Top 10 Cloud Computing Stocks of 2012 (And 2013?)
What were the 10 best-performing cloud computing stocks in 2012? Amazon (AMZN)? Rackspace (RAX)? Google (GOOG)? VMware (VMW)? Yes and no. Here's the exclusive list from Talkin' Cloud's stock index.
January 4, 2013
![Top 10 Cloud Computing Stocks of 2012 (And 2013?) Top 10 Cloud Computing Stocks of 2012 (And 2013?)](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt10e444bce2d36aa8/bltae2ec338ef4ddfbf/65247ffba163820ec9053b02/stocks_0.jpeg?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
The online expense and travel management company rode SaaS all the way to the bank. Led by CEO Steve Singh, Concur’s full 2012 fiscal year revenue increased 26% to $439.8 million, and non-GAAP pre-tax income increased 19% to $78.7 million. Talkin’ Cloud’s 2013 Prediction: Continued strong performance as businesses increase business travel amid the economic recovery.
CEO Jeff Bezos continues to have the magic touch. Pushing far beyond online retailing, Amazon is now the dominant provider of cloud services and the Kindle Fire is, well… on fire. Talkin’ Cloud’s 2013 Prediction: Continued strong performance as enterprises and channel partners shift mission-critical apps to Amazon Web Services.
Who? For those outside of the medical market, here’s a quick study on AthenaHealth. The company specializes in Electronic Health Records and a cloud-based medical billing/practice management platform called athenaCollector. For its fiscal year 2013, AthenaHealth expects revenues to hit $525 million to $550 million, up from about $427 million in 2012. Talkin’ Cloud’s 2013 Prediction: With ObamaCare kicking in, it seems like AthenaHealth’s prospects remain strong — but another 50 percent stock jump? Doubtful.
At first glance CoreSite is a traditional data center and co-location provider. But the company is pushing hard into the cloud, offering such solutions as Amazon Web Services Direct Connect in New York and Los Angeles. CenturyLink is also extending its services into CoreSite’s data centers. For its Q3 ended Sept. 30, 2012, CoreSite said revenues jumped 21.2 percent to $53.8 million. Talkin’ Cloud’s 2013 Prediction: It sounds like CoreSite benefitted from some cloud hype, and that hype could cool just a bit in 2013…
CommVault, a data and information management company, says traditional backup is dead. A growing number of customers apparently agree. During its Q2 2013 (which ended Sept. 30, 2012), revenues jumped 21 percent to $118.2 million. The company’s data management platform is now integrated with Microsoft Cloud OS (Windows Server 2012, Hyper-V and Windows Azure). Talkin’ Cloud’s 2013 Prediction: The storage market is filled with small, fast-growth companies. Can’t help but wonder if CommVault will get acquired sometime in 2013…
CEO Marc Benioff spent the past decade claiming traditional software is dead. Now he says Salesforce.com is focused on mobile and social convergence. The focus is paying off. For its fiscal Q3 2013 (ended Oct. 31, 2012), revenue jumped 35 percent to $788 million. Benioff predicted Salesforce.com’s annual revenue run rate will surpass $4 billion sometime during fiscal 2014. Impressive. Talkin’ Cloud’s 2013 Prediction: This tends to be a highly volatile stock because Salesforce.com spends heavily on marketing to growth the business. Some sort of correction is coming in 2013, we believe.
NetSuite, the cloud-based ERP provider, is sometimes overshadowed by Salesforce.com. But NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson has delivered stellar results. For its Q3 2013 ended Sept. 30, 2012, revenues rose 31 percent to $79.8 million. NetSuite’s channel partner program has aggressively engaged VARs and MSPs that want to generate recurring revenues vs. traditional on-premises ERP software. The big question: Will NetSuite investor Larry Ellison avoid the temptation to have Oracle buy NetSuite at some point? Talkin’ Cloud’s 2013 prediction: Watch Ellison.
Rackspace and its fanatical support model have caught on with customers and yes — channel partners. The company spent recent years converging multiple partner programs into a single, focused initiative and the uptake has been strong. CEO Lanham Napier gives out his personal email address during conference keynotes, assuring partners and customers that the company will remain responsive. For its third-quarter ended Sept. 30, 2012, revenues jumped 27 percent to $336 million. Talkin’ Cloud’s 2013 Prediction: Rackspace shares tend to have at least one major correction every 12 months or so… and the dip usually triggers takeover rumors that jack the stock price right back up. Disclosure: I’ve been long on Rackspace for about 2 years. I buy on big dips…
Kevin Thompson, SolarWinds’ president and CEO, had the wind at his back in 2012. During the company’s Q3 ended Sept. 30, 2012, revenues jumped 33% to $71.7 million. The company’s IT management software has caught in within data centers and in cloud environments. Talkin’ Cloud’s 2013 Prediction: Nearly doubling a stock price twice in two years? Highly unlikely…
Steve Smith, president and CEO of Equinix, is focusing the company on a global interconnection platform. That strategy involves Equinix selling off 16 of its International Business Exchange data centers. From Dec. 2007 to Dec. 2011, Equinix essentially delivered flat performance. Then, they essentially doubled during 2012. Talkin’ Cloud’s 2013 Prediction: A repeat of that 2012 performance seems unlikely.
Steve Smith, president and CEO of Equinix, is focusing the company on a global interconnection platform. That strategy involves Equinix selling off 16 of its International Business Exchange data centers. From Dec. 2007 to Dec. 2011, Equinix essentially delivered flat performance. Then, they essentially doubled during 2012. Talkin’ Cloud’s 2013 Prediction: A repeat of that 2012 performance seems unlikely.
By samdizzy
The Talkin’ Cloud Stocks Index tracks 20 cloud computing stocks each week. This slideshow reveals the 10 best performing cloud computing stocks of 2012, and predicts whether they can continue that hot performance in 2013.
You May Also Like