September 2, 2022
5 Things to Know: Week Ending September 3
Will Acuity Brands hit $4 billion in sales? Also, will we see more demand for healthcare lighting?
Here's a roundup of some of the week's happenings curated to help lighting people stay informed.
1. Will Acuity Brands hit $4 billion in sales?
Acuity Brands wrapped up its 2022 fiscal year on Wednesday, August 31. We are still many weeks away from the company’s announcement of their fourth quarter financial results, but if Acuity follows their recent third quarter revenues of $1.06 billion with a fourth quarter of $1.1 billion, the company will hit $4 billion in total year sales for the first time in history.
Earlier this week, Oppenheimer reiterated its outperform rating on Acuity Brands stock with a $210 price target. The stock closed yesterday at $163.14 per share. On Monday, Oppenheimer also said that Acuity Brands is likely to see "more normal" seasonality in the second half of the year given "signs of construction activity stretching out during the summer months."
2. Lighting up NASA
EnviroLux Energy Systems, a manufacturer of made-in-USA LED lighting products based in Vancouver, WA, recently completed a year-long project designing and manufacturing the lighting equipment for the new Launch PAD at NASA Kennedy Space Center. Not long after the completion of the project, the newly designed Artemis Space Craft was moved to the Launch PAD.
3. Healthcare construction spending surges despite soaring expenses
Rising MEP costs, inflation and supply chain concerns haven’t slowed costly healthcare projects. Examples abound:
-
St. Louis Veterans Administration Health is planning a $1 billion renovation at John Cochran Veterans Hospital in St. Louis.
-
The University of California, San Francisco received a $500 million donation to accelerate plans to build a new hospital at its Parnassus Heights campus, which will cost an estimated $1.5 billion.
-
Long Beach, California-based Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center is planning $387 million worth of renovations, including a new mental health facility and community living center.
4. French acrobats “Wizzy Gang” use skills to fight light pollution
In their certain parts of France, retailers are required to turn off outdoor lights and signage within an hour of store closing. Nine members of the Wizzy Gang acrobat group are fighting light pollution in urban areas by utilizing their collective parkour skills to cut power to outdoor lights and signage.
Watch the acrobat hit the off switch at Lacoste »
5. Minneapolis invests $9 million into fixing street lights
Minneapolis, Minnesota Mayor Jacob Frey was joined by members of city council and the Director of Public Works Tuesday afternoon, as they laid out why millions of dollars were needed to fix the city's street lights. Using federal dollars from American Rescue Plan, work has already started on fixing some of the areas most in need or with a backlog of repairs.
Watch the WCCO CBS 4 I-Team report »
