SAP

Merger Activity Has Stepped Up Again as Stock Market Strengthens

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Let’s bring to your attention the many deals that hit the wires the past couple days. Siemens Announces Agreement to Acquire Dresser-Rand Takeover bid for Dresser-Rand has a total transaction value of $7.6 billion Acquisition strengthens Siemens’ portfolio for oil & gas industry Complementary regional footprint and product portfolio Siemens executes on its Vision 2020 with a decisive move to strengthen its core. The company has entered into an agreement with Dresser-Rand (DRC), which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Dresser-Rand by way of a friendly takeover bid. Siemens’ bid is unanimously supported by Dresser-Rand’s Board of Directors. The offer price is $83 per common share in … Read more

Valuentum Economic Castleâ„¢ Rating Update

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Read: Keeping the Horse Before the Cart: Valuentum’s Economic Castle™ Rating The Economic Castle Focuses on the Magnitude of Economic Value Creation The Valuentum Economic Castle™ rating is an enhancement of the competitive advantage framework (commonly known as economic moat analysis) that has become widespread and ubiquitous within the investing world. Whereas an economic moat framework evaluates a firm on the basis of the sustainability and durability of its competitive advantages, Valuentum’s Economic Castle™ rating evaluates a firm on the basis of the firm’s future economic profit spread (return on invested capital less its weighted average cost of capital). The companies with the strongest Valuentum Economic Castle™ ratings are poised to generate the most economic value for shareholders in the … Read more

Software: Adobe Keeps Rolling; Oracle Hit by Venezuela Forex Issues

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On Thursday, Adobe (ADBE) put up better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter performance and issued a strong outlook, while Oracle’s (ORCL) fiscal third-quarter results faced currency challenges and its forward guidance came in about as expected. Adobe achieved revenue of $1 billion, at the high end of the targeted range (and above consensus), and exited the fiscal first quarter with an impressive 1.84 million paid Creative Cloud subscriptions, an increase of 405,000 on a sequential basis. Adobe Marketing Cloud quarterly revenue jumped 24% during the period, to $267 million, a nice showing. Diluted earnings per share on a non-GAAP basis came in at $0.30, beating the consensus figure by $0.05. The fiscal first-quarter results were solid, but the company’s outlook was even better. … Read more

Oracle Steals the Headlines

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Last week was a busy week for Oracle (ORCL). On December 18, the tech giant reported fiscal second-quarter results that showed non-GAAP revenue advance 2% (up 3%, excluding the impact from the strengthening US dollar). Non-GAAP new software licenses and cloud software subscription revenues fell modestly (though it annualized a high-teens growth rate in the year-ago period), while non-GAAP new software license updates and product support revenues jumped 6%. Hardware Systems revenues, including hardware systems products and hardware systems support, were essentially unchanged. Non-GAAP operating income fell modestly on a still-very-healthy non-GAAP operating margin of 46%. Non-GAAP net income nudged 1% higher, but share buybacks bolstered non-GAAP earnings per share expansion to 9%, excluding the impact from a strengthening US … Read more

Heins Bails, Blackberry Fails

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On Monday morning, beleaguered smartphone maker Blackberry (BBRY) announced the resignation of CEO Thorsten Heins, as well as a $1 billion private placement of convertible debentures. Heins’ departure comes as little surprise in the wake of weak performance from Blackberry 10 which coincided with a write-down of nearly $1 billion in inventory. As for raising capital, one might assume that a well-capitalized company like Blackberry wouldn’t need new capital; however, its current cash-burn suggests an interjection is necessary if the company wishes to attempt (another) fundamental turnaround. The New Leadership John S. Chen will replace Heins as interim CEO and chairman of the board of directors. Chen is best known for his reign atop Sybase where he was responsible for … Read more

Oracle Posts a Weak Quarter to End Its Fiscal Year

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Enterprise hardware and software maker Oracle (click ticker for report: ) ended its fourth quarter with the same lackluster revenue and earnings growth that it posted in the previous quarter. Revenue was flat year-over-year at $11 billion, falling short of consensus estimates. Earnings also fell short of consensus expectations, but grew 5% year-over-year to $0.87 per share on a non-GAAP basis. Earnings per share were helped by management repurchasing $2.8 billion worth of shares during the fourth quarter. Even though top- and bottom-line numbers were weak, Oracle remains a cash machine, generating $13.6 billion in free cash flow for fiscal year 2013—this is 36.6% of annual revenue of $37.2 billion! Yet again, the issue with Oracle remains its hardware and … Read more

Oracle’s Second Quarter Is a Bright Spot in Tech

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Enterprise technology giant Oracle (click ticker for report: ) reported solid fiscal year 2013 second-quarter results Tuesday afternoon. Revenue jumped 3% year-over-year to $9.1 billion, easily exceeding consensus expectations. Earnings per share, on a non-GAAP basis, jumped 18% year-over-year to $0.64 per share, also better than the consensus forecast. Not surprisingly, the increase was largely driven by a jump in new software licenses and cloud subscriptions of 17%, to $2.4 billion, as the company continues to win new enterprise contracts. President and former HP (click ticker for report: ) CEO Mark Hurd cited share gains versus SAP (click ticker for report: ) in Europe as a strong growth driver, acknowledging that the company only started investing in its European business … Read more