Cisco’s stock rose 5% Wednesday following a higher-than-anticipated Q1’19 earnings report. With revenues of c.$13.1 billion for the company’s first fiscal quarter (1.5% above forecast), earnings per share came in at $0.75 (vs. $0.72). The stock jump comes just a week after the enterprise tech leader announced a partnership with Amazon Web Services to bring container development solutions to developers beginning to build in the cloud. Cisco’s stock is up 14% YTD.
In e-commerce news, Walmart has posted strong third-quarter earnings ahead of the retail holiday season. With higher-than-expected quarterly US comparable sales growth of 3.4%, the retail giant’s full-year outlook rose on the basis of a strong economy and growth in e-commerce. Growing online sales project Walmart to capture 4% of the US e-commerce market (an increase from 3.3% last year), granting its unique standing of four straight years of retail growth in the US. E-commerce sales overall grew 43% last quarter and are on track to post 40% growth by the end of this year, at which point it will overtake Apple as the retailer with the third largest sales volume this year.
Social media marketing news this week saw LinkedIn rebuild the Company Pages experience “from the ground up.” Currently releasing in the US, the new interface will come with a content suggestion tool, allowing admins to display content through demographic filters, as well as the ability to add customized buttons to posts in order to drive specific actions like “sign up” or “register.” LinkedIn page analytics will now allow marketers to aggregate data from all operating LinkedIn Pages and compare engagement metrics across each.
Featured in SaaS business listings this week we have a $492K B2B digital sales and marketing business, with years of operational history leading to a firm positioning in the Shopify ecosystem, rapid MRR growth with revenues reaching a CAGR of c.38% for the period 2014 to (e)2018, over 1,200 positive product reviews off a vast customer base of over 1,700 paying customers. This is one to watch!
There is still time to acquire an e-commerce business before the business holiday period, and featured in e-commerce business listings this week we have a $317K kitchen and dining accessories business, with market-leading brand with hundreds of five-star reviews and an average product rating of 4.9 stars, secure foothold in a large and growing industry, scalable cost structure driving strong net margins and automated and robust operations allowing for low owner involvement. Also featured in e-commerce listings this week we have a $316K print-on-demand design automation business, with revenues growing at a 26% CAGR for the period 2016 to (e)2018, highly scalable business using design automation scripts to create tens of thousands of unique designs, diversified sales with income generated across Amazon FBA, Amazon Merch and Teespring (and other platforms), 36,000 tier Amazon Merch account and branded website with growing traffic offering clear opportunity for expansion. If you are interested in any of the above businesses, please follow the link to request a prospectus.
In events news, Thomas is heading to SaaS North in Ottawa on November 28-29, where he is looking forward to catching up with old friends and meeting fellow entrepreneurs in the SaaS space. Planning on attending SaaS North? Let us know in a reply to this email!
Continue reading below for more on Cisco’s strong earnings, Walmart’s growing e-commerce confidence and new LinkedIn Company Pages.
Listings
Featured
SaaS – B2B Digital Sales & Marketing – $13K MRR
- Years of operational history leading to a firm positioning in the Shopify ecosystem
- Rapid MRR growth with revenues reaching a CAGR of c.38% for the period 2014 to (e)2018
- Over 1,200 positive product reviews facilitating organic growth and high Shopify App Store ranking
- Product market fit as demonstrated by vast customer base of over 1,700 paying clients
- Portfolio of complementary Apps allowing for diversified revenues and operational synergies
Yearly net profit: $131,000
Asking price: $492,000
E-Commerce – Kitchen & Dining Accessories – $70K gross/mo
- Market-leading brand with hundreds of five-star reviews and an average product rating of 4.9 stars
- Secure foothold in a large and growing industry
- Scalable cost structure driving strong net margins
- Automated and robust operations allowing for low owner involvement
Yearly net profit: $108,000
Asking price: $317,000
E-Commerce – Print-on-Demand Design Automation – $21K gross/mo
- Revenues growing at a 26% CAGR for the period 2016 to (e)2018
- Highly scalable business using design automation scripts to create tens of thousands of unique designs
- Diversified sales with income generated across Amazon FBA, Amazon Merch and Teespring, and other platforms
- 36,000 tier Amazon Merch account
- Branded website with growing traffic offering clear opportunity for expansion
Yearly net profit: $113,000
Asking price: $316,000
Sold
SaaS – B2B Time & Expense Tracking Software – $8.4K MRR
SaaS – B2B & B2C Productivity Software – $2.5K gross/mo
Affiliate – Hunting Apparel & Supplies – $2.2K gross/mo
In The News…
Cisco Stock Rises 5%
Following a report of better-than-expected earnings in Cisco’s fiscal Q1’19, the company’s stock rose 5% on Wednesday.
Earnings for the company beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines, coming in at $0.75 per share (having been estimated for $0.72 per share by analysts). The company’s revenue came in at similar performance levels of $13.07 billion, 1.6% higher than expected by analysts (as reported by Refinitiv). Overall revenue for the quarter rose 8% year over year, of which the company’s largest business segment (encompassing hardware like data center networking switches) generated $7.64 billion, surpassing FactSet analyst predictions of $7.4 billion. Hardware was not the only segment of the company to perform well, however, as Cisco’s Applications business, encompassing various collaboration programs and the AppDynamics software, beat revenue estimates by 5%, at $1.42 billion.
Cisco is expecting $0.71-$0.73 EPS for fiscal Q2’19 with 5-7% revenue growth.
Walmart E-Commerce Confidence Rises Ahead of Holiday Season
Walmart Inc reported quarterly earnings on Thursday, and the higher-than-expected results raised its full-year outlook based on a strong economy and growth in e-commerce purchases.
E-commerce growth ultimately impacted Walmart’s margins due largely to higher transportation costs and reinvestment for growth. Brick and mortar sales were up due to strong consumer spending, despite similar growth in e-commerce sales as consumers look ahead to the U.S. holiday season. Grocery sales are bolstering Walmart’s online growth and make up 56% of the company’s total revenue. “Fresh (food) continues to do very well but there is strength across the board from a category standpoint,” said Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs in an interview with Reuters.
Overall e-commerce sales grew 43% this past quarter, beating last quarter by 3% and placing Walmart on track for online sales to rise by 40% before the end of the year.
LinkedIn Company Pages Update
LinkedIn has rebuilt its Company Pages feature, which is now rolling out in the US.
The new Pages format, which is releasing globally over the coming weeks, boasts a content suggestion tool for Page Admins to utilize, as well as a new suite of functions aimed at helping businesses increase employee engagement on the platform and an improvement to the sophistication of the analytics capabilities. LinkedIn reports that its 590 million member base generates over 2 million pieces of content every day. Thus, the new design for the LinkedIn Pages and the additional features are intended to help businesses connect more efficiently with the user base and more specifically target their audience, utilizing content already at their disposal. With the update also comes the ability to add customized buttons to posts to help drive specific actions, like “request demo,” “contact us,” “sign up,” “register” or “visit website.” When a new post is published or a relevant piece of content surfaces, a new “share with employees” function lets Page Admins place content directly on employees’ feeds.
New analytics and data reporting will aggregate all pages to be reported in one location for a convenient performance overview.
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