Fundamental Thinking

After decades of 70% growth spurts, vicious price wars, and a major price-fixing scandal, memory chips show signs of behaving, dare we say, almost like a stable business.

How new regulations and direct-to-consumer distribution models play out for the hearing industry is—much like these tiny marvels of technology themselves—likely to be complicated.

As the candidates hurtle toward the finish line, modelling the long-term profits for one of the most audacious undertakings in the history of science remains a separate challenge.

China was the first country to confront COVID-19 and appears to be the first to recover. The solidarity and tenacity of the Chinese people were key reasons for the success, writes Harding Loevner Analyst Jingyi Li.

Consumer goods companies are being pressured to reduce or eliminate single-use plastics from product packaging. This presents an opportunity and a challenge. One thing seems certain: companies that ignore demands for eco-friendly packaging do so at their peril.

In response to China’s decision to halt plastic scrap imports, some waste management companies in the West are going high tech.

Pharmaceutical companies, pressured by buyers to lower drug prices, find their high profit margins threatened.

Selling software as a service instead of a product has been a boon for enterprise software companies. But will their growth translate to high profits?

Many pharmaceutical companies are shifting away from large acquisitions, instead opting to buy smaller firms with riskier, earlier-stage drug candidates. Others are experimenting with new strategies altogether.

To regain market share lost to nimble competitors, established footwear and apparel brands are taking steps to accelerate design, production, and sales.

As top-selling biologics begin to lose patent protection, some drug makers are investing heavily to meet anticipated demand for biosimilars. Yet the high cost and complexity of these new drugs pose a risk to expected profits.