VMW - VMware, Inc.
| Previous Close | 152.20 |
| Open | 153.45 |
| Bid | 151.00 x 900 |
| Ask | 153.60 x 900 |
| Day's Range | 150.69 - 153.81 |
| 52 Week Range | 128.69 - 206.80 |
| Volume | 792,628 |
| Avg. Volume | 1,120,906 |
| Market Cap | 63.137B |
| Beta (5Y Monthly) | 1.09 |
| PE Ratio (TTM) | 9.62 |
| EPS (TTM) | 15.73 |
| Earnings Date | Feb 26, 2020 - Mar 02, 2020 |
| Forward Dividend & Yield | N/A (N/A) |
| Ex-Dividend Date | Dec 29, 2018 |
| 1y Target Est | 180.27 |
- InvestorPlace
VMware Stock Needs a Successful Pivot in 2020
Many investors were looking at 2020 as being the start of something big for VMware (NYSE:VMW). After a year spent on acquisitions, the company appears ready to start making its transition to a hybrid cloud provider.Source: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock.com That would be welcome news to investors who are watching a stock that has dropped 25% from its 52-week high set in May 2019. But so far, 2020 has brought a lack of clear direction. Instead of participating in the market melt up like other tech stocks, VMW shares are down about 5% since the start of the year. And much to the chagrin of some traders, the stock is struggling to push above a support level at $150. Acquire or DieAs the cloud revolution was taking place, VMware quickly realized that its position as an old-guard enterprise company was under attack. Companies are moving away from traditional virtualization and looking to containers to hold their apps, configurations and settings.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsThis transition played out in the price of VMW stock. While companies like Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) were having a banner year, VMW stock had a gain of just over 10%. Smartly, VMware went on a buying spree. * 10 Cheap Stocks to Buy Under $10 One of the key phrases in the hybrid cloud model being adopted by VMware is "open source technology." IBM (NYSE:IBM) became the undisputed leader in open source container applications with its expensive $34 billion purchase of Red Hat in 2019. This gave IBM access to Red Hat's OpenShift Kubernetes platform. VMware's response is a $2.7 billion purchase of Pivotal Software. This is a move that VMware CEO Patrick Gelsinger said gives the company better assets for far less cost.The acquisition of Pivotal is at the core of VMware's own Kubernetes strategy called VMware Tanzu. This portfolio of products and services will give customers the option to build and deploy applications on Kubernetes using different development platforms.But that wasn't the extent of VMware's acquisitions. The company also acquired Bitnami with its packaged application catalog and Heptio for deep Kubernetes expertise. All this in addition to VMware's $2.1 purchase of Carbon Black. VMware Has to DeliverTo be fair, VMware had to make these acquisitions. And compared to IBM's purchase of Red Hat, it may turn out to be a savvy and fiscally sound investment.But now, VMware has to deliver. To that end, VMware's goal is to get its existing 600,000 vSphere customer base to adopt container technology in addition to VMware's vSphere virtualization platform. The initiative, called Project Pacific, unites vSphere with Kubernetes. Analysts and Investment Firms Believe in the Business ModelOf the 24 analysts that have given a rating on VMware, 15 have given a buy rating while eight others gave it a hold. The global investment firm Oppenheimer recently reiterated its "outperform" rating on VMware and maintained its price target of $200. "We see a compelling risk/reward scenario as we don't believe recent strategic initiatives and model evolution has been factored into shares," said Oppenheimer in a note to investors.Analysts are projecting an earnings per share for 2020 and 2021 that suggests modest, but certainly not spectacular, profitability growth. Some of that may be that analysts are not yet factoring in the potential growth from the Pivotal acquisition. It's Too Early to Tell What 2020 Holds for VMW StockAlthough VMW stock is off to a rough start, it may represent a buying opportunity. My InvestorPlace colleague, Vince Martin, made a case that a price just below $150 might be an attractive buying point for VMware. Martin points out the company's large free cash flow as a benefit regardless of how successfully it can make the pivot in its cloud strategy.However, that alone will not be enough to excite investors. For that to happen, the company will have to show growth. And that is something that won't be clear for a couple of quarters. Which means the stock will probably be stuck in neutral. And as Will Healy wrote, VMware is majority owned by Dell. Now that Dell shares are trading again, the company may decide to buy VMware outright or spin off the company.Risk-tolerant investors may see more reasons to jump in. But right now, I see better, alternative opportunities in this space.As of this writing, Chris Markoch did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 10 Cheap Stocks to Buy Under $10 * 5 Retail Stocks Placer.ai Thinks Can Win Big in 2020 * 6 Cheap Stocks to Buy Under $7 The post VMware Stock Needs a Successful Pivot in 2020 appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- Barrons.com
It’s Earnings Season in Silicon Valley. Here’s One Way to Trade It.
FEATURE Heading into the coming December quarter earnings season, Piper Sandler analyst James Fish surveyed 35 “channel partners” on the state of the enterprise technology market. In a research note Wednesday, he writes that his biggest takeaway from the survey is that the picture looks better for software players than for hardware vendors.
- GlobeNewswire
Fifth Annual Women Transforming Technology Conference -- Registration Now Open
VMware, Inc. (VMW) today announced that registration is open for the fifth annual Women Transforming Technology (WT2) Conference. Featuring inspiring speakers who overcame adversity in male-dominated industries, the fifth annual WT2 Conference has a theme of “We Rise” and will continue to cultivate a supportive environment for women, underrepresented minorities and allies in the technology industry.
- Moody's
Presidio Holdings Inc. (New) -- Moody's affirms B2 CFR of Presidio Holdings (New) and assigns B1 to sr secured notes and Caa1 to sr unsecured notes; outlook stable
Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") affirmed the B2 Corporate Family Rating ("CFR") of Presidio Holdings Inc. (New) ("Presidio ") and assigned a B1 rating to the company's proposed senior secured notes and Caa1 to the proposed senior unsecured notes. Proceeds from the new notes will be used to refinance acquisition bridge financing which, along with $855 million in contributed and rolled over equity, funded the roughly $2.2 billion acquisition of Presidio by BC Partners Advisors L.P. ("BC Partners") that closed on December 19, 2019. Earlier this week, Moody's assigned ratings to Presidio's new credit facilities which will also be used to refinance outstanding acquisition bridge debt.
- GlobeNewswire
VMware Helps Retailers Digitally Transform Brand Experiences to Enable Intelligent Stores
This week at the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) annual show, VMware, Inc. (VMW), a leading innovator in enterprise software, showcased how several customers – including Chemist Warehouse, Chow Sang Sang, Migros and OFS – are partnering with the company to build a digital foundation for modern retail experiences. VMware Retail Solutions evolve legacy retail infrastructure into modern digital foundations with mobile workflows that can significantly increase customer satisfaction and workforce productivity.
- Yahoo Finance
Trump is in a heated fight with Iran and these stocks are benefitting from it
Cybersecurity stocks are rocking as the conflict between the U.S. and Iran heats up.
- InvestorPlace
VMware Stock Could Be a Great Investment for This Decade
VMware (NYSE:VMW), the jewel in the crown at Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL), is one of the cheapest tech stocks you can buy right now, selling at under 10 times last year's earnings. 2020 will be a pivotal one for VMW stock. It has closed on its $2.7 billion purchase of Pivotal Software. It can now offer what it calls a complete cloud solution against International Business Machines' (NYSE:IBM) Red Hat unit.Source: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock.com Both companies are active in the market for "hybrid cloud," where corporate data centers run the same software, and interoperate with, the public clouds of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG,NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN).VMware has had to transform itself -- and its offerings -- to reach this point, going beyond the data centers where its vSphere virtualization software had dominated. It now has relationships with all the large public clouds, and 4,300 regional providers.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips * 7 Stocks That Are Screaming Buys Right Now However, growth could really jump once customers figure out what a hybrid cloud is for, and act on that knowledge. Move to the EdgeThe 2010s were about the economics of cloud.Virtual machines, distributed computing and open-source software combined into a new, low-cost and hosted paradigm for corporate computing. VMware dominated the virtualization space. It now aims to expand the reach of its vSphere into the Kubernetes container space, which lets companies put existing software into cloud formation.This alone could spark a lot of growth. Cloud software, sold as a service, still represents just one-quarter of the enterprise software market. Analysts are now pounding the table for VMW stock, calling it a "hybrid monster." They point to parent Dell's lead in "hyperconverged storage".But, clouds are highly centralized. Hybrid cloud takes off when cloud technologies reach the network edge. It's this market that VMware is now targeting, seeking use cases in automated factories, artificial intelligence and virtual reality. To work seamlessly, these applications need to have fast cloud resources readily available, either on-premise or nearby. (Development of Pivotal was originally co-funded for this "machine Internet" by General Electric (NYSE:GE)).VMware spent 2019 preparing for this moment, investing heavily in Indian programmers to make vSphere container-friendly, in what it called Project Pacific. Gartner (NYSE:IT) predicts that 75% of companies will be running containers by 2022 so this was an essential strategic move. Will Dell Share?VMware is already an earnings monster.As our Vince Martin notes, VMware net income rose 21% last year, and 18% the year before. Yet, even if you take out the extraordinary gains from restructuring, the stock trades at just 21 times estimated 2021 earnings.Some investors question whether VMware can execute on its pivot from vSphere, which is usually sold in corporate data centers, to pure cloud. The recent market pivot from a focus on growth to value is a second reason the stock has lagged.However, despite delivering $1.8 billion to its net income line over the last three quarters, VMware has no regular dividend. That's because Dell owns 82% of VMware. Only 18% of VMware stock trades. Until its acquisition of VMware was complete, Dell was also losing money. Yet, it paid out a special VMware dividend of $11 billion on completion of the deal to take itself public. Most of that went to Michael Dell, Dell shareholders and Silver Lake, his hedge fund partners. The Bottom Line on VMW StockVMW stock is tough to value correctly because VMware is not an independent company. It is a unit of Dell and has been run with Dell's interests in mind.The year that starts in February is a "return to normalcy," VMware's relaunch as a cloud software company. Potentially, VMware stock is one of the great investments of the coming decade.Assuming, that is, its owners share the wealth.Dana Blankenhorn is a financial and technology journalist. His latest book is Technology's Big Bang: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow with Moore's Law, essays on technology available at the Amazon Kindle store. Write him at danablankenhorn@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @danablankenhorn. As of this writing he owned shares in AMZN and MSFT. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 7 Stocks That Are Screaming Buys Right Now * 7 Industrial Stocks to Buy for a Strong New Year * 7 Investing Resolutions to Follow in 2020 The post VMware Stock Could Be a Great Investment for This Decade appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- Moody's
Moody's assigns B2 CFR to Presidio Holdings (New) following buyout and B1 to new term loan; outlook stable
Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") assigned a B2 Corporate Family Rating ("CFR") and a B2-PD Probability of Default Rating ("PDR") to Presidio Holdings Inc. (New) ("Presidio "). Proceeds from the new term loan will be used to partially refinance acquisition bridge financing which, along with $855 million in contributed and rolled over equity, funded the roughly $2.2 billion acquisition of Presidio by BC Partners Advisors L.P. ("BC Partners") that closed on December 19, 2019. Moody's expects additional new secured and unsecured debt facilities will be raised in the near term to completely repay acquisition bridge financing.
- Zacks
VMware (VMW) Completes the Acquisition of Pivotal Software
VMware (VMW) completes the acquisition of Pivotal Software in a bid to expand its enterprise-grade Kubernetes-based offerings for modern applications.
- TechCrunch
VMware completes $2.7 billion Pivotal acquisition
VMware is closing the year with a significant new component in its arsenal. The acquisition gives VMware another component in its march to transform from a pure virtual machine company into a cloud native vendor that can manage infrastructure wherever it lives. "VMware Tanzu is built upon our recognized infrastructure products and further expanded with the technologies that Pivotal, Heptio, Bitnami and many other VMware teams bring to this new portfolio of products and services," Ray O’Farrell, executive vice president and general manager of the Modern Application Platforms Business Unit at VMware, wrote in a blog post announcing the deal had closed.
- Simply Wall St.
What Does VMware, Inc.'s (NYSE:VMW) Share Price Indicate?
VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW) received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the NYSE over the last few...
- GlobeNewswire
VMware Completes Acquisition of Pivotal
VMware, Inc. (VMW), a leading innovator in enterprise software, today announced it has completed the acquisition of Pivotal Software, Inc. (“Pivotal”), a leading cloud-native platform provider. As a result of the completion of the acquisition, Pivotal’s Class A common stock was removed from listing on the New York Stock Exchange with trading suspended prior to the open of the market today, and Pivotal will now operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of VMware. Pivotal’s offerings will be core to the VMware Tanzu portfolio of products and services designed to help customers transform the way they build, run and manage their most important applications, with Kubernetes as the common infrastructure substrate.
- American City Business Journals
2020 Vision: VC firms are flush with cash. Here’s where they'll invest this year.
Consumer internet. Cybersecurity. Digital health. Those are just a few of the tech sectors that local VC firms are going to invest in over the coming months.
- American City Business Journals
Bay Area tech companies rolled the dice on these 17 $1B-plus deals this year
There were 17 $1 billion-plus tech acquisitions announced this year that involved Bay Area tech companies. They are detailed in the accompanying photo gallery.
- Zacks
Fortinet Soars in 2019: Can the Bull Run Continue in 2020?
Strong demand for Fortinet's (FTNT) Security Fabric architecture and bright prospects of the security industry as a whole are likely to help sustain its growth momentum in 2020.
- Insider Monkey
How Did VMware, Inc. (VMW) Perform In Comparison to Hedge Fund Favorites in 2019?
It has been a fantastic year for equity investors as Donald Trump pressured Federal Reserve to reduce interest rates and finalized the first leg of a trade deal with China. If you were a passive index fund investor, you had seen gains of 31% in your equity portfolio in 2019. However, if you were an […]
- Zacks
NCR Corp Benefits From Acquisitions Amid Rising Competition
NCR Corp's (NCR) frequent acquisitions not only expand its portfolio of solutions but also its total addressable market. However, stiff competition is hurting growth prospects.
- InvestorPlace
VMware’s M&A Strategy Looks Spot On
It has definitely been a stellar year for enterprise cloud stocks. Just look at companies like Anaplan (NYSE:PLAN), Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) and Docusign (NASDAQ:DOCU). They have all posted over 80% returns.Source: Shutterstock But the news has not been as good for old-line enterprise companies, especially those that rely heavily on on-premises solutions. One example is VMware (NYSE:VMW) stock. Consider that the return is a measly 10.6%. * 7 Safe Dividend Stocks for Investors to Buy Right Now Founded in 1998, VMware is the pioneer of virtualization for the x86 architecture, allowing for much better performance from existing machines. But with the secular trend towards the cloud, the business has come under pressure. For the most part, there has been a move away from traditional virtualization to the use of containers that hold apps, configurations and settings.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsInterestingly enough, the origins of this technology go to Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL, NASDAQ:GOOG), which needed to find ways to scale their cloud applications. The company's engineers developed a framework, called Kubernetes, that allows for this. About five years ago, Google open sourced this, making the technology a standard.Now while containers and Kubernetes are clear threats to VMW stock, it's important to keep in mind that the company is not sitting back. That is, there has been a big push for M&A, including about $5 billion in recent deals for Pivotal Software (NYSE:PVTL) and Carbon Black.So why these companies? Well, let's take a look: Carbon BlackCarbon Black, which is a cybersecurity company, came public in May 2018 at $19 a share. VMW agreed to buy the company for $26 per share.For the most part, this deal is about expanding the footprint. No doubt, cybersecurity is a top-of-mind priority for companies. The risks keep increasing as new technologies like cloud and mobile penetrate the enterprise. Regarding Carbon Black, its technology is targeted on endpoints, whether physical or virtual where sensitive data is located. The company has also been leveraging next-generation approaches like AI (Artificial Intelligence).With the deal, VMware will launch a new Security Business Unit. And it should represent a nice avenue for growth and cross-selling.Carbon Black has over 5,600 customers and reported a 19% increase in revenues during the latest quarter to $60.9 million. Although, the cloud revenues jumped by 68% to $22.9 million. Pivotal SoftwarePivotal Software is another recent IPO that came out in April 2018. The initial offering price was $15, which is what VMware ultimately agreed to pay for the company.Pivotal Software operates a software platform that helps with the building, deployment and operation of cloud-native and legacy applications. But the company has also been leveraging its technology with Kubernetes. Pivotal Software has launched an alpha version of its Pivotal Application Service (PAS) for this. Then there was a partnership with VMware last year for the Pivotal Container Service, which allows for scaling Kubernetes.True, the growth rate for Pivotal is not too impressive, at 17% during the latest quarter. But like Carbon Black, the cloud business is growing quickly, at 38%. Consider that Pivotal believes its market opportunity is $50 billion. Bottom Line VMW StockWhile VMware's M&A strategy is risky, it's the best way to transition to the cloud. What's more, the dealmaking will likely continue. As seen with other mature tech companies like Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), the transformation process can result in strong gains for shareholders.Oh, and for VMW stock, the valuation is currently at fairly cheap levels, with the price-to-earnings ratio at only about 9x. So for investors looking for an interesting value play, this one fits the bill.Tom Taulli is the author of the book, Artificial Intelligence Basics: A Non-Technical Introduction. Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 7 Vaping Stocks to Get into Ahead of the Crowd * 5 Retail Stocks That Are Winning Big This Holiday Season * Make the Shift Toward Value Stocks With These 5 Picks The post VMware's M&A Strategy Looks Spot On appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- InvestorPlace
Okta Stock Looks Dangerous at This Point
Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) stock has struggled since peaking in July. It showed signs of recovering in the latter part of November. Still, trade concerns killed that rally, and its decline accelerated despite its positive fiscal Q3 results which it unveiled on Dec. 5.Source: Lori Butcher / Shutterstock.com Nonetheless, this shows why investors need to differentiate OKTA stock from Okta, the cybersecurity firm. Although I foresee a bright future for Okta and its signature product, the shares already reflect strong performances by the company for years to come. Okta vs. OKTA StockOne month after I dubbed OKTA stock "too unpredictable to buy," it is trading at approximately the same level as it was when my column was published. OKTA stock rose shortly after my column was published, but increased trade tensions stopped the rally in its tracks. The drop continued even though the company's Q3 results beat analysts' average estimates.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsOKTA stock price has, for the most part, steadily risen since 2017. The rally of Okta stock accelerated in 2019.The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a division of the federal government's Department of Homeland Security stresses the importance of maintaining long, complex passcodes. But remembering dozens of such passwords has proven too difficult for most people. Given the commonality of this problem, the appeal of Okta's relatively simple, single sign-on product has both customers and investors singing the company's praises. * 7 Vaping Stocks to Get into Ahead of the Crowd Many investors have also seen its potential, even though Wall Street analysts expect its losses to continue through 2022. However, the fact that analysts, on average, forecast revenue growth of 43.7% in fiscal 2020 and 31.4% in FY21 shows that the company is continuing to gain traction.As another InvestorPlace contributor, Josh Enomoto, stated, the 32% increase in the number of the company's customers and the 41% increase in its $100,000-plus per year contracts bode well for OKTA stock. Although its growth will slow, I expect it to continue expanding robustly for years to come.Still, investors should not confuse Okta with OKTA stock. The OKTA stock price of around $114 is about 20% below its July peak of $141.85. Still, at a price-sales ratio of 25.4, it has become too expensive. The Danger of Stocks Like OKTAI have followed the stock market for a long time. The history of some of these high-flying stocks does not bode well for OKTA stock investors. For example, VMware (NYSE:VMW) began trading in 2007. Optimism about its virtualization software drove its multiples into the stratosphere, and it quickly rose to a peak of over $125 per share that year. Like most every other stock, it fell hard during the 2008-09 financial crisis. As a result, it did not surpass its 2007 high again until 2017.Some of the high flyers of the dot-com era have done even worse. Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) still has not returned to its 2000 high. Even Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) did not reach its dot-com bubble high again until 2016.But I think OKTA has a bright future. More clients, large and small, continue to buy its product. I also think its overseas business will grow and that it will offer more types of single sign-on products. However, with several years of gains already priced into the equity, I would not recommend buying OKTA stock at these levels. Final ThoughtsThe OKTA stock price reflects gains too far into the future to be attractive. In a world in which the internet facilitates so much business, the need for cybersecurity only continues to grow. As the breadth of passwords needed exceeds people's ability to remember all of those codes, Okta's single sign-on product is quite beneficial.However, the traders of OKTA stock should be aware of the history of overvalued stocks.And while I like Okta as a company, buying OKTA stock now could cause investors to lose a great deal of money down the road. Why take the risk?As of this writing, Will Healy did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned stocks. You can follow Will on Twitter at @HealyWriting. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 7 Vaping Stocks to Get into Ahead of the Crowd * 5 Retail Stocks That Are Winning Big This Holiday Season * Make the Shift Toward Value Stocks With These 5 Picks The post Okta Stock Looks Dangerous at This Point appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- GlobeNewswire
IDC MarketScape Positions VMware As a Leader In Three End-User Computing Vendor Assessments
PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 20, 2019 -- VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), a leading innovator in enterprise software, today announced it has been positioned as a leader in three recent IDC.
- Zacks
Kubernetes - the 2020 Buzz: Watch GOOGL, MSFT, VMW & Others
Kubernetes holds promise for 2020 as it is gaining solid traction among the tech companies like Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft and others.
- InvestorPlace
10 Stocks to Buy That Lost 8%-Plus in the Past Month
As I write this, there are less than two weeks left until Christmas Day. Though there are only a few days of trading left until the end of the year, it's not too late to boost your portfolio's 2019 performance with these cheap stocks to buy.How good a year has it been?The S&P 500 is up 27.5% year to date (YTD). Every sector, including energy, are solidly in the positive with information technology stocks leading the way, up 44%.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsSo far in December, S&P 500 stocks aren't doing nearly as well, up 2.6% -- with a good chunk of that positive return coming today. Each of the stocks selected for this list of stocks to buy has a market cap of $2 billion or more and has lost 10% or more at some point over the past month.Out of 1,825 stocks with a market cap greater than $2 billion, only 62 had lost 10% or more in a month as of Dec. 12. Even after today's gains, these stocks remain in the red over the past 30 days. * 7 'A'-Rated Stocks to Buy Before 2020 Here are my top 10 stocks to buy from the group of 62. Stocks to Buy: Abiomed (ABMD)Source: Pavel Kapysh / Shutterstock.com So far, 2019 has been a downer for long-time shareholders of Abiomed (NASDAQ:ABMD).Down 46% YTD, ABMD stock has had better performances in recent years. The maker of Impella heart pumps has generated an annualized total return of 36% for loyal shareholders over the past decade.If you're one of the lucky ones who've owned its stock for the past 10 years, congratulations on a buy well done. If you're one of the unlucky ones who got in at some point during 2019, be patient, your turn will come.As I stated in my recent article about the seven S&P 500 stocks I expect to deliver over the next decade, just as they did this past decade, Abiomed ought to continue to gain market share as the population continues to age.Down 20% over the past month, take advantage of Abiomed's correction and buy some more. A.O. Smith (AOS)Source: Shutterstock A.O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) is one of my all-time favorite stocks.Sure, there are plenty of names I could list off that I've recommended over the years that have done better than the Wisconsin-based manufacturer of water heaters, boilers and water softeners. Still, there are very few that I would consider "stick-in-a-drawer" type stocks that you can forget about for a decade or more and still make out okay.AOS is one such stock.Over the past decade, A.O. Smith has generated an annualized total return of 21.4%. Yet, it's been unable to break out of single-digit gains in 2019. Up 9% YTD, the 8% decline over the past month hasn't helped one iota.In October, my InvestorPlace.com colleague, Ian Bezek, made AOS one of seven mid-cap stock selections. Bezek reasoned that the trade war is killing the company. Once an agreement is reached, the sky's the limit for AOS. In the meantime, you can enjoy the Dividend Aristocrat's 2.1% yield. * 5 Tech Stocks That Could Be the Next M&A Target The one thing I know is you can't keep a good dog down. A.O. Smith's stock trajectory will soon turn to the stars. When it does, you'll be glad I mentioned it. Dell Technologies (DELL)Source: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com It's hard to believe that Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL), is 54 years old. It seems like only yesterday we were reading about this up-and-comer who started a computer business in his dorm room.And while the Texas entrepreneur has had his ups and downs in recent years, the fact Dell stock has lost more than 11% in the past month, do provide tech investors with a much more attractive entry point.InvestorPlace.com contributor Vince Martin owns Dell stock. He recently suggested that the company's 81% stake in VMware (NYSE:VMW) could be worth substantially more in the future should Dell decide to buy out the remaining minority shareholders.The reality is that Dell generates significant free cash flow -- the company's trailing 12-month free cash flow of nearly $5.9 billion is 150% of its net income -- which makes the correction over the past month an opportune time to make money on one of the few tech stocks performing in 2019. DuPont de Nemours (DD)Source: ricochet64 / Shutterstock.com For those unaware, DuPont de Nemours (NYSE:DD) used to be part of DowDuPont; the company created when Dow and DuPont merged in 2017, only to be demerged two years later into three separate companies.As a result of the de-merger, DD stock began trading on the NYSE on June 3. It joined former stablemates Dow (NYSE:DOW) and Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) as publicly traded, independent companies.DuPont is a specialty chemical maker whose products include advanced plastics, adhesives and enzymes for the production of cars, electronics and many consumer goods. Dow is responsible for commodity chemicals and Corteva makes seeds.Together, the three entities were one massive company. Separately, though, they're still three incredibly complex businesses.In the past month, DD stock has shed more than 10% of its value. Since becoming an independent company in June, DuPont de Nemours stock had a quick burst out of the gate, closing its first day of trading at $76.10, up 18%. It has since lost all of those gains and then some. * 3 Reasons Why Trade Desk Stock Is Advertising's Future DuPont and the other two companies were de-merged specifically to add value for DowDupont shareholders. I would expect some of those benefits to be realized in 2020. Foot Locker (FL)Source: Roman Tiraspolsky / Shutterstock.com Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) has traded below $40 on three occasions since late 2013.On the first occasion, in December 2013, the sneaker and apparel retailer broke through $40 for the very first time after recovering from the 2008 recession, which saw its stock drop to less than $6.The second occasion was in September 2017, and the third and final time dropping below $40 came in August. So, except for a brief November rally, FL stock been in the dumps since the fall.On Nov. 22, Foot Locker reported healthy third-quarter revenue and earnings per share (EPS) numbers. On the top line, sales rose 3.9% to $1.9 billion while on the bottom line, EPS increased 18.9% to $1.13. Also, same-store sales grew by 5.7%, which suggests the company is making progress, positioning itself to compete in the changing world of retail.Unfortunately, the company's prediction of flat same-store sales growth in the fourth quarter -- down from a 9.7% increase in last year's fourth quarter and worse than the 2% growth estimate from analysts -- sent FL stock spiraling lower.As a result, Foot Locker's total return over the past month is -18.9%, considerably worse than the 2.6% gain for the U.S. total market.Foot Locker tends to be conservative when providing quarterly guidance, so I wouldn't be surprised if same-store sales weren't favorable in the fourth quarter. Hess (HES)Source: rafapress / Shutterstock.com Of all the stocks on this list, Hess (NYSE:HES) is the one company whose 2019 performance couldn't be characterized as anything but successful. Despite a 9% correction over the past month, HES has generated a YTD total return of 56% -- doubling the performance of the U.S. total market.Hess has severely underperformed in recent years, generating a five-year annualized total return of -0.3%, almost 12 percentage points worse than the total U.S. market. Reversion to the historical mean was bound to happen at some point.In 2013, Hess began the arduous process of selling off some of its assets to focus on energy production and exploration. Activist investor Elliott Management pushed management to become an energy pure-play.The only problem with that plan is that oil and gas exploration hasn't been nearly as profitable over the past five years due to weaker prices. That said, it has managed to perform exceptionally well in a challenging business environment. * These 7 S&P 500 Stocks Will Deliver a Repeat Performance in the Next Decade The recent drop is likely attributable to investors taking profits. Kohl's (KSS)Source: Sundry Photography/Shutterstock.com YTD, Kohl's (NYSE:KSS) has a total return of 23.2%. In the past month, it has lost nearly 14%. Yet, Retail Dive named CEO Michelle Gass, its retail executive of the year.Of course, Retail Dive isn't nearly as concerned as InvestorPlace.com readers about the performance of its stock. It's more interested in innovation, and on that front, it feels Gass has delivered in a big way.One of its most significant initiatives in 2019 was the rollout of its returns program in partnership with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN). A pilot project since 2017, this year, Gass went all in, providing the e-commerce giant with 1,150 locations across the U.S. where customers could return products they weren't happy with.As I noted in October, this was a partnership that would prove beneficial for both companies.As for Christmas, Kohl's is staying open 24 hours a day from the morning of Dec. 20 to 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve. I don't know how many extra shoppers it will snag with this approach, but it's another sign Gass is trying every lever at her disposal to drive sales in a weak department store environment.While there are several other retail executives worthy of this award, Gass is facing extraordinary challenges.I expect a full recovery in 2020. MasTec (MTZ)Source: IgorGolovniov / Shutterstock.com MasTec (NYSE:MTZ) was sailing along in 2019 and then came November, and the wheels fell off.Since then, MTZ's given back all of the gains it made in October. Down almost 15% in the past month, the infrastructure construction stock has still delivered a YTD total return of 49%, easily beating the markets as a whole.At the end of October, MasTec reported Q3 2019 results that beat analyst estimates. On the top line, it had an EPS of $1.73, 10 cents clear of the consensus and 30% higher than its profits last year. In the past four quarters, it has beaten the estimate on all four occasions.On the bottom line, MasTec's revenues were $2.02 billion, 5.3% lower than the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. However, it did manage to grow sales 2% over the same period a year ago.Not to worry.Through the first nine months of its fiscal year, Mastec's revenues have grown by healthy 9.7%, while its adjusted EBITDA has risen by 20.5%.With a diversified group of four revenue streams -- Communications, Oil and Gas, Electrical Transmission, and Power Generation/Industrial -- MasTec's business is insulated from any single industry going into a slowdown. * The 10 Worst Dividend Stocks of the Decade As long as America continues to have tremendous infrastructure needs, MasTec stock should continue to do very well. PagSeguro Digital (PAGS)Source: rafastockbr / Shutterstock.com There are several things I like about Brazilian payments company PagSeguro Digital (NYSE:PAGS).First, I've been a big believer in Latin America for many years. Here's what I said about the region in July 2012:"As Brazil prepares to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, some in Latin America suggest economic gains made since the beginning of the global financial crisis have benefited the rich and powerful at the exclusion of everyone else. Further, the structural changes necessary to build a flourishing middle class have yet to appear, making these gains illusory at best."While I do agree that investors should be cognizant of the continuing disconnect that exists between the wealth of these countries and the average citizen, the future remains brighter for Latin America than it's ever been. Tread carefully, but don't let the rhetoric spoil one of the best investment opportunities anywhere.Everything I said back then still applies today. The opportunities in Latin America are endless.Secondly, while investors didn't seem to like PagSeguro's third-quarter results delivered in November -- PAGS stock has seen an 13% decline over the past month -- I see a business that's growing at a very healthy pace.Total revenues grew 28.7% in the quarter on the top line while on the bottom, its net income increased by 47.5%. Furthermore, its total payment volume (TPV) jumped 45% in the quarter to $7.2 billion.As a payments processor, you want to see higher TPV. In the third quarter, it grew the metric just fine.Forget the investor reaction. This is a buying opportunity. Rollins (ROL)Source: Shutterstock The great thing about prognosticating about stocks is that you've got nowhere to hide. If you make a recommendation about a particular stock and it tanks, your words are permanently on display -- making it easy for readers to second-guess your opinions.At the end of October, I recommended Rollins (NYSE:ROL) along with nine other stocks investors should consider regardless of their latest quarterly earnings.Rollins specializes in pest control. Its Orkin brand serves more than 1.7 million residential and commercial customers on every continent except Antarctica. Many of its customers have stuck with it for decades, which allows it to generate a significant amount of recurring revenue.I love the fact that the Rollins family, who own more than 50% of its stock and are intimately involved with the company, understand the importance of customer service in a business that you usually wouldn't consider customer friendly.Once you've got a good pest control person, especially if you're in real estate, it's hard to let them go knowing the importance of pest-free environments.The longer you hold Rollins stock, the better your results are going to be. It's the ultimate buy-and-hold stock.Down almost 9% over the past month, it's looking like Rollins will have its first year of negative calendar returns in many a moon. Don't miss out on this buying opportunity.At the time of this writing Will Ashworth did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 7 'A'-Rated Stocks to Buy Before 2020 * 7 of the Decade's Fastest-Growing Dividend Stocks * 5 Cheap Dividend Stocks With High Yields And Annual Increases The post 10 Stocks to Buy That Lost 8%-Plus in the Past Month appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- TheStreet.com
Enterprise Tech Names Such as HPE and Cisco Are Facing an Existential Crisis
Enterprise computing vendors have had a rough year, and the future doesn't bode well for them, either.
- American City Business Journals
Exclusive: HyperQube aims for hyper growth with new funding round
Arlington-based HyperQube, which allows companies to build an exact copy of their information technology infrastructure, is raising $2 million in funding, CEO and founder Craig Stevenson confirmed to me in an interview. The firm, founded in 2016, currently counts three employees and 10 customers and is on track to do more than $250,000 in sales in 2019, Stevenson said. Stevenson got the idea from one of the biggest hurdles at a former job, as former technical director and later principal cyber engineer at Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN).
- Bloomberg
Oracle Projects Revenue In Line With Analysts’ Estimates
(Bloomberg) -- Oracle Corp. gave a sales forecast for the current quarter that was in line with analysts’ estimates, signaling muted demand for the company’s software amid its uneven transition to cloud computing.Revenue will increase 1% to 3% in the fiscal third quarter, Chief Executive Officer Safra Catz said Thursday on a conference call with analysts. Wall Street projected a 2.3% jump.Earlier, the world’s second-largest software maker reported sales gained less than 1% to $9.61 billion in the period that ended Nov. 30, short of analysts’ projections of $9.65 billion. Shares declined 3% in extended trading after closing at $56.47 in New York. The stock has gained 25% this year.Oracle’s report was the first since the October death of Mark Hurd, its top sales executive and one of the company’s two chief executive officers. Chairman Larry Ellison said on the call that the company had no plans to replace Hurd, leaving Catz as sole CEO. He pointed toward Oracle’s next line of executives, who lead business divisions, saying, “those people will be the next CEO when Safra and I retire, which will be no time soon.”Since Hurd’s death, Ellison and Catz have sought to reassure investors about the company’s stability, emphasizing Oracle’s advantage in the market for financial planning applications, where it’s seeing some of its strongest sales growth.While Oracle has made little headway in its effort to compete with the biggest cloud companies to rent computing power and storage, it remains a leader in database software. Now, the company is betting on its new Autonomous Database, which runs without a need for human administrators, to spur revenue in the face of strong competition from Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud division.After inconsistent sales growth the past five years, Catz pledged to investors in September that revenue would accelerate this fiscal year and next, and that earnings per share would grow by a double-digit percentage. To help reach that goal, the company that month announced a new artificial intelligence-driven operating system, as well as partnerships with software makers such as VMware Inc. and Box Inc.In the fiscal second quarter, revenue from cloud services and license support climbed 2.6% to $6.8 billion. While that metric includes sales from hosting customers’ data on the cloud, a large portion is generated by maintenance fees for traditional software housed on clients’ corporate servers.Cloud license and on-premise license sales decreased 7.5% to $1.13 billion in the period, suggesting the company is signing fewer new deals.Profit, excluding certain items, was 90 cents a share, compared with analysts’ average estimate of 89 cents. In the current quarter, Oracle projected earnings of 95 cents a share to 97 cents a share. Analysts, on average, estimated 96 cents a share.(Updates with forecast in the second paragraph)To contact the reporter on this story: Nico Grant in San Francisco at ngrant20@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Andrew PollackFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
