Get Your Head Out of the Clouds and Look at Cloud Stocks

If you saw the 60 Minutes report on Amazon (AMZN) recently, you may have seen the delivery drones. But the more important aspect of the episode was the extensive cloud computing operations, and the point that the company provides cloud services for numerous companies and organizations including the U.S. Government. Even Netflix (NFLX), which is a semi-competitor, uses Amazon cloud services. 

Who is Getting into Cloud Computing?

Other companies are getting into clouds in a strong way, such as Adobe (ADBE). The company reported a 22% subscriber increase in its Adobe Creative Cloud operations, before the market opened this morning. The stock is up over 11% as I write this, based on that news.

What is Cloud Computing?

So what the heck is cloud computing in simple terms? Cloud computing means having  data stored remotely on servers in a different location, instead of on your computer. The servers of companies that provide this service represent the 'clouds', and those servers can be located anyplace, the next office, the next building, or the next state. And the servers don't have to be owned by your company, they can be 'rented' from companies such as Amazon.

Yahoo (YHOO) mail, Google (GOOG) gmail, and Microsoft's (MSFT) hotmail are examples of cloud computing for email in a small way. The email servers are not in your office or home,  they are located on Yahoo or Google or Microsoft servers. Many corporations, organizations, and universities are utilizing the email services of Google, which saves the expense of servers and saves on staffing costs.

Financial and Green Benefits of Cloud Computing

For corporations, cloud benefits are substantial. Cloud computing can reduce waste and carbon footprints along with providing significant cost savings. Companies that utilize cloud computing don't need to keep buying more servers. Costs relating to the disposal of old computers and servers is cut back significantly, since older computers can usually still take advantage of the cloud. Data security is the job of the cloud computing firm. Businesses can eliminate the techs that have to come out and install new software to each employees' station, and not have to hire network administrators monitoring the company's servers, since they have been replaced by the cloud.

Because of the financial and environmental benefits (I wrote about the green benefits of cloud computing in my book The Green Light on Green Stocks several years ago), investors are taking a closer look at cloud computing companies. According to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, there are over two dozen stocks in the cloud field, based on the free Cloud Computer Stock List, which includes companies involved in server farms, computer virtualization, and outsourced storage systems.

Major Players in the Cloud Computing Arena

The one of the largest corporations that falls into the cloud computer arena is Salesforce.com (CRM), which is a provider of customer-relationship management services. The company's stock symbol stands for Customer Relationship Management. Salesforce's customers have included Staples (SPLS), Expedia (EXPE), News Corp. (NWS-A), and SunTrust Banks (STI). Salesforce trades at 102 times forward earnings. Although currently generating negative earnings, quarterly revenues jumped 36.5% for the latest quarter  year-over-year. 

Citrix Systems, Inc. (CTXS) provides on-demand applications and online services, including GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar, GoToTraining, GoToAssist, and GoToMyPC. This company has a trailing price to earnings ratio of 35, and a forward PE or 17. The latest quarterly earnings were down slightly, dropping 1.9%, however, revenues rose 11.1%. The company is debt free and has $3.73 in cash per share.

VMware (VMW) is another major cloud and virtualization company. Its product VMware vSphere is a cloud computing data center platform. It sports a trailing price to earnings ratio of 42, and a forward PE of 22. The company reported blowout quarterly,  with profits rising an astounding 66.2% on an remarkable 13.7% boost in revenues. Although VMware has $450 million in total debt, it holds $5.84 billion in cash, amounting to 13.56 in cash per share.

More Cloud Stocks

To access the free database of numerous companies involved in cloud computing in some way, that can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. A couple of them even pay dividends.

Disclosure: Author owns AOL and YHOO.

By Stockerblog.com

Cloudy Stocks with a Silver Lining

I remember in the 'old' days, when I was using AOL (AOL), I had the option of saving my mail on my own computer or AOL could save it for me. Back then, I thought it was 'safer' to save it locally. But then I ran into a problem. When I was using my laptop, I couldn't access the mail on my desktop computer, and vice-versa. Plus, I had mail stored in two different places, and wasn't sure what was saved where. I finally gave in and had AOL save my mail for me. This concept is a very simple example of cloud computing. So to understand clouds a bit more, let me give you a couple more examples, without using a lot of technospeak, and keeping it in layman's terms.

Cloud computing is having your programs and data stored remotely on a server in another location, instead of on your own individual computer. As long as you have an Internet connection, you can have a cheap old computer and still take advantage of cloud computing. The servers of companies that provide this service represent the 'clouds', and those servers can be located anywhere. Yahoo (YHOO) mail, Google (GOOG) gmail, and Microsoft's (MSFT) hotmail are examples of cloud computing in a limited way. The email servers are not in your office or home as you use the Yahoo or Google or Microsoft servers. Many corporations, organizations, and universities are utilizing the email services of Google, which saves them money on servers and saves on staffing.

For corporations, cloud benefits are substantial. Cloud computing can reduce waste and carbon footprints along with providing significant cost savings. Companies that utilize cloud computing don't need to keep buying more servers. Costs relating to the disposal of old computers and servers is cut back significantly. Data security is the job of the cloud computing firm. Businesses can eliminate the techs that have to come out and install new software to each employees' station, and network administrators monitoring the company's servers are reduced.

Investors like the green and financial benefits of cloud computing companies. According to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, there are over 25 stocks in the cloud field, based oh the free Cloud Computer Stock List, which includes companies involved in server farms and outsourced storage systems.

The one of the largest corporations that falls into the cloud computer arena is Salesforce.com (CRM), which is a provider of customer-relationship management services. The company's stock symbol stands for Customer Relationship Management. Salesforce has customers of all sizes, including Staples (SPLS), Expedia (EXPE), News Corp. (NWS-A), and SunTrust Banks (STI). Salesforce trades at 66 times forward earnings. Quarterly revenues ending January 31 were up 38% year-over-year. The company reports latest earnings on May 17.

Citrix Systems, Inc. (CTXS) provides on demand applications and online services, including GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar, GoToTraining, GoToAssist, and GoToMyPC. This company has a forward price to earnings ratio of 25. The latest quarterly earnings were down 7%, however, revenues were up 20%. I like the fact that the company is debt free.

VMware (VMW) is another major cloud and virtualization company. Its product VMware vSphere is a cloud computing data center platform. It sports a forward price to earnings ratio of 44. The company reported that latest earnings increased an incredible 52% in earnings on an amazing 25% increase in revenues. Although VMware has $450 million in total debt, it holds $5.2 billion in cash.

To access the free database of numerous companies involved in cloud computing in some way, that can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. A couple of them even pay dividends.

You can also get info on the green aspects of cloud computing from my book The Green Light on Green Stocks: A Quick Guide to Green Investing and Making Money in Alternative Energy Stocks, available through the publisher or through Amazon.com (AMZN), which also happens to be involved in the cloud computer business. As far as I know, my book is the first to publish information on cloud computing as a green industry.

Disclosure: Author owns AOL, AMZN, and YHOO.

By Stockerblog.com

Is Your Head in the Clouds? Are Your Stocks in the Clouds?

Have you seen more ads on TV and in print about clouds and cloud computing? Cloud computing is having your programs and data stored remotely on a server in another location, instead of on your own individual computer. As long as you have an Internet connection, you can have a cheap old computer and still take advantage of cloud computing. The servers of companies that provide this service represent the 'clouds', and those servers can be located anywhere. Yahoo (YHOO) mail, Google (GOOG) gmail, and Microsoft's (MSFT) hotmail are examples of cloud computing in a limited way. The email servers are not in your office or home as you use the Yahoo or Google or Microsoft servers. Some universities and companies are utilizing the email services of Google, which saves them money on servers and saves on staffing.

Cloud computing can reduce waste and carbon footprints along with providing significant cost savings. Companies that utilize cloud computing don't need to Costs relating to the disposal of old computers and servers is cut back significantly. Data security is the job of the cloud computing firm. Businesses can eliminate the techs that have to come out and install new software to each employees' station. Network administrators monitoring the company's servers are reduced also.

Investors like the green and financial benefits of cloud computing companies. According to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, there are over 25 stocks in the cloud field, based oh the free Cloud Computer Stock list, which includes companies involved in server farms and outsourced storage systems.

The one of the largest corporations that falls into the cloud computer arena is Salesforce.com (CRM), which is a provider of customer-relationship management services. The company's stock symbol stands for Customer Relationship Management. Salesforce has customers of all sizes, including the Staples (SPLS), Expedia (EXPE), News Corp. (NWS-A), and SunTrust Banks (STI). Salesforce trades at 43 times forward earnings. Latest quarter revenues were up 33.8% year-over-year. However, GAAP diluted earnings per share were breakeven, and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share decreased 7% year-over-year to $0.28.

Citrix Systems, Inc. (CTXS) provides on demand applications and online services, including GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar, GoToTraining, GoToAssist, and GoToMyPC. This debt free company has a forward price to earnings ratio of 28. The latest quarterly earnings were up 55% on a revenue increase of 18%.

VMware (VMW) is another major cloud and virtualization company. Its product VMware vSphere is a cloud computing data center platform. It sports a forward price to earnings ratio of 44. The company reported that latest earnings increased an 60% in earnings on a 33% increase in revenues.

To access the free Excel spreadsheet database of numerous companies involved in cloud computing in some way, that can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. You can also get info on the green aspects of cloud computing from my book The Green Light on Green Stocks: A Quick Guide to Green Investing and Making Money in Alternative Energy Stocks, in which I described cloud computing as a green industry and a way of providing money saving services to many corporations.

Disclosure: Author owns YHOO.

By Stockerblog.com

Why Clouds are Green: Cloud Computing Stocks

Cloud computing can go a long way to reducing carbon footprints and businesses are catching on. But the biggest advantage to companies is the cost savings. Corporations that utilize cloud computing don't need to periodically upgrade computers as often, and they don't need to own a lot of servers. The costs and issues relating to the disposal of old computers and servers is reduced dramatically. There is no need to deal with data security, as that is the job of the cloud computing firm. Companies don't have to have a technician to come out and install new software to each employees' station. There is also no need for lots of network administrators monitoring the company's servers.

So what is cloud computing? One way to look at it is having your programs and data stored remotely on a server far away, instead of on your own individual computer. As long as you have an Internet connection, you can have a low level computer and still take advantage of cloud computing. The clouds are simply the servers of companies that provide this service, and those servers can be located anywhere in the world. If you have Yahoo (YHOO) mail, Google (GOOG) gmail, or Microsoft's (MSFT) hotmail, then you are using cloud computing in a small way. You don't have the email servers in your office or home, you use the Yahoo or Google or Microsoft servers. Many colleges and universities are turning over their student email services to Google, which saves them money on servers and saves on staffing for support.

The blog, Software Advice, recently published an article on what they refer to a cloud apps companies. The article, Q1 2011 Cloud Apps Financial Results Roundup, lists and describes the top ten pure play cloud app companies, showing where they stand in terms of revenue, operating income, customer count, average annual subscription value, and market cap.

With both green and financial benefits to cloud companies, investors are taking a closer look. There are over 25 stocks in the cloud field, according to the Cloud Computer Stock list at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, which includes companies involved in server farms and outsourced storage systems.

The 800 pound gorilla in the room is Salesforce.com (CRM), which is a provider of customer-relationship management services that has coined the phrase 'the end of software'. Salesforce has customers ranging from the very small to the very large, including the Corporate Express division of Staples (SPLS), Expedia (EXPE), Dow Jones Newswires subsidiary of News Corp. (NWS-A), and SunTrust Banks (STI). Salesforce trades at a very lofty 78 times forward earnings. Total first quarter revenues were $504 million, an increase of 34% year-over-year. Subscription and support revenues were $474 million, a rise of 35% on a year-over-year basis. By the way, the company's stock symbol stands for Customer Relationship Management.

VMware (VMW) is another major cloud and virtualization company. Its product VMware vSphere is a cloud computing data center platform. It sports a forward price to earnings ratio of 40. The company reported that latest earnings increased an incredible 60% in earnings on a 33% increase in revenues.

Citrix Systems, Inc. (CTXS) provides on demand applications and online services, including GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar, GoToTraining, GoToAssist, and GoToMyPC. This debt free company has a forward PE of 30. The latest quarterly earnings were up 55% on a revenue increase of 18%.

One of the companies covered by Software Advice is Concur Technologies (CNQR) provides employee spend management solutions including Concur Travel & Expense, Concur Expense, Concur Cliqbook Travel, and Concur Invoice, on-demand employee spend management solutions. The stock trades at 43 times forward earnings, and revenues for the latest quarter were up 16%.

To access a free Excel spreadsheet database of numerous companies involved in cloud computing in some way, that can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go to wsnn.com. You can also get info on the green aspects of cloud computing from my book The Green Light on Green Stocks: A Quick Guide to Green Investing and Making Money in Alternative Energy Stocks, in which I described cloud computing as a green industry and a way of providing money saving services to many corporations.

Disclosure: Author owns YHOO.

By Stockerblog.com

Green Cloud Stocks

If you watch much television, you have probably seen several commercials relating to Microsoft's (MSFT) Cloud service. So what is this 'cloud' that all these techies are talking about?

An easy way to explain cloud computing is having your programs and data stored remotely on a server far away, instead of on your own individual computer. As long as you have an Internet connection, you can have a fairly dumb computer ans still utilize cloud computing. The clouds are simply the servers of companies that provide this service, and those servers can be located anywhere in the world. If you have Yahoo (YHOO) mail, Google (GOOG) gmail, or hotmail, then you are using cloud computing in a small way. You don't have the email servers in your office or home, you use the Yahoo or Google servers. Many colleges and universities are turning over their student email services to Google, which saves them money on servers and saves on staffing for support.

These same benefits apply to companies, especially when extended to data storage and computer software. There is no need for a technician to come out and install new software to each employees' station. There is also no need for a bunch of network administrators monitoring the company's servers.

In addition to the personnel side, there are also many green (and financial) benefits. Companies don't need to periodically upgrade computers, and they don't need to own a lot of servers. The costs and issues relating to the disposal of old computers and servers is reduced dramatically. There is no need to deal with data security, as that is the job of the cloud computing company. The benefits of clouds are extensive, and there are over 25 stocks in the cloud field, according to the Cloud Computer Stock list at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, which includes companies involved in server farms and outsourced storage systems.

One fast growing example is Salesforce.com (CRM), which is a provider of customer-relationship management services that has promoted 'the end of software'. Salesforce has customers ranging from the very small to the very large, including Corporate Express division of Staples (SPLS), Daiwa Securities (DSECY.PK), Expedia (EXPE), Dow Jones Newswires subsidiary of News Corp. (NWS-A), SunTrust Banks (STI), and Kaiser Permanente. Salesforce trades at a very high 72 times forward earnings. Revenues for the latest quarter were up 29%, however, earnings dropped almost 47%.

VMware (VMW) is another major cloud and virtualization company. Its product VMware vSphere is a cloud computing data center platform. It sports a forward price to earnings ratio of 39.6. The company reported that latest earnings increased an amazing 112% in earnings on a 37% increase in revenues.

Citrix Systems, Inc. (CTXS) provides on demand applications and online services, including GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar, GoToTraining, GoToAssist, and GoToMyPC. This debt free company has a forward PE of 28. The latest quarterly earnings were up 7% on a revenue increase of 17%.

To access a free Excel spreadsheet database of numerous companies involved in cloud computing in some way, that can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go to wsnn.com. You can also get info on the green aspects of cloud computing from my book The Green Light on Green Stocks: A Quick Guide to Green Investing and Making Money in Alternative Energy Stocks, in which I described cloud computing as a green industry and a way of providing money saving services to many corporations.

Disclosure: Author owns YHOO.

By Stockerblog.com

Thunder Cloud Stocks

Yesterday, Rackspace Hosting (RAX) just announced the purchase of Cloudkick, a private company involved in the creation of web applications for efficient cloud-server management. This will certainly expand the presence of Rackspace in the cloud industry. Last month, Isilon (ISLN) shares jumped over 28% in one day, after EMC (EMC) announced it would take over the company. Expect to see a lot more of these cloud takeovers, including the publicly traded companies.

One way to define cloud computing is having your programs and data stored remotely on a server far away, instead of on individual computers. As long as you have an Internet connection, you can have a fairly dumb computer ans still utilize cloud computing. The clouds are simply the servers of companies that provide this service, and those servers can be located anywhere in the world. If you have Yahoo (YHOO) mail, Google (GOOG) gmail, or hotmail, then you are using cloud computing in a small way. You don't have the email servers in your office or home, you use the Yahoo or Google servers. Many colleges and universities are turning over their student email services to Google, which saves them money on servers and saves on staffing for support.

These same benefits apply to the private sector, especially when you extend it to data storage and computer software. You don't need a technician to come out and install new software to each employees' station. You don't need a bunch of network administrators monitoring the company's servers. You don't need to periodically upgrade computers. You don't need to own a bunch of servers. You cut down on the costs and issues relating to the disposal of old computers and servers. You don't need to deal with data security, as that is the job of the cloud computing company. The benefits of clouds are extensive, and there are over 25 stocks in the cloud industry to choose from, according to the Cloud Computer Stock list at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, including companies involved in server farms and outsourced storage systems.

Cloud computing as a growing industry now appears almost every day in the financial press. And the interest from investors has been significant. Take for example Salesforce.com (CRM), which is up over 600% since it started trading in 2004.

Salesforce.com is a provider of customer-relationship management services that has promoted 'the end of software'. Salesforce has customers of all sizes, including Corporate Express division of Staples (SPLS), Daiwa Securities (DSECY.PK), Expedia (EXPE), Dow Jones Newswires subsidiary of News Corp. (NWS-A), SunTrust Banks (STI), and Kaiser Permanente. Salesforce trades at a lofty 89 times forward earnings, debt in the amount of $495 million, with over $769 million in cash. The company just reported a quarterly sales increase of 29.8% year over year, with a 1.8% increase in earnings.

VMware (VMW) is another major cloud and virtualization player. Its product VMware vSphere is a cloud computing data center platform. It sports a forward PE ratio of 49.6. The company has $450 million in debt with $2.9 billion in cash. The company reported that latest earnings increased an incredible 121.4% in earnings on a 45.8% increase in revenues.

Citrix Systems, Inc. (CTXS) provides on demand applications and online services, including GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar, GoToTraining, GoToAssist, and GoToMyPC. This debt free company has $902 million in cash and carries a forward PE of 30. The latest quarterly earnings were up 64.3% on a revenue increase of 17.8%.

To access a free Excel spreadsheet database of numerous companies involved in cloud computing in some way, that can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go to wsnn.com. You can also get info on the green aspects of cloud computing from my book The Green Light on Green Stocks: A Quick Guide to Green Investing and Making Money in Alternative Energy Stocks, in which I described cloud computing as a green industry and a way of providing money saving services to many corporations.

Disclosure: Author owns YHOO.

By Stockerblog.com

Top Cloud Computing Stocks

Cloud computing can make businesses more green and cost efficient. Cloud computing means that instead of running software applications on your computer, you run the apps in the "clouds" in cyberspace, in other words through the Internet. All your programs and files are stored on an outsourced computer network residing on remote servers. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has just updated a downloadable Excel database of over 20 different publicly traded companies with some connection to cloud computing.

Do you use Yahoo (YHOO) mail or Google's (GOOG) gmail? Then in a small way, you are using cloud computing. In other words, you don't have an email server in your home or office, you're taking advantage of the cloud offered by Yahoo or Google. As a matter of fact, many companies, organizations, and universities have turned their email system over to gmail. If you have ever used Google (GOOG) Docs or Google Calendar, you have experienced another example of cloud computing.

Here are a dozen of the economic and green advantages of clouds:
1. Server equipment cost reduction due to elimination of the necessity of on-site servers.
2. Staffing cost savings, since there is little or no need for on-site network administration.
3. Potential for lower software licensing costs.
4. Elimination of server maintenance costs.
5. Small initial upfront investment.
6. Built-in computer disaster recovery services & back-up sites.
7. Reduction in client station costs. In other words, no need to buy new computers for staff as long as existing computers can connect to the Internet.
8. If additional staff computers need to be purchased, they can be cheap 'dumb' terminals.
9. Clouds provide scalability; can easily grow as the company grows.
10. The ease of the sharing of resources.
11. Services can be automated.
12. Speed of access of data.

As for disadvantages, the one major concern is security of the data. So it is a matter of which is more trustworthy, your own company or a company that specialized in data security. Another option is the utilization of cloud computing within a large corporation. Everything stays 'in-house'.

One major company in this currently narrow industry is Salesforce.com (CRM), a provider of customer-relationship management services. They have been promoting 'the end of software'. Salesforce doesn't just market to the small and medium size-companies, they have major users of their services, including Corporate Express division of Staples (SPLS), Daiwa Securities (DSECY.PK), Expedia (EXPE), Dow Jones Newswires subsidiary of News Corp. (NWS-A), SunTrust Banks (STI), and Kaiser Permanente. Salesforce has a very high PE ratio of 141, debt amounting to about $467 million, with over $951 million in cash.

VMware (VMW) is another major cloud and virtualization player. It also has a lofty PE ratio, at 125. The company has $450 million in cash with $2.76 billion in cash.

To access a free Excel spreadsheet database of over 20 companies which are involved in cloud computing that can be sorted, added to, and changed, go to wsnn.com.

Author owns YHOO.

By Stockerblog.com

Cloudware Stocks: What the Heck is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is the delivery of scalable IT services over the Internet, with applications and files stored on a large external network. What does that mean?

It means that instead of running software applications on your computer, you run the apps in the "clouds" in cyberspace, in other words through the Internet. All your programs and files are stored on an outsourced computer network. Sometimes, certain aspects of cloud computing are referred to as platform as a service [PaaS] and software as a service [SaaS]. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has released a downloadable Excel database of 16 different publicly traded companies with some connection to cloud computing.

If you have ever used Google (GOOG) Docs or Google Calendar, you have experienced a small example of cloud computing. Many companies, organizations, and universities have turned their email system over to gmail, another form of cloudware. Google will be one of the major players in this field. The stock has a PE of 28, is debt free, and has over $15.8 billion in cash.

Here are a dozen of the advantages of clouds:
1. Server equipment cost reduction due to elimination of the necessity of on site servers.
2. Staffing cost savings, since there is little or no need for on-site network administration.
3. Potential for lower software licensing costs.
4. Elimination of server maintenance costs.
5. Small initial upfront investment.
6. Built-in computer disaster recovery services & back-up sites.
7. Reduction in client station costs. In other words, no need to buy new computers for staff as long as existing computers can connect to the Internet.
8. If additional staff computers need to be purchased, they can be cheap 'dumb' terminals.
9. Clouds provide scalability; can easily grow as the company grows.
10. The ease of the sharing of resources.
11. Services can be automated.
12. Speed of access of data.

Another major company in this currently narrow industry is Salesforce.com (CRM), a provider of customer-relationship management services. They have lately been promoting 'the end of software'. Salesforce doesn't just market to the small and medium size-companies, they have major users of their services, including Corporate Express division of Staples (SPLS), Daiwa Securities (DSECY.PK), Expedia (EXPE), Dow Jones Newswires subsidiary of News Corp. (NWS-A), SunTrust Banks (STI), and Kaiser Permanente. Salesforce has a very high PE ratio of 107, a nominal amount of debt amounting to a little over $2 million, with almost $700 million in cash.

To see an Excel spreadsheet database of many companies which are involved in cloud computing that can be sorted, added to, and changed, go to wsnn.com.

Author does not own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com