Payroll Services Sector Update

ADP’s (NASDAQ:ADP) recent employment report brought some good news to a gloomy market as the company reported growth in private payrolls in July by 114,000 jobs, ahead of the 100,000 projected earlier. This was the 18th consecutive month of growth in jobs in the country. Growth has been seen across all business sizes with small businesses reporting an increase of 58,000 jobs last month, medium-sized businesses reporting a gain of 47,000 jobs, and large firms adding 9,000 jobs overall. Payroll processing firm ADP’s quarterly results were also equally cheerful.  >>>

Featured Videos

First Solar And SunPower Diversifying Away From European Markets

Solar stocks are headed for a weak year driven by the lowering of feed-in-tariffs in Germany and Italy and increasing competition from low-cost Chinese manufacturers. These two factors together have impacted the sale prices of solar energy in the market. Analysts estimate that global PV market demand in 2011 will grow 19% over the year to 19.8 gigawatts, driven by North America, India, and China. From 2010 to 2013, the market is expect to grow at a compounded rate of 12% a year. The major solar players are already focusing on these emerging markets.

>>>

Vacation Rentals Market Sees 12% Online Penetration

According to market reports, the vacation rental market for the U.S. and Europe was worth $85 billion in 2010 and Travel Insured International estimates this market to grow at a rate of 13% this year. HomeAway claims to be the world’s largest online marketplace for vacation rentals. Recently, the company went public under the ticker symbol AWAY. Below is a brief overview of the company’s growth thus far.

>>>

LinkedIn Performing On All Fronts Since IPO

Amidst persisting news of doom and gloom, Silicon Valley continues to boom, and LinkedIn, more than any other company, has been the poster child of that boom, and a harbinger of upcoming tech IPOs.

In May of this year, LinkedIn became among the first few social networking companies to list on the stock exchange in the country. Their IPO has been called the biggest since Google’s in 2004. In their first ever quarterly result announcement as a publicly traded company, LinkedIn reported a subscriber base to have grown 61% over the year to 115.8 million. The number is significantly smaller than Facebook’s 700 million and Twitter’s 300 million members. But at least LinkedIn seems to be learning how to monetize that traffic as its results surpassed market expectations. Moreover, the quality of the audience is of a substantially higher calibre, making it attractive for advertisers and marketers, as well as recruiters.

>>>

Nokia Loses Its Hold On Mobile Industry

Nokia (NYSE:NOK) recently reported weak second quarter results as demand for its products on the aging Symbian OS dwindled. Nokia last quarter announced its plans to make the Microsoft Windows phone platform its primary smartphone OS. While Nokia is making this transition, the market dynamics have changed. It has been toppled by Apple from its market leading position. According to research firm IDC, Nokia at the number three position now holds just a 15.7% share of the smartphone market, down from 37.3% last year. Apple leads the market with 19.1%, followed by Samsung with 16.2%. In the mobile phone market, Nokia still leads with a 24.2% share, but its hold is weakening. Let’s take a closer look.

>>>

SAP’s Mobility Strategy Scores

SAP (NYSE:SAP), the largest maker of business management software, last week reported a strong second quarter and said it will reach the high end of its forecasts. SAP’s $5.8 billion acquisition of database specialist Sybase last year has helped the company to realize its vision of in-memory computing and broadened its reach in mobile platforms. Let’s take a closer look.

>>>

Athenahealth Catching Up On Competitors’ Market Share

A recent report by MarketResearch.com estimates the U.S. electronic medical records (EMR) market to grow 18% annually to $6.05 billion in 2015. The market was estimated to be worth $2.18 billion in 2009. The report claims that growth in the market is being fueled by the nationwide healthcare reforms and the need to control healthcare costs while improving the quality of services offered.

>>>

Microsoft’s Business Mix Is Changing

According to Gartner, during the previous quarter, global PC shipments grew only 2.3% over the year to 85 million units. Gartner had earlier estimated sales growth of 6.7%. Netbooks and tablets continued to eat into traditional PC sales. iPad sales doubled last quarter to 9.25 million units, and an estimated 20% of buyers who would have otherwise bought a Windows PC bought the iPad instead. Declining PC sales hurt Windows revenue, which fell for a third consecutive quarter. Yet, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) continued to surpass market expectations as it pushed forward in other segments.

>>>

Amazon Heading To India, Finally

According to the Association of American Publishers, e-book sales reached $441.3 million last year from $61.3 million reported two years ago. In a survey conducted by the Book Industry Study, it was found that within the U.S., a quarter of those surveyed had switched to electronic books. Players like Amazon are counting on capturing further the yet untapped market.

>>>

Square Scales By Sharing A Cut Of Small Business Revenues

While services like Google Wallet are focused on helping consumers use their smart phones to make payments, there is another big player who has created a smart tool focused on the needs of businesses. Founded in 2009 by Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey and James McKelvey, Square was initially founded to provide a solution, especially for small business owners, to accept credit card payments through their mobile phones. >>>