crm posts
Posted Jun 18th 2009 3:20PM by Daleela Farina
Filed under: Industry, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon.com (AMZN), Next big thing, AT and T (T), Technology
Cloud computing is a type of on-demand hosting services on the internet. Not only a necessity for mainstream e-commerce sites, it also increases efficiency, is scalable, and lowers expenses. The monetary savings may be misleading to consumers and businesses who do not fully understand the potential risks involved.
With a pay-as-you-go type structure, users are only charged for the amount of traffic, bandwidth, and memory used. Online businesses become more efficient by only utilizing the storage and space needed, while also being assured capacity for any usage increases. The buzz has been building for years, so cloud computing has attracted a diverse customer base, ranging from popular social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, to educational websites of Arizona State and Northwestern University.
Continue reading Cloud computing: Advantages and disadvantage
Posted Jun 15th 2009 9:50AM by Jim Cramer
Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Market matters, Adobe Systems (ADBE), Oracle Corp (ORCL), EMC Corp (EMC), salesforce.com inc (CRM), Cramer on BloggingStocks, Technology
TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says these stocks have become too expensive without takeovers and a more robust economy. One after another after another, these software charts are amazing. And, I might add, a bit scary. How did
McAfee (NYSE:
MFE) (
Cramer's Take) make that kind of move just on security software? Didn't
Microsoft (NASDAQ:
MSFT) (
Cramer's Take) just say -- admittedly for the 4 millionth time -- that it was going to give away free anti-virus software? Or
Citrix (NASDAQ:
CTXS) (
Cramer's Take)? What's that all about? How could it return to those levels?
There were rumors of a
Cisco (NASDAQ:
CSCO) (
Cramer's Take) takeover a week or two ago, and, amazingly, when it didn't come true, the stock hung in.
Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Tech's unjustified super bull market run
Posted Apr 13th 2009 12:30PM by Eric Buscemi
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Applied Materials (AMAT), Corning Inc (GLW), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Intuit Inc (INTU), Analyst initiations, Wells Fargo (WFC), salesforce.com inc (CRM)
Analyst upgrades:
- Jefferies upgraded shares of SourceFire (NASDAQ:FIRE) to Buy from Hold as they believe the company is benefiting from recent spending by the U.S. Federal government and private enterprises to improve cybersecurity. The firm raised their price target on the stock to $11 from $7.
- Piper Jaffray upgraded Brocade (NASADAQ:BRCD) to Buy from Neutral as they believe an expanded OEM announcement with IBM (NYSE:IBM) could be announced as early as the end of April, creating a positive catalyst. The firm raised their price target on the stock to $6 from $4.
- UBS upgraded Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) to Buy from Sell but lowered their target to $4 from $21 citing reduced churn and cashflow concerns, expectations for FY10 to be a trough year, and a potential reacceleration in deferred growth.
- AK Steel (NYSE:AKS) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
- Strattec (NASDAQ:STRT) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Baird.
- Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) was upgraded at William Blair to Outperform from Market Perform.
Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations
Posted Mar 31st 2009 1:10PM by Tom Taulli
Filed under: Google (GOOG), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Small business

Times are particularly tough for VC funds. The IPO market is a ghost-town. M&A is muted -- with fairly low valuations. By all accounts, it looks like the returns for VC funds will be dismal.
But, interestingly enough, this is likely the best time to start a VC fund. After all, it takes several years for startup firms to get critical mass. Plus, it's easier to structure juicy terms on deals.
Continue reading Google Ventures takes flight
Posted Mar 29th 2009 6:30PM by Tom Taulli
Filed under: salesforce.com inc (CRM), Small business
Let's say you're on the phone with a potential customer. She likes the product and wants to make a purchase. However, you need to fax over an agreement to get a signature. Also, you need to set up a method for payment.
Unfortunately, this takes a few days – and during this time, the lead goes dark. You lost a customer . . .
In today's tough economic times, it's absolutely critical to close customers quickly. But how?
Well, there are some helpful – and affordable technologies to help out.
Continue reading Entrepreneur's Journal: Get money from customers now
Posted Feb 28th 2009 12:40PM by Trey Thoelcke
Filed under: Earnings reports, Yahoo! (YHOO), Dell (DELL), General Motors (GM), Gap Inc (GPS), Lowe's Cos (LOW), Office Depot (ODP), Hormel Foods (HRL), salesforce.com inc (CRM), Public Storage (PSA)
Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:
Continue reading Earnings highlights: Dell, GM, Lowe's, Heinz, Smucker, Washington Post and more
Posted Feb 22nd 2009 12:30PM by Trey Thoelcke
Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts, Marvel Entertainment (MVL)
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the parade of earnings declines to continue into the final week of February, with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. (NYSE: MSO), Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN), Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD), Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN), Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M), DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (NYSE: DWA), Limited Brands Inc. (NYSE: LTD), Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT), Royal Bank Of Canada (NYSE: RY), Del Monte Foods Co. (NASDAQ: DLM), Kohl's Corp. (NYSE: KSS), Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL), Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS), Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB), RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH), and H.J. Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ) all expected to post lower earnings for the most recent quarter. Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP), Saks Inc. (NYSE: SKS), and Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: CTB) are expect to have swung to a loss.
Continue reading The week in preview: Eye on Marvel, KBR, First Solar, Deckers and more
Posted Jan 5th 2009 11:45AM by Tom Taulli
Filed under: Deals, Google (GOOG), salesforce.com inc (CRM)
After the dot-com implosion, there was much talk about the death of the venture capital (VC) industry. And, while there was some pain, many firms survived. But the death may have only been delayed.
VCs need to generate substantial returns for their investors. Even though there have been some winners – such as Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) – there hasn't been enough activity. Simply put, the IPO market continues to deteriorate and M&A transactions are trailing off. Hey, there were only six VC-backed IPOs in 2008.
So, with thousands of VC firms in the market, it appears that the industry is poised for a Darwinian shakeout, according to the FT.
However, this doesn't mean that VC fundings will go dry. Basically, top firms will continue to do deals, but the approach will be more cautious and certain categories will get starved (such as social media and Web 2.0).
What are some hot spots? Well, according to the NY Times, the areas include web-based software, cloud computing, virtualization, open source and clean tech. Also, new companies will need to go beyond advertising revenues and expand their business models to areas like subscriptions.
Yes, as the recession continues, expect fewer free Net services.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
and The Streetsmart Guide to Short Selling: Techniques the Pros Use to Profit in Any Market
. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a valuation website.
Posted Nov 23rd 2008 11:40AM by Tom Taulli
Filed under: Earnings reports, salesforce.com inc (CRM)
I recently attended Salesforce.com's (NYSE: CRM) annual conference, Dreamforce. The place was packed, with nearly 10,000 people. The atmosphere was certainly an antidote to the grimness in the tech community.
Then again, this week Salesforce.com announced its quarterly results -- and they were particularly strong (especially in light of the size of the company). Revenues came to $276 million, up 43% over the past year. Earnings spiked 60% to $0.08 per share and there were 4,100 new customers.
At the conference, the big message was "the cloud" (in fact, Salesforce.com refers to itself as " the enterprise cloud computing company"). Essentially, the company is positioning itself as the key platform for business software, which is completely web-based.
Interestingly enough, this appears to be attractive to cash-strapped customers. After all, there are no large up-front costs. Moreover, there are no ongoing costs for things like servers. Another key benefit is customization (which is done through Force.com).
Continue reading Salesforce.com continues to sell, sell, sell
Posted Nov 22nd 2008 11:40AM by Trey Thoelcke
Filed under: Earnings reports, PepsiCo (PEP), Walt Disney (DIS), Target Corp. (TGT), Corning Inc (GLW), Gap Inc (GPS), Intuit Inc (INTU), Limited Brands (LTD), salesforce.com inc (CRM)
Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:
Continue reading Earnings highlights: Target, Heinz, Barnes & Noble, Pepsi, Disney and others
Posted Nov 21st 2008 8:16AM by Melly Alazraki
Filed under: Earnings reports, Deals, Dell (DELL), Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Citigroup Inc. (C), Sprint Nextel Corp (S), Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), Gap Inc (GPS), salesforce.com inc (CRM)
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) shares jumped over 12.5% in pre-market trade (7:34 am) after the
The Wall Street Journal reported that the second-largest U.S. bank by assets may be
weighing a sale of all or part of the company, including the Smith Barney brokerage, the credit card unit and the transaction services unit. Citi shares have lost over 25% of their value Thursday and have actually lost 50% this week as investors became concerns over whether it has enough capital. This morning the
WSJ reported the bank is
holding a board meeting to discuss the options.
Citi shares continued their plunge today, down another nearly 19% by midday trading as CEO Pandit said the bank plans to keep Smith Barney.
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) reported Thursday after the close that
fiscal third-quarter profit sank 5% as corporate spending on computers and other technology products declined due to economic concerns. But it seems Wall Street was expecting worse. DELL's earnings were 37 cents per shares in the quarter, 6 cents better than analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected. The stock traded nearly 5% higher in pre-market trading (7:41 am).
Dell shares ended up declining in the session, down 5.4% by midday trading as analyst cut targets on the stock. Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE: CRM) had investors cheering even louder as it said
profit and revenue grew sharply -- 55% and 43% respectively -- in its fiscal third quarter, beating expectations. This could mean that online business software may be better insulated from the economic downturn than conventional offerings. CRM shares gained nearly 10% in pre-market trading (7:39 am).
As markts grapple with Citi news, CRM shares declined over 6% by midday trading.[Update 8:58:
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) named Mike Duke CEO and president, succeeding Lee Scott.
WMT shares actually gained 1.7% by midday trading even as investors try to understand the timing of this management change.]
Continue reading Stocks in the news: C, DELL, CRM, GPS, GM, F, FNM, WMT, S, ADSK (update)
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