ITWO, page 118, Wired, June 2001 issue.
B2B software.
Net Sales $1.1 billion
Net earnings -$1.8 billion
market Cap $6.3 billion
R&D $217.9 million
Net Sales growth 97.2%
Net earnings growth N/A
Net profit margin -155.6%
R & D growth 64.7%
"Bad news for the economy is good news if your business is helping companies become more efficient. I2's TradeMatrix 5.0 is a network of vertically integrated business hubs that put back-end activities like inventory management together with online access to everything from raw materials to legal services, all running on top of a bulletproof transaction engine.
Building on its foothold in the high tech, automotive, and apparel industries, I2 took on telecom, energy, food, textiles, and logistics with spectacular results last year. And having digested its $9.3 billion acquisition of Aspect Development last March, i2 returned to profitability in early 2001. Stil, serving as central nervous system for high-profile businesses can be risky, as the company learned in February when Nike made TradeMatrix a public scapegoat for the shoemaker's missed quarterly earnings target. Supplier and client buried the hatchet, but not before it had lopped off 22 percent of i2's share price. Six weeks later, i2 missed its own earnings estimate.
Still, i2 must be doing something right. In the past year, the company has lured Applied Materials and AT&T Wireless away from Oracle, and stolen UMC and Whirlpool from SAP. If it can make all its clients more profitable, it just might impact the GDP. Recession? What Recession?"
- Fred |
