More on Sky-High Valuations: Palantir

A recent report by Transparency Market Research titled “Big Data Market – Global Scenario, Trends, Industry Analysis, Size, Share and Forecast, 2012- 2018” projects the big data market to grow at an annual rate of 40.5% to $48.3 billion from $6.3 billion last year. North America will remain the leading contributor to the segment, commanding 55% of the market share. The analytic tools surrounding big data segment are being used to help businesses leverage the vast amounts of data gathered by their systems.  But it is not just businesses that are using big data analytics. There are several government agencies that are also using these tools to come up with solutions to the world’s pressing problems.

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Autotrader.com Backs Out of IPO Plans Yet Again

According to Forrester research, with more than $22 billion spent on automotive advertising last year, the segment is among the largest advertising markets in the country. The researcher estimates that the growth in online viewership by consumers is causing dealers and manufacturers to spend more of their advertising dollars on the Internet. In 2008, just 5% of automotive advertising was through the Internet. That number grew to 15% in 2011. The Internet is also playing a bigger role in the decision making surrounding the trade of a car.

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Is Workday Worth $10.22 Billion?

According to a Forrester Research report, the software-as-a-service (SaaS) market will grow 25% annually to $59 billion this year. The market is expected to be worth $75 billion by 2014. The market opportunity is helping to drive recently listed Workday’s (NYSE:WDAY) stock upward. Despite the high growth in revenues, some analysts believe that the company’s continuously loss-making operations don’t justify their huge valuation. Let’s look at the numbers.

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Is BlackBerry on the Rebound?

It appears that BlackBerry (Nasdaq:BBRY), formerly known as Research in Motion, is finally seeing a turnaround. Cost control measures and a new product pipeline has steered BlackBerry’s stock performance upward. Furthermore, management is convinced that the recent quarter’s performance was not a “one-time effect” but rather is reflective of the “efficient engine” that has been established in the organization. I hope it is true, as I am keen to see more of a four-horse race then a two-horse race in the mobile device market.

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Accenture’s On-site Expansion

According to a recent report by technology research firm Information Services Group, the annual contract value of global outsourcing contracts fell 3% over the year last year to $21.2 billion. During the final quarter of 2012, commercial outsourcing contracts with annual contract values of more than $5 million fell 27% over the year to $4.8 billion. By scope of work, annual contract values of business process outsourcing (BPO) contracts grew 14% over the year to $7.9 billion. The increase was dampened by an 11% reduction in the contract values of IT outsourcing projects to $13.3 billion.

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Oracle Expands in the Telecom Sector

Gartner’s report on worldwide enterprise IT spending projects enterprise IT spending to grow 4% over the year to $3.8 trillion during the current year. Spending on devices, which includes PCs and mobile devices, will grow 8% to $718 billion this year. Worldwide enterprise software spending is projected to grow 6% to $297 billion this year. Telecom services spending will remain the largest segment and will see growth of 2% over the year to $1.69 trillion. IT players are counting on the resurgence of IT spending to help drive their growth.

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Tableau Software’s IPO Path

According to an IDC report released earlier this year, the worldwide big data technology and services market is projected to grow annually at 31.7% in 2012 to $23.8 billion in 2016. The biggest increase should be seen by the storage market, which is projected to report annual rates of over 53%. Services for big data technology will grow annually at 21.1% during the period.

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eClinicalWorks Is and Planning to Stay Private

According to an IDC report, the electronic health reform (EHR) market is projected to grow from $1.9 billion in 2009 to $3.8 billion by 2015, with outpatient EHR contributing $1.41 billion of the market and inpatient EHR services bringing in the remaining $2.4 billion. One of privately held players in the industry, eClinicalWorks, is seeing strong traction in its customer base that supports such projections.

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Valuation Without Revenue

Facebook’s IPO may not have gone nearly as well as hoped. But that hasn’t stopped the market from placing big bets on another social media site, Pinterest. Despite Pinterest’s much lower usage statistics, analysts believe that it is a strong IPO candidate. I have my reservations. In general, as you know from my writing, I am not so hot on the valuation-without-revenue deals.

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Kids Want iPads, Not Toys

Research firm NPD Group’s recent toy industry report showed that overall toy sales in the U.S. fell 0.6% last year. The industry was able to contain the decline in sales due to stronger demand reported in the last two weeks of the year, when sales grew 10% over the year. Overall, domestic toy sales last year were $16.5 billion, compared with $16.6 billion a year ago. The decline in the toy industry is attributed not only to the continuing weak economy, but also to the growing impact of mobile devices, which have become the ‘toys’ of choice for children. A Nielsen study conducted during the holiday season last year found that for kids aged 6 to 12, their most desired gift was an iPad. To successfully compete in such an environment, most toy makers are aligning themselves to this trend by either releasing their own mobile device versions or by developing versions of their existing games that can interact with the iPad and similar devices.

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