Cloud Computing, Cloud Services Stocks Rise 6%

Cloud computing and cloud services stocks rose more than 6 percent for the week ending Feb. 3, according to our Talkin’ Cloud Stocks Index. Moreover, our index — which tracks 20 SaaS and cloud computing stocks — is up a robust 14.36 percent so far in 2012, easily outperforming the Dow (up 5 percent so far in 2012) and the Nasdaq (up 11 percent).

For the week ending Feb. 3, only two of the 20 cloud computing companies saw their shares dip. And one of them — Amazon.com — fell because of its e-retail business, not because of any cloud weakness.

Before we take a look at the Talkin’ Cloud Stocks Index, here’s our standard disclaimer: We built the Talkin’ Cloud Stocks Index to analyze cloud computing hype vs. real-world performance. We offer no specific financial advice, and whether you buy, sell or hold is up to you and you alone.

With that out of the way, let’s look at marketing SaaS provider Constant Contact (CTCT), last week’s big winner, which saw a 20.35 percent increase in its share price to $30.22. The company issued guidance that says that it fully expects Q1 revenues to hit $59.1 million to 59.4 million first quarter this year. Given CTCT’s solid performance over the last year or so, it seems that investors are getting on this bandwagon.

Also, employee recruitment specialist Kenexa (KNXA) shares jumped 13.34% to $27.19/share. There’s no immediate answer why, but I suspect it has something to do with the fact that Kenexa is announcing its Q4 2011/FY 2011 financials later today. Maybe investors know something we don’t.

Finally, NetSuite (N) reaped the market benefits of its super-solid, expectations-beating 2011 financial results, with a 12.39 percent rise to $47.73/share.

That’s that for this week — Carbonite (CARB) dipped 1.26 percent, but that’s barely worth mentioning. Make sure to come back after the U.S. markets close each Friday to see if the Talkin’ Cloud Stocks Index can keep it rolling.