SaaS 20 Stock Index Down 3.6% for the Week
Software as a service (SaaS) may represent the future of IT, but MSPmentor’s SaaS 20 Stock Index continues to slide downward like the rest of Wall Street. While the Dow is approaching bear market territory — down nearly 20% from its October 2007 high — the SaaS 20 Stock Index has slid 16.38% in 2008 and 3.63% for the week ended June 27.
By comparison, the Dow gave up 4.19 percent, the S&P shed 3 percent and the Nasdaq fell 3.76 percent, according to the Associated Press.
For the week, only three of our 20 index members (Athenahealth, +0.20%; Blackboard, +1.94%; and Kenexa, +5.80%) posted gains. The index’s biggest one-week losers were EMC (-10.43%), Omniture (-10.15%) and Amazon.com (-7.94%).
Here’s more about our weekly winners and losers.
Weekly Winners
Athenahealth (ATHN, +0.20% for the week), which specializes in on-demand medical billing solutions, is expected to present at the Jefferies 2nd Annual Healthcare Conference on June 24 in New York.
The company in May announced that its 1Q revenue jumped 36% to $29.8 million, and the company delivered GAAP net income of $1.8 million, compared to a GAAP net loss of $2.7 million in the corresponding quarter last year.
Meanwhile, Blackboard (BBBB, +1.94%) shares climbed higher a week after company executives met with Wall Street analysts on June 19 at the William Blair Growth Stock Conference. The company, which specializes in on-demand software for colleges, is scheduled to host its developers conference June 14-15 in Las Vegas.
The index’s biggest weekly winner, Kenexa (KNXA, +5.80%) also presented at the William Blair conference. During its 1Q ended March 31, the HR-focused SaaS company grew revenue 14 percent to $48.2 million.
Weekly Losers
The index’s biggest weekly losers were EMC (EMC, -10.43%), Omniture (-10.15%) and Amazon.com (-7.94%).
Investors worried that EMC’s VMware virtualization software will face stiff competition, now that Microsoft is backing an alternative called Hyper-V.
Meanwhile, when I tried to check in with Omniture’s company site for the latest news on Friday night, the site was unresponsive. Not exactly the type of image you want to present in the SaaS market.
Finally, Amazon.com (AMZN, -7.94%) saw shares retreat even as the online retailer launched a new division to sell office supplies — a move that will attack Staples and Office Depot.
The Week Ahead
The first-half of 2008 is almost wrapped. We’ll provide a mid-year report when the markets close on July 3.
Jon–How does SaaS performance correlate with incumbent software providers (ISV), like Microsoct, Oricale, or SAP. This would be an interesting analysis to see every week!
As well, can you pinpoint the reasons why SaaS providers as struggling? I would guess the reason is simply an inability to effectively monetize their solution. This seems to be a common struggle for SaaS companies. If it is within the scope of this blog or your interests, it would be great to read your thoughts on why SaaS companies are struggling and what they are doing to improve. Are they utilizing resources like eVapt, a company which helps SaaS providers monetize their ideas, or are they using other resources? What resources are available?
Landon: I wouldn’t say SaaS companies are all struggling. Salesforce.com had a great first half, RightNow is starting to hit its stride.
I will be sure to compare performance vs. MSFT, ORCL and SAP down the road. That’s a great suggestion. Also, remember that during the “ebusiness” boom, all of the incumbents (MSFT, ORCL and IBM especially) did very well — contrary to everyone who said incumbents were doomed.