SPSS Warns & ShowCase Earnings
Question: Will SPSS become a major BI company with the ShowCase acquisition? And if so, from whom will they take market share?
Here is a table of the BI vendors sorted by revenues:
siliconinvestor.com
And another sorted by market capitalization:
siliconinvestor.com
SPSS warns Q4 earns to be below expectations
biz.yahoo.com
CHICAGO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Customer management software provider SPSS Inc. (NasdaqNM:SPSS - news) said on Thursday that it expected its fourth quarter earnings to be below expectations as the negative effects of foreign currency lowered revenues.
The company forecast its fourth quarter earnings at 58 cents to 63 cents, lower than current analysts' estimates of 72 cents to 73 cents. It also said it expects fourth quarter revenues of $43 million to $44 million, compared with current analysts' estimates of $46 million to $48 million.
The company also said it would delay reporting its earnings by a week until Feb. 20 because of the implementation of a new accounting system.
It said that the negative impact of foreign currency exchange rates shaved about $1 million off from fourth quarter revenues. SPSS also said that revenues were affected by disappointing performance at some of its North American business units and by the slowing economy.
SPSS also said senior management was focusing a lot on its acquisition of ShowCase Corp. (NasdaqNM:SHWC - news) during the quarter instead of helping to close new business.
Looking ahead to 2001, SPSS said that it expects the combined SPSS-Showcase to post earnings of $2.00 a share on revenues of $240 million to $250 million.
The company's shares closed up 3/8 at $21-15/16 on the Nasdaq on Thursday.
ShowCase Corporation Reports Record Third Fiscal Quarter Performance
Results Top Consensus EPS Estimate
biz.yahoo.com
ROCHESTER, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 30, 2001--ShowCase® Corporation (Nasdaq:SHWC - news) today announced revenues and operating results for its third fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2000.
Revenues for the period totaled a record $12.9 million, up 33 percent from $9.6 million in the year-ago period. The company posted net income of $1.0 million, or $.09 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $1.5 million, or $.15 per diluted share, for the year-earlier quarter. The earnings results exceed the analysts' consensus estimate.
For the nine months ended December 31, 2000, revenues were $36.3 million, up from $28.7 million for the prior-year period. Net income for the nine-month period was $469,000, or $.04 per diluted share, a significant turnaround from a loss of $2.9 million, or $.35 per diluted share, for the nine months last year.
``We are pleased to report our second consecutive strong quarter,'' said Ken Holec, ShowCase's CEO. ``The quarter's revenues benefited from both continued customer deployments and new accounts. The company's overall gross margin was 72 percent (up from 69 percent a year ago), and the operating margin continued its marked improvement.''
During the December quarter, license fees increased 37 percent from the prior-year period. Maintenance and support revenues continued to rise, fueled by a loyal client base and higher license fees. Key account wins included Alcon Laboratories, Abbott Laboratories, Corning Cable, SaveMart Supermarkets, AIG Private Banking in Belgium and Bank of Luxembourg.
Holec concluded, ``We are focused on building upon the momentum we've established recently and completing our merger with Chicago-based SPSS. Subject to shareholder approval, we anticipate closing on the transaction at the end of February, when SPSS will issue 0.333 of a share of SPSS stock for every one share of ShowCase stock. We believe we will be able to leverage opportunities with our customer base and prospect base as a part of SPSS, which has a broad product suite and multi-platform solutions to offer.''
Going forward, for the fiscal fourth quarter ending March 31, 2001, ShowCase management anticipates meeting the analysts' consensus earnings estimate of $.11 per share.
ShowCase Corporation provides Enterprise Intelligence solutions to help companies discover and seize business opportunities in an evolving global marketplace. ShowCase offers the first integrated Web content management and business intelligence solution to help companies solve their strategic business information needs. Through a worldwide team, ShowCase offers reporting and analytic solutions in areas such as financial management and customer relationship management (CRM). The ShowCase Website can be found at www.showcasecorp.com. |
