michael.
given you endowed PSFT with fifteen minutes of fame on investor, you may be interested in this three-part value-oriented ERP piece on inter@ctive investor.
fwiw,
-chris.
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SPECIAL REPORT: Is there value in ERP stocks?
By Eric C. Fleming
April 9, 1999 10:25am
ZDII
SPECIAL REPORT -- All Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software companies are not created equal, though looking through Wall Street's eyes, all came from the same cookie cutter. The end result is the same -- investors are dumping ERP stocks.
ERP software companies provide solutions that handle company-wide internal functions, such as product distribution, finance, human resources, and manufacturing. SAP AG's (NYSE: SAP) R/3 flagship product is known to be expensive and time-intensive to implement, while J.D. Edwards & Co.'s (Nasdaq: JDEC) OneWorld handles the same areas.
The lot of ERP companies have taken a beating as customers put off IT spending to deal with getting their computer systems up to par for year 2000-related issues. SAP, Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL), PeopleSoft Inc. (Nasdaq: PSFT), I2 Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: ITWO) are among the companies maligned by the lag in spending.
But analysts see some undervalued gems in this battered field.
"It's a difficult environment because they're all being tarred with the same brush," said John Puricelli, analyst at A.G. Edwards. "The ERP business is oversold," said Puricelli.
Yes the salad days of 80 percent growth of the sector are over, sales will still grow at about 30 percent a year, said Puricelli.
With that premise, the task is to find the company or companies with the strongest fundamentals. Here's a look at the prospects:
The big fish: SAP and Oracle
While its true SAP and Oracle aren't exactly the same market, both are constantly sniping at each other. Oracle looks like a favorite to upend SAP.
zdii.com
The mid-market ERPs: PeopleSoft, Baan, and JD Edwards
While the big ERP companies have girth on their side, the middle-tier players are being squeezed. The problems are compounded by recurring missteps.
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The future for ERP stocks
The slowdown in IT spending because of the year 2000 can't last forever. There are signs that things are already getting better for ERP companies.
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