Colombia Firms Warn of Layoffs and Rising Costs From Petro's Labor Overhaul
The overhaul, signed into law at the end of last month, provides earlier overtime pay, doubles their wages on Sundays and holidays and limits fixed-term contracts, among other changes. Doing all that increases the cost of formal employment and risks driving some cash-strapped companies to hire off the books.
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Taking On The Criminals With Cyber Security By Design
How do organisations protect themselves against the cyber crime wave currently engulfing the world? Cyber incidents such as ransomware attacks, data breaches and IT outages collectively represent the risk that global business leaders now worry about more than any other, according to research conducted by the insurer Allianz Commercial. 'For many companies, cyber risk, exacerbated by the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) is the big risk over-riding everything else,' says Rishi Baviskar, global head of cyber risk consulting at Allianz Commercial. 'Concern is widening worldwide: cyber is the top risk across North and South America, in Europe and Africa, and comes out on top in 20 countries in both developed and emerging economies.' The only answer, argues Mahdi Abdulrazak, co-founder and CEO of the Dutch start-up Dawnguard, is to take a different approach to cyber security. 'Our industry treats security as a checkbox; it's broken,' he says. 'Security needs to be part of the system's DNA from the start, not an afterthought.' In fact, the idea of 'security by design' is a well-established concept – the theory is that developers plan new software and systems with security embedded from the start, rather than trying to retrofit protections. For example, the European Union's recently passed Cyber Resilience Act requires manufacturers to implement security throughout the lifecycle of new products. However, Dawnguard argues that its platform represents an advance on this principle. The company, which is today announcing a $3 million pre-seed financing round, has developed an AI-enabled automation platform to help developers turn the theory of security by design into practice. It incorporates a range of tools that enable developers to ensure new systems meet key security requirements before they're deployed – and to continue monitoring and updating systems once they're in the field to keep them secure. Abdulrazak himself has an interesting background: a refugee who started out as a hacker – 'to understand how things worked' – he has spent the last three decades in the cyber security sector, including as group information security and risk officer at SHV Energy. His co-founder at Dawnguard is Kim van Lavieren, a former Royal Netherlands Navy offensive security specialist who has also served in roles at organisations including Amazon. 'Cyber security is a source of huge frustration and delay for product development teams at many organisations,' argues van Lavieren. 'They need a way to implement better quality security more cheaply as they scale.' Chris Corbishley, managing partner of venture capital investor 9900 Capital, which is leading today's seed round for Dawnguard, argues that in responding to that need, the business is opening a new category in the cyber security market. 'Hundreds of security tools overwhelm chief information security officers (CISOs) with promises of better detection, yet few tackle the root issue: design flaws in code that AI-driven threats exploit,' Corbishley says. 'As attacks grow smarter, defences must shift left, embedding resilience at the codebase; Dawnguard builds protection by design, not patch by necessity.' Dimitri van Zantvliet, CISO at Dutch Railways – and an angel investor in Dawnguard – is also a fan of the business. 'They're rewriting the DNA of cybersecurity – in a world addicted to patching symptoms, they've chosen to re-engineer the root,' he says of the founders. It's an interesting idea. Dawnguard is one of a growing number of companies – including rivals such as Clover and Prime Security – that see AI as providing the key to securing better protection from bad actors. It's certainly protection that is very much needed in today's enhanced threat landscape.
Yahoo
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Raymond James Remains a Buy on AT&T Inc. (T), Sets a PT of $31
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is one of the most undervalued blue chip stocks to buy according to hedge funds. In a report released on July 24, Frank Louthan from Raymond James maintained a Buy rating on AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) with a price target of $31.00. Ken Wolter / The rating came after AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) reported its fiscal Q2 2025 results on July 23, with total revenues and adjusted EBITDA both growing 3.5% year-over-year at a consolidated level. Adjusted EPS for the quarter reached $0.54, up approximately 6% from $0.51 in the prior year. Free cash flow also rose from $4 billion in the prior year to $4.4 billion in Q2 2025. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) expects Q3 2025 capital investment to be in the $5 billion to $5.5 billion range, with free cash flow in the $4.5 billion to $5 billion range. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) provides telecommunications and technology services and operates through the Communications and Latin America segments. Its Communications segment offers wireline telecom, wireless, and broadband services in the US and globally, while the Latin America segment manages services in Mexico. While we acknowledge the potential of T as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. 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
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Compared to Estimates, Evertec (EVTC) Q2 Earnings: A Look at Key Metrics
For the quarter ended June 2025, Evertec (EVTC) reported revenue of $229.61 million, up 8.3% over the same period last year. EPS came in at $0.89, compared to $0.83 in the year-ago quarter. The reported revenue represents a surprise of +3.48% over the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $221.88 million. With the consensus EPS estimate being $0.86, the EPS surprise was +3.49%. While investors scrutinize revenue and earnings changes year-over-year and how they compare with Wall Street expectations to determine their next move, some key metrics always offer a more accurate picture of a company's financial health. As these metrics influence top- and bottom-line performance, comparing them to the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated helps investors project a stock's price performance more accurately. Here is how Evertec performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts: Revenues- Payment Services - Puerto Rico & Caribbean: $56.42 million versus the three-analyst average estimate of $55.39 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +4.1%. Revenues- Payment Services - Latin America: $86.06 million versus the three-analyst average estimate of $80.78 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +15.3%. Revenues- Corporate and Other: $-24.68 million versus the three-analyst average estimate of $-25.32 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +0.6%. Revenues- Business solutions: $64.52 million compared to the $63.29 million average estimate based on three analysts. The reported number represents a change of +3.5% year over year. Revenues- Merchant acquiring, net: $47.29 million versus $47.57 million estimated by three analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +4.4% change. View all Key Company Metrics for Evertec here>>> Shares of Evertec have returned -9.3% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +3.4% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating that it could perform in line with the broader market in the near term. 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 Evertec, Inc. (EVTC) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Sign in to access your portfolio
