Somewhat related to the working world (which I discussed yesterday) is my stock for today, Salesforce.com (CRM), which was featured in Cabot Top Ten Report on August 24. Here’s what Editor Michael Cintolo wrote about Salesforce.com then:
“Salesforce.com was founded a decade ago by a former Oracle executive, and today it’s a leading vendor of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) services … which explains the stock’s symbol. But unlike Oracle, which sells software, Salesforce.com sells access to its network, which is where all the software is located; that’s cloud computing. Modules that customers can access include sales, service and support, partner relationship management, marketing, content, ideas and analytics. The business has been growing steadily over the past decade, though earnings trends have been irregular. And the market was thrilled last Friday when second quarter earnings came in ahead of analysts’ estimates. Most impressive from our point of view was the net addition of 3,900 customers in the quarter, an increase of 32% year-over-year, and the increase in cash to $1.0 billion, a sum that will likely come in handy for future investments. Recently, for example, the company announced an investment in the electronic medical records business, where we have no doubt it could provide good service. Salesforce.com is a company for our times, perhaps the Microsoft of the decade and beyond.
“CRM had advanced from 21 in October to 48 in August, and no one would have been surprised if the stock took a month to cool off and gather energy for its next advance. After all, this is a big, billion-dollar company. But last Friday’s earnings announcement killed all possibility of that. Trading volume on the day was 9.5 million shares, more than four times the average, and the stock closed near its high. As more institutions realize this is a story they can’t afford to miss, we expect the uptrend to continue.”
And the uptrend has continued, with the stock steadily climbing upward since it was featured in Cabot Top Ten Report. CRM is now hovering just below 75 and Mike still has it on the Cabot Top Ten Report Hold list.