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8x8 Fuels Growth for Global Recruiting Agency
I wonder if the company is still looking for a buyer? It has been sometime, but no one has offered the correct asking price. I am curious what that asking price per share is. Maybe that is why things have been somewhat quite in my opinion. Of course there has been a switch in investor relations personnel of late.
Anyhow I trust 8x8 has been working on Enterprise tier customers since implementing their new business plan.
The Company's authorized capital stock consists of 200,000,000 shares of Common Stock, and 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.001. As of September 30, 2017, there were approximately 91,953,596 shares of Common Stock outstanding and no shares of Preferred Stock outstanding.
Well I see in my absence of posting, after my long tenure as 8x8 IHUB moderator I have been removed by IHUB. Oh well! Will have to get back to work.
You ain't seen nothin' yet
Anders Bylund (8x8): If you want to match Costco's extraordinary returns starting from the early 1980s, you have to start with a small business, largely unknown, that isn't an obvious winner yet. In 1982, Costco had yet to open its first store and the Price Club merger that made it a public company was more than a decade ahead.
Enterprise communications specialist 8x8 is the closest I can get to that type of champing-at-the-bit early investment opportunity. Sure, the company has been around since 1987 and joined the public stock market way back in 2002, but the business opportunity in internet-based voice and video communications services feels fresh and almost entirely untapped, even now.
This company's services combine low cost and high quality, thanks to a lean, mean cloud-computing infrastructure. Business is going gangbusters. In the recently reported second quarter, revenues rose 15% year over year, with a 33% surge in service orders from mid-market and enterprise customers.
The company has formed several distribution and cross-selling partnerships, and R&D budgets are rising as fast as the top-line sales. To me, that combination signals a tech company that wants to hang around for the long haul. It's all about innovation and market growth.
8x8's products and services have been gaining traction in the marketplace in recent years, which is why sales and share prices are skyrocketing today. I'll admit that it will be tough to match Costco's legendary long-term returns, but 8x8 could come close.
Anders Bylund, Steve Symington, and Timothy Green, The Motley Fool
Motley FoolOctober 19, 2017
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/3-stocks-look-just-costco-214900772.html
8x8 Appoints Accomplished Industry Executives to Key Strategic Positions Overseeing Company’s Global Sales Organization
October 19, 2017
08:15 AM ETBusiness Wire
8x8 Inc
Latest round of senior leadership hires and promotions completes one of 8x8’s strategic investment initiatives to accelerate sales momentum and revenue growth
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- 8x8, Inc. (NASDAQ:EGHT), the leading provider of truly unified communications, today announced the appointments of multiple senior executives to the company’s global sales organization. These appointments, combined with the recent strengthening of 8x8’s marketing and engineering organizations, align with the company’s strategic decision to increase its investment in the business to accelerate sales momentum and revenue growth.
“By assembling world-class sales, marketing and engineering teams, 8x8 is maximizing its ability to develop, market, sell and deliver the truly unified communications solutions and services that companies need on a global basis to run their business smarter and faster,” said Vikram Verma, CEO of 8x8. “These latest, high-caliber appointments to our global sales organization underscore the attractiveness of the $50 billion cloud communications market opportunity, and the leadership position 8x8 has earned in the industry. With our senior leadership team now fully in place, we look forward to implementing additional strategic initiatives to accelerate adoption and revenue growth globally across all of our core customer segments.”
As part of the announcement, 8x8 is realigning the company into two business units—Small Business & eCommerce and Midmarket & Enterprise. These two business units, led by new Senior Vice Presidents Samuel Wilson and Scott Sampson respectively, will align sales and delivery, tightly coupled with demand generation, services and support to drive segment revenue, growth and profitability globally. Senior Vice President of Global Sales Puneet Arora will remain at the company through the end of the calendar year to assist in the transition, and both Wilson and Sampson will report directly to 8x8 CEO Vikram Verma. Recent promotions and hires include:
Scott Sampson, Senior Vice President of Midmarket & Enterprise, is responsible for all efforts to expand global midmarket and enterprise sales with a focus on developing and leveraging channel relationships to help drive this consultative sales business. He has more than 25 years of software industry experience with a proven track record of sales success. Sampson was most recently the Chief Revenue Officer at New Voice Media where he had global responsibility for all the company’s sales, channel and marketing functions. He previously held sales executive and management positions at IBM, including Vice President of Worldwide Analytics Platform Sales, a multi-billion-dollar revenue business, and Vice President of Industry Cloud Solutions, North America. While at IBM, Sampson led organizations ranging in size from 150 to 4,000 sales professionals, and was consistently ranked in the top one percent of global sales leadership. Sampson has a B.S. in Computer Science from Northeastern University and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Samuel Wilson, Senior Vice President of Small Business & eCommerce, is responsible for all global small business and eCommerce sales, operations and delivery with an aim to accelerate growth and productivity in this high-volume, transactional business. He joins 8x8 from MobileIron where he was instrumental in taking the company public and part of the team that grew annual billings from $26 million to $200 million, including building and leading their eCommerce business. Prior to MobileIron, Wilson spent 14 years in technology banking, both as an analyst covering communications and as an institutional investor. Wilson has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Seattle University and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.
Rick Boyd, Vice President of North America Midmarket Sales, is responsible for driving customer success in the midmarket, and will work closely with 8x8 marketing and the channel to increase demand generation and sales execution efforts. He brings more than 25 years of selling and management experience to 8x8, and most recently served as Vice President of Client Sales Americas at ShoreTel, where he was responsible for midmarket and enterprise teams. Boyd previously held sales leadership positions at Verisign and Mitel.
Brendan Maree, Vice President of Asia Pacific Sales, is based in Sydney, Australia, and is responsible for expanding on 8x8’s initial success in Australia and New Zealand to grow the company’s presence within the Asia-Pacific region. He joins the company from Interactive Intelligence where he most recently served as Senior Vice President of Japan, Australia and New Zealand, helping the company dramatically increase revenue and market share in the region during his tenure. Maree formerly held sales leadership positions at IPL Communications, Mobile Coverage Solutions and Andrew Corporation.
Promoted to Vice President of North America Enterprise Sales, Kyle DiPentima is now responsible for accelerating growth of 8x8’s enterprise customer business in the U.S. He brings a successful track record of more than 20 years in enterprise sales experience, including previously leading 8x8’s Eastern Region enterprise sales team. Prior to 8x8, DiPentima held sales positions at LivePerson, Kontagent, Oracle, NICE Systems and Careerbuilder.com.
Promoted to Vice President of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Sales, Sharon Maslyn will continue to lead midmarket, enterprise and channel sales in the UK, and is now responsible for all sales efforts throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa as 8x8 continues its global expansion. She has more than 20 years of sales management experience, and previously held leadership positions at DXI, Relaystation, Verizon and Pitney Bowes.
8x8 now delivers one unified platform for cloud communications, collaboration tools, video conferencing, and contact center solutions to improve IT efficiency and reduce headaches; one seamless communications experience for employees and customers; and one real-time data analytics platform for constant learning and improvement. The company recently launched 8x8 Virtual Office® Editions, a suite of products designed to revolutionize business communications. As part of the launch, 8x8 announced the new 8x8 Virtual Office X8 edition, which offers unified communications, collaboration and contact center in one solution. By eliminating the communications silos that exist due to fragmented solutions, 8x8 Virtual Office X8 allows companies to run their business faster and smarter with a unified solution for efficient and seamless communications and collaboration between employees, partners and customers.
About 8x8, Inc.
8x8, Inc. (NASDAQ:EGHT), the leading provider of truly unified communications, powers over a million business users worldwide. The 8x8 suite of products seamlessly weaves together cloud telephony, messaging, meetings and contact center solutions with a data analytics platform, helping modern organizations communicate at the speed of employee and customer expectations. 8x8 uniquely combines one unified management platform, one seamless communications experience for employees and customers, and one real-time data analytics platform for constant learning and improvement.
8x8® and 8x8 Virtual Office are trademarks of 8x8, Inc.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171019005519/en/
8x8, Inc.
John Sun, 408-692-7054
john.sun@8x8.com
or
InkHouse for 8x8
Kelsey Miller, 415-299-6219
8x8@inkhouse.com
Source: 8x8
Why 8x8, Inc. Shares Fell 12.7% in July
The company is betting the farm on large-scale enterprise customers. Forget the short-term earnings torpedoes and full speed ahead.
Anders Bylund (TMFZahrim)
Aug 1, 2017 at 4:20PM
What happened
Shares of cloud-based communications expert 8x8 (NASDAQ:EGHT) fell 12.7% in July 2017, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
So what
The main culprit behind 8x8's rough July came at the very end of the month, in the form of a mixed earnings report. The first quarter of fiscal year 2018 saw 8x8's earnings fall by 66% year over year to $0.02 per share while sales increased 15% to land at $69.1 million. Analysts were looking for earnings of $0.03 per share but would have settled for $68.6 million in top-line revenues. Planning ahead, management reiterated 8x8's full-year revenue guidance of approximately $298 million but lowered its pre-tax profit targets from $24 million to $9 million.
The following day, share prices fell as much as 30% on the news before climbing back to a less drastic 12% drop. All told, 9x9 shares have now lost 7% of their value over the last 52 weeks.
Now what
It's true that 8x8's profits are suffering right now, but you could also argue that it's for all the right reasons. The company had an opportunity to pocket a small windfall in the first quarter and continue doing so over the next couple of reporting periods, but management chose to double down on engineering and marketing for the wide-open enterprise class of cloud-based voice communications.
I called this drop a buy-in opportunity last week, and I stand by that call today. 8X8's stock may look expensive right now, but that looks like a temporary trick of the light and a solid buying window.
Conference call and other events link http://investors.8x8.com/events.cfm
I do not think that the expected forward thinking outlook of the CEO, even though the CEO has time and time again proven the business plan continues to work found favor with some of the investment community. The momentum is not stopping, either is the revenue, just a temporary adjustment in operating expenses to evolve the company into a bigger revenue maker.
"We are therefore adjusting our fiscal 2018 non-GAAP pre-tax income guidance from a previously announced range of approximately 7% to 9% of revenue to approximately 3% of revenue, while maintaining our revenue guidance. This increased investment will allow us to accelerate future growth and continue to drive attractive shareholder returns.”
The first part, the adjustment, is what was read and learned, all the while missing the second part future growth.
So I expect that 8x8 will once again have to prove it meaning the future growth.
OPINION
EGHT enthusiasm. Good reason to feel good.
AVANT Communications https://www.avantcommunications.net/
Merrill Lynch upgraded stock price to $19.
More than 180 major manufacturers partner with Jenne including Avaya, ADTRAN, Extreme Networks, Hanwha Techwin, Konftel, Mitel, Lifesize, Panasonic, Plantronics, Spectralink, Status Solutions, Vidyo, VTech and Yealink.
Shift to higher quality revenues continues;
re-iterate BUY and $19 (Merrill Lynch)
Reiterate Rating: BUY | PO:$19.00 USD Merrill Lynch
Kaboom! 8x8 in motion rising to the next level. Going to be some exciting times rolling along, as 8x8 expands.
I made it in time to the questions and answers. At least I caught part of the conference call.
Looking at the pre market today says investors like it very well. Now it is time to see what the institutional investors do as the market opens.
Five powerhouse investor conferences forthcoming.
REGUS - More than 50% of Fortune 500 Companies Choose Regus
http://www.regus.com/
So we had a big dip day because some analyst out of the blue tosses spooks to investors without any real negative news, other than the company has not found a suitable buyer. Those analyst really need to go back and read and re-read the filings and the transcripts. It is obvious they did not. 8x8 will not be sold to just any buyer. There is a number which has not been released by the company of what they expect the company worth is per share. It is not that there has not been any interest.
Besides 8x8 does not have to be sold. Growth is fabulous. 8x8 is out doing the major telecoms, Fact! The sabotage on the share price is not going to pressure the company to sell for an undervalued price.
Enjoy the show, and buy the dips.
OPINION!
All the major telecoms delivered less than EGHT.
My opinion might mean little or maybe a lot to some, but I believe that 8x8 should be in the $21 stock price range as I post. Believing in that opinion I see no reason not to believe that $32 would be a low ball figure on a buy out. Year over year expansion and revenue growth has been extensive and is projected to repeat the same for some time to come. That is fact. So would $42 a share on a buy out be outlandish on the long term outlook?
I ask myself the question. Would shareholders make out better on a buy out or holding 8x8 over time? Like it was mentioned, whether a buyer comes along or not. 8X8 is still going forward.
That is a good question?
If China Telecom took over 8x8 it could service 20 provinces in China.
Conference call question on being acquired. Credibility
Jonathan Kees
Okay, thanks for that clarification, that explanation there. My next question is at a higher level. There's been talk in the news in terms of 8x8 being acquired or the Board seeking a strategic alternatives. I guess I want to reconfirm that the Board does not seek strategic alternatives and then two, if you can humorous who could possibly be interested in 8x8. We like the hypothetical just humor us.
Vik Verma
Look, here is the thing. I think you've seen our governance score as a company that I don’t remember the exactly the calculated but we are as shareholder friendly company. I have no blocking rights. I have no - nor do I see, we don't have multiple classes of shares, we don't have classification everything is - I think is blue ribbon from a governance perspective as possible.
We will do what's right for the shareholders. So from time-to-time people express an interest that's fine. Everybody is entitled to express an interest, we have a view on what this company is worth and our view is that the larger the customer - when we can get our midmarket enterprise base, we’re very significant portion of our revenue, the value of the company because the net present value for midmarket and enterprise customers about 35 to 40 times that of SMB customer, that transition we think is well underway and we have - with all of these enterprise customers we have the land and expand opportunities.
So, I think we believe we can get to a certain place on our own so, in order for somebody to make a compelling offer they have to kind of bake in that value for us to be fair to our shareholders but I have a general philosophy if anybody ever comes in and gives us an indication of interest or even kind of makes an overture, I always involve my Board because I believe that is my responsibility, I'm not trying to run this company like a [indiscernible].
So who's interested, you know look all kinds, I mean you can get - there is an alphabet soup of companies that one time or the other either express their interest or circled around adding that to me it really comes down to our - when somebody is willing to pay what I think the company is worth, that’s actually the board's discretion, will do the right thing for our shareholders. Ultimately we serve at a pleasure of shareholders and the goal is to ensure we maximize value for shareholders.
Like I stated in my previous post. $21 to $32 is where I believe the share price should be. Now on a buy out takeover scenario I believe the high end $32 to $41 is cheap. Year over year growth is fantastic. Some major with their already developed inroads should be able to explode the growth like never been seen before. I just trust that 8x8 will not be sold at bargain prices. 8x8 is going to grow with or without a buyout.
Can those interested companies lay claim that they can and have been growing like EGHT? I doubt it.
http://seekingalpha.com/news/3246509-comms-firm-8x8-jumps-9-percent-report-exploring-sale-bankers
Comms firm 8x8 jumps 9% on report it's exploring sale with bankers
Feb. 24, 2017 3:42 PM ET|By: Jason Aycock, SA News Editor
Comms firm 8x8 (NASDAQ:EGHT) has vaulted 9% on reports that it's exploring a sale.
The company is reportedly working with Morgan Stanley to explore the prospect. Reuters cites sources who say 8x8 could sell to another firm or to private equity.
Market cap for 8x8 is now just about $1.45B.
EGHT could have added another 3 million to the net profit.
"To date, our exposure to exchange rate volatility has not been significant. However, the June 2016 vote on a referendum to exit the European Union decision has resulted in a steep decline in the exchange rate for GBP to USD. The impact of Brexit to our results of operations for the period ended December 31, 2016 was approximately $3.0 million. "
Major upgrade from Merril Lynch to $19 target.
8x8, Inc.
Large wins as mid-market accelerates;
reiterate BUY, PO to $19 from $18
Reiterate Rating: BUY | PO: 19.00 USD | Price: 16.40 USD Equity
3Q results continue set up for sustained revs acceleration
3QFY17 showed again both strong mid-market and enterprise traction, including a win
with a division of a Fortune 50 company. More mid-market and enterprise wins are
significant for 8x8 in several ways: (1) 8x8 gains important enterprise reference
customers; (2) it validates 8x8’s strategy of targeting global accounts; (3) validates the
product portfolio; (4) accelerates the shift to high quality revenues; (5) validates our view
that cloud unified communications is an early market at an inflection point with midmarket/
enterprise adoption just beginning.
Acceleration in mid-market revenues
3Q revenues and net income came in ahead of our estimates (see variance on pg 3).
Constant currency (CC) organic services revenue growth (SR) was 28% y/y, up from 25%
in 1HFY17 and 23% in FY16. CC total revenue growth was 24% vs 22% 1HFY17 as
product revenues decline with more customers choosing mobile only solutions, a trend
that will help overall margins. Mid-market represented 55% of services revs (up 45% y/y
CC organically) vs 36% y/y in Q1FY17 and 40% in 2QFY17. New MRR from midmarket/
enterprise customers/channel grew CC organic 10% y/y vs 40% in 2QFY17 on
tough comps and larger customer deployments taking longer. 50%+ of new MRR came
from the install base.
Several revenue growth drivers
8x8 is going through rejuvenation with several key hires and expanded strategy, which is
adding new growth vectors: (1) traction in the enterprise; (2) global expansion; (3)
several major new channel partners (Arrow, CDW, Intelisys, CSG in Australia/New
Zealand); (4) opening up of the line-of-business opportunity; (5) cross -sell/upsell.
Reiterate BUY, PO to $19 from $18
We raised our PO to $19 based on 5x CY18E EV/Revs (previously $18 based on 5.3x
CY17E EV/Revs), ahead of SaaS comps at 4.2x in light of accelerating organic constant
currency service revenue growth rate (23% in FY16, 25% in 1HFY17, 28% in 3QFY17).
We believe 8x8 has bias for revenue acceleration, profitable/capex light model, large
market opportunity.
Transcript link below. Very rewarding conference call. I have heard many, but this one warms the investor blood in me more than the normal. Pay attention to the Mary Ellen answers. It gives a clearer insight into the financial pathways that is present and guides into the future in my opinion.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/edited-transcript-eght-earnings-conference-042246828.html
I listened to the conference call. I remember a while back the main reason why Vic was picked to lead the company. To take the company global. Vic has done that. Now Vic is ready to broaden the global paths in a phase two project he announced today. Mid market growth is phenomenal. One story told was that 8x8 knocked out a competing 12 vendors, while getting in late to the game, to win the customer business. The same story is repeated over and over again per Vic.
One question was asked has there been buy out interest. The answer was yes, but it will not be Vic making that decision, but the board per Vic. So far from what I could comprehend. Does not appear to have been any real serious offers to pay what Vic feels is best for shareholders. ( I really enjoyed that question. Read the transcript.)
Vic emphasized that 8x8 still has to earn name recognition. Even though growth continues. The 8x8 brand name is still weak in the field as a well known name to shopping customers. I expect possibly to see a promo blitz in early spring to get the name out front. I expect Vic to succeed in this endeavor. My opinion.
My opinion is from my own comprehension. Please refer to replay call or transcript.
By the way the bottom line is: EGHT is moving up rapidly in customer based size. Mid market company customers.
:)
Details of the conference call are as follows:
Date: January 25, 2017
Time: 4:30 pm EST
Dial In: (877) 843-0417, domestic
(408) 427-3791, international
Replay: (855) 859-2056, domestic (Conference ID # 46149120)
(404) 537-3406, international (Conference ID # 46149120)
Webcast:
http://investors.8x8.com
$16.30 new 52 week high. Explosive share price growth working.
BLACKROCK INC. Share power 9,962,577 (8x8)
19th Annual Needham Growth Conference on January 11, 2017 at 12:50 pm ET at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel in New York City.
I would expect with investment managers looking for value. This conference should reward handsomely being that EGHT has not yet reached analysis pricing. Will be an interesting conference to see how the share price performs.
Cash generated from operating activities was $6.9 million, compared with $2.5 million in the same period last year.
I would say this is explosive. This should have investors climbing the walls to buy shares. Again dormancy remains.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you also.
Or ... you're ahead of the times. Thanks for your insight. I appreciate it. Happy Holidays!
Nickyko in response to your message. What are my projections? I must confess I feel I am behind the times. I have so much believed 8x8 should be in the $21 to $32 range ever since the success of the global business expansion. I have always believed it was a buy out candidate. So far either has developed. EGHT continues to bring in the business. Amazingly consistently even while project customers are being developed.
I see other companies in comparison who I refer to as toilet sinkers with there share price exceeding even future potentials. I do know that maybe the last four investor conferences found some great investor buyers as it appeared that is when we had out last price surge.
So take my bottom line if you like. $21
Please remember it is my POSITIVE OPINION.
Insider Monkey gave very high positive analysis of EGHT.
EGHT 20 hedge funds
On the opening activity, $15.89 new 52 week high.
8x8 approaching the previous 52 week high level $15.67, light volume.
Mid Market is accelerating, bringing in larger and larger customers.
Trusted by more than 45,000 companies worldwide
McDonald's likes 8x8 link below. :)
https://www.8x8.com/resources/customers/mcdonalds
Dougherty & Company 2016 Institutional Investor Conference
September 28, 2016
Millennium Hotel, Minneapolis, MN
One-on-one format – no webcast
http://www.doughertymarkets.com/ecm-conference-companies/
New 52-week high may be hit tomorrow. EGHT has nothing stopping it from pushing forward IMO.
Triple investor conferences. September 13, 14 and 28
2016 Deutsche Bank Technology Conference
September 13, 2016
Encore at Wynn, Las Vegas, NV
Presentation – 3:20 PM PDT
Webcast - http://investors.8x8.com/events.cfm
7th Annual Credit Suisse Small & Mid Cap Conference
September 14, 2016
Waldorf Astoria, New York, NY
Small group/one-on-one format – no webcast
Dougherty & Company 2016 Institutional Investor Conference
September 28, 2016
Millennium Hotel, Minneapolis, MN
One-on-one format – no webcast
Baird Equity Research "In their research note, the analysts opined, "We are positive on the significant growth opportunities, and view M&A as a possible catalyst. On the other hand, expectations are already high, with valuation multiples near recent highs."
$15
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