his most famous goals wouldn't have stood today
By: Nina Mandell | July 26, 2017 12:26 pm Follow @ninamandell
According to Diego Maradona, if the review technology that exists now existed during his playing days some of his most famous moments would have never happened.
Or would be remembered only for getting called back.
Like, for example, the Hand of God goal. Or one he scored in the 1990 World Cup. Here’s what he told the official FIFA website (which, we should note, was an article about how great some of the new technology to help officials out with these calls is):
“Obviously I think about it whenever I show my support for the use of technology,” he said with a laugh.
“I thought about it and, sure, that goal wouldn’t have stood if technology had been around. And I’ll tell you something else: at the 1990 World Cup I used my hand to clear the ball off the line against the Soviet Union. We were lucky because the referee didn’t see it. You couldn’t use technology back then, but it’s a different story today.”
Enjoying the opportunity to revisit history, a smiling Maradona added: “It’s not just my goal in ‘86 that wouldn’t have counted. Let’s not forget that England won the World Cup in ‘66 with a shot that didn’t go over the line. Then it happened to them in 2010, when (Frank) Lampard’s shot crossed the line against Germany but wasn’t given. England had the ball and scored the goal they deserved, but Germany grew in confidence after that and it changed the match completely.
Even without the review technology available now though, England’s manager Ben Robson (via The Guardian) knew at the time that the goal should have been disallowed.
“I saw the ball in the air and Maradona going for it,” said Robson. “Shilton went for it as well but Maradona handled the ball into the net. You don’t expect decisions like that at World Cup level.”
Read more over at FIFA.com.
(Thanks to the Washington Post for bringing this to our attention)
22 Jun 15
12 Jun 14Effectively hedging the stocks in today’s share market: Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN)
Company Snapshot
Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN), from the Healthcare sector had a price of $ 157.26 today, indicating a change of -0.90%.
The company is predicting an earnings per share growth of 20.17% in the coming year. The earnings per share growth over the next five years will be . Align Technology, Inc. had an earnings per share growth of 22.90% in the last 5 years.
Currently the return on equity is 22.30% and its debt to equity is 0. Align Technology, Inc. has a total market cap of $ 12.74B, a gross margin of 75.60% while the profit margin is 19.00% and the ROI is 19.90%
Performance
The stats on Align Technology, Inc. are currently as follows.
The weekly performance is -1.82%, and the quarterly performance is at 30.95%. The monthly performance is 5.30% and the yearly performance is 84.69%. The performance for Year to Date (YTD) is 63.59%.
Align Technology, Inc. has earnings per share of $ 2.68 and the earnings per share growth for this year is 31.80%. The ROI is 19.90% and the return on equity for Align Technology, Inc.as stated earlier, is currently at 22.30%.The return on assets (ROA) for Align Technology, Inc. is 16.00%.
The earnings per share (EPS) is a direct measure of a company’s profit. EPS is calculated by subtracting dividends from profits and dividing it by the total number of shares outstanding.
The return on investment (ROI) is the money a company has made or lost on an investment – in simple terms.
The return on equity (ROE) measures the company’s profitability and the efficiency at which it is generating those profits. ROE is calculated by dividing the total profit by total amount of money invested in the company.
The return on assets (ROA) is a very useful indicator that illustrates how profitable a company really is in relation to its total assets. ROA is calculated by dividing the total annual earnings by the company’s total assets.
Dividends and Price Earnings Ratio
Align Technology, Inc. has a dividend yield of *TBA. The price/earnings ratio (P/E) is 58.59 and the forward P/E ratio stands at 40.18. The price to earnings growth is 2.48 and the price to sales growth is 11.06.
The price/earnings ratio (P/E) is one of the best known investment valuation indicators. P/E is calculated by dividing the trailing 12 months’ earnings per share by the present share price. Typically, a high P/E ratio means that the investors are paying more for today’s earnings in hopes of future growth in earnings.
The forward price to earnings ratio, as the name suggests, is used to find the future price to earnings ratio. It is calculated by dividing the market price per share with the anticipated earnings per share.
The price to earnings growth ratio (PEG) is utilized for determining a stock’s value in relation to the company’s earnings. It helps to provide a more holistic picture with the P/E ratio. The PEG is calculated by dividing the price to earnings ratio by the annual earnings per share growth. The lower the PEG ratio, the more the stock is undervalued in relation to its earnings performance.
Volume
Align Technology, Inc. has a 52-week low of and 52-week high of . The company has a 20-day simple moving average of and a volume of . The average volume stands around 1287.3.
Volume is the amount of shares that trade hands – in simple terms.
Technical
The technical stats for Align Technology, Inc. are as follows.
Align Technology, Inc. has a simple moving average of over the last 20 days. The simple moving average for the last 200 days stands at . Align Technology, Inc. has a beta of 1.55 and the weekly and monthly volatility stands at 2.12% and 1.84% respectively.
A simple moving average (SMA) is calculated by adding the closing price of the stock for the given time periods, say for 20 days, and then dividing it by that time period- i.e 20. It usually helps to smooth out the ‘noise’ by filtering out random price movements. Since SMA is based on past data, it will tend to have a lag. The longer the time period the greater the lag. So a 20-day SMA will have less lag than the 200-day SMA. Shorter SMAs are used for short-term trading and vice versa.
Beta is used to measure the volatility of the stock. A beta of less than 1 means that it is less volatile than the market and a beta of greater than 1 means that it is more volatile than the market. A beta of 1 indicates that the stock will move with the market.
Volatility, in simple terms, is an indicator of how risky the stock is. It is the amount of uncertainty or risk about the magnitude of changes in a stock’s value. Higher volatility means that a stock’s price can change radically in either direction in a very short period of time and lower volatility is just the opposite, as the price doesn’t change dramatically – instead it varies at a steady pace over a significantly longer period of time.
Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and information expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any company stakeholders, financial professionals, or analysts. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized to make stock portfolio or financial decisions as they are based only on limited and open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of any analysts or financial professionals.
Align Technology, Inc. | NASDAQ : ALGN | Medical Appliances & Equipment
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