Cloud Stocks: Should SAP Acquire Zendesk or Freshworks?

Cloud Customer Service software company Zendesk (NYSE: ZEN) has recently launched a CRM platform while rival Freshworks has launched an AI powered customer engagement platform.

Featured Videos

Square Thriving Through Acquisitions and PaaS

Earlier this month, mobile payments platform Square (NYSE: SQ) announced its first quarter results. While the results outpaced market expectations, a lackluster first quarter outlook disappointed the market and the stock fell 8% since the result announcement.

Rapid7 Counts On Acquisitions for Growth

According to a recent ResearchAndMarkets report, the global security and vulnerability management market is expected to grow to $14.7 billion by the year 2024. Organizations of all sizes are expected toincrease their focus on preventing security attacks instead of waiting for system flaws to catch them off guard. Boston-based Rapid7 (Nasdaq: RPD) is a leading security solutions provider that recently announced its first quarter results that surpassed market expectations for the fourth consecutive quarter.

Will SAP Acquire BlackLine?

According to a Market.Us report, the global accounting software market is estimated to grow at 7% CAGR from 2019-2028. The market was valued at $6.2 billion in 2018. Recently, cloud-based financial software provider BlackLine (Nasaq: BL) announced its fiscal first quarter results that surpassed market expectations.

GoodData Has a High Potential PaaS Strategy

According to a recent published report, the global big data analytics market is estimated to grow at 30% annually to $40.6 billion by 2023. San Francisco-based GoodData is making a mark in the market.

Cloud Stocks: Qualys Scouting For Acquisitions

With the continuous digital transformation and growing adoption of smart connected devices supported by AI and Machine Learning capabilities, enterprise security systems globally are exposed to vulnerabilities. According to Gartner, enterprise spending on Security Technology is expected to grow to $124 billion this year. A MarketsandMarkets report expects the global cybersecurity market to grow 10% annually over the next four years to $248.3 billion by 2023. Another Research and Markets report expects the global security & vulnerability management market to grow 9% annually to become a $13.7 billion industry by 2026. These stellar growth projections are also getting reflected in the financial performance of the security players. Recently, cloud-based security player Qualys (Nasdaq: QLYS) reported its first quarter results that surpassed market expectations.

Cloud Stocks: How Upwork Can Leverage the Virtual Company Trend

Mountain View-based Upwork (NASDAQ: UPWK), the largest online marketplace that enables businesses to find and work with highly-skilled freelancers, went public last year. I am a huge fan of this platform, and my company has used it extensively for 15 years. Upwork has just announced its results for the first quarter that missed the analyst revenue estimates.

For Apple, Growth Exists Beyond iPhones

According to a recent Gartner report on global smartphones, for Q4 2018, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) reported its worst quarterly decline in phone sales since Q1 2016. With demand for entry level smartphones continuing to grow, vendors like Huawei are eating into both Apple’s and Samsung’s smartphone share. But Apple is turning the trend around by focusing on subscription-based services and the emerging trend of digital health. The efforts are being appreciated by the market as the stock climbed 5% post result announcement.

Proofpoint Expanding Footprint Via Acquisitions

According to a recent Research Report World report, the global enterprise cyber security market is expected to grow at 18% CAGR through 2025. The cloud-based enterprise email security, e-discovery, and compliance service provider Proofpoint (Nasdaq: PFPT) recently announced its first quarter results that surpassed market expectations. This was the fourth consecutive quarter that Proofpoint beat market expectations.

PaaS: Six Cloud Stock Picks Based on PaaS Prospects

Cloud products often tend to have low switching costs. The best way to create exit barriers is to have a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) strategy and invite entrepreneurial developers to come develop apps on it. As apps gain traction, some of the startups developing them can be acquired. Integration is easy because of the technology stack compatibility.

This is my analysis of how SaaS companies need to be scaled inorganically.

With this lens on, I have identified a set of cloud stocks that look promising for the next decade.

1. Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM). Their lead is so great in this space, that the chance of anyone else catching up is minuscule if not zero. Further analysis here.

>>>