SuccessFactors, An Early IPO

Yesterday, I looked at the new IPO NetSuite. Another SaaS company that has gone public is SuccessFactors. We will look at the company in detail in this post.

Founded in 2001, SuccessFactors (Nasdaq: SFSF) is a leading provider of on-demand performance and talent management solutions. Its online employee appraisal software automates the performance review process. >>>

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NetSuite Could be a good Buy

In my post Trend Radar 2008: SaaS in SME, I said that in 2008, SaaS will penetrate the SME market in a big way and that NetSuite (NYSE: N) will be one of the beneficiaries of this trend. It provides enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and e-commerce applications for mid-size businesses.

NetSuite went public on December 20 with an opening price of $26 and within two days, its price shot up by 77% to $45.98. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is a major shareholder. Since then, its stock has tumbled down to around $32 and market cap is around $1.9 billion. Compare it with Salesforce.com which is trading around $55 with market cap around $6.4 billion, latest quarterly revenue of $193 million and net quarterly income of $6.5 million. NetSuite seems overpriced. But let’s take a closer look at the company and its valuation. >>>

Salesforce.com should not drop the SME ball

As we discuss SaaS, in the Enterprise and in SME markets, the first company that comes to mind is Salesforce.com (Nasdaq: CRM).

2007 was an excellent year for Salesforce.com. It crossed the 1 million mark in subscriptions. Its stock price has increased almost 50% from $36 last year to around $53. It hit a 52-week high of $65.52 on December 21. Its market cap is around $6.2 billion. While still expensive, it is by far the strongest beneficiary so far of the SaaS trend, CEO Marc Benioff having been the original trend-setter who set the industry in motion. >>>

Omniture’s SaaS Offering is Critical to the Web’s Future

In yesterday’s post Trend Radar 2008: SaaS in the Enterprise, I mentioned that Omniture with its specialized application of Web Performance Management is gaining ground rapidly in the enterprise.

According to a recent report published by IDC, the Web analytics software market reached $397.5 million in 2006, a growth of 25%. Over the next five years, it is expected to continue growing at a rate of 16.1%. Web Analytics is increasingly becoming a critical function in this web-centric world, and Omniture is the category leader. >>>

Concur’s Stock Gyrations and SaaS Investing

In this morning’s Trend Radar 2008: SaaS in the Enterprise, I said I will keep recommending SaaS stocks despite rumblings of a recession. Concur (Nasdaq: CNQR) is such a stock. It is a leading provider of on-demand Employee Spend Management services in the niche area of Travel. >>>

Jon Rubinstein (Palm) vs. Steve Jobs (iPhone)

2007 has been a turbulent and eventful year for Palm. A quarter of Palm was bought by Elevation Partners for $325 Million, and Jon Rubinstein, the former Apple executive who was behind the invention of iPod, joined as Executive Chairman.

In my analysis prior to the Elevation deal, I suggested a turnaround formula based on a comprehensive enterprise strategy or a lower-priced emerging market killer app strategy around micro-payments. You can also read my interview with Eric Benhamou in which we discussed Palm’s turnaround challenges, and Elevation’s investment thesis.

However, with Rubinstein’s introduction into the equation, I had to introduce a third opportunity for Palm, which I alluded to earlier in the Trend Radar: Device Usability piece. >>>

RIM is already replacing Laptops

Yet another smartphone company that I expect will continue to do well in 2008 is RIM (Nasdaq: RIMM). Most importantly, it is validating one of my hypothesis of the smartphone gradually becoming a laptop replacement device.

It had a fantastic year owing to the momentum in the smartphone market catalyzed by the iPhone launch. It recently shipped its 20 millionth Blackberry in Q2. For Q3 2008 that ended December 1, revenue was $1.67 billion, up 100% y-o-y and 22% sequentially. Net income was $370 million or $0.65 per diluted share. It added 1.65 million BlackBerry subscriber accounts in Q3 bringing the total to 12.15 million accounts.

100% y-o-y growth is not something we see often at these revenue ranges, unless the company has an absolute hot product line. RIM, clearly, does. >>>

Apple of Our Eye

2007 was a big year for Apple. With the launch of the iPhone, it has galvanized the convergence device movement and changed the landscape of the mobile industry, as well as my blog.
Shares hit $200 for the first time, recently, although it is now back down to around $195. Conceivably, the stock price will spend a lot more time in the above $200 zone this year, especially after the holiday quarter results are out. >>>

Convergence Device Components: Unwisely Beaten Up?

I had earlier covered Broadcom, Marvell, Micron, and National Semi in the series on iPhone’s component ecosystem. Broadcom and Marvell were covered in the iPhone and the Future series as well. And this week, Vijay Nagarajan launched his deep-dive on Broadcom. Lets take a look at the financials in this post. >>>

Intuit Is Not Getting SaaS Credit

In my last post on Intuit, I said I wanted to see an International strategy from the company. There has been no progress on that front. But Intuit will now have a new CEO Brad Smith and a new CFO, Neil Williams. >>>