RIM's numbers show 140% surge and BlackBerry becomes standard fare

Rethink IT, May, 2004

Progress says that it expects the next quarter to come in around $88m to $90m and for operating income to be in the range of $10m re $11m, while the year in total is expected to be in the range of $360m to $365m, with operating income around $40m to $43m.

The only other company reporting this month in The Rethink 50 has been Accenture, in its second quarter, pushing ahead with outsourcing which is up 46% at $1.28bn, while its old traditional business of consulting is up 4% (down 5% in constant currency) at $2.03bn. A few more quarters like this and Accenture will have achieved its ambition of being a mostly outsourcing business.

Total revenues were $3.3bn for the quarter, up 17% but only 8% at constant currency over this time last year, while net income is up just 3.6% to $123m after a restructuring charge of $107m.

For the third quarter Accenture expects revenues to be in the range of $3.40bn to $3.55bn and for the full year it expects 11% growth over last year's $11.8bn and for it to generate over $1.6bn in cash.

Interestingly, looking at the figures, Adobe seems to be growing more quickly, is less reliant on huge employment costs and produces an almost identical profit and yet is worth less than half of Accenture's market capitalization. And we always thought the ability to generate profit is what market values are based on.

If these results are a glimpse of what the reporting season is like, expect a rise in the market values of the entire Rethink Fifty by this time next month as the bulk of the companies report their first quarters.

ETHINK TOP 50

Company                Ticker            This month         Market
                                       market value     value less
                                       in $millions        cash to
                                                           revenue

Accenture              ACN                   23,640           1.75
Adobe Systems          ADBE                   9,980           6.74
Cognos                 COGN                   2,870           3.63
Research in Motion     RIMM                   8,520          12.38
Progress Software      PGRS                     866           2.32
PalmOne                PLMO                   1,060           0.94

TOTALS                                      46,936            2.62

Company                     Profit          Revenue           This
                          multiple              for        quarter
                          based on           latest           last
                           current          quarter           year

Accenture                     48.0         3,682.30       3,189.02
Adobe Systems                 20.3           423.38          296.9
Cognos                        15.6           202.15         163.73
Research in Motion            51.3           210.59          87.50
Progress Software             46.7            86.38           71.8
PalmOne                                      242.49         197.86

TOTALS                        35.7           4,847           4,007

Company                        Net              Net      Quarterly
                            income           income            net
                              this             last         margin
                           quarter             year

Accenture                   123.09           118.72           3.3%
Adobe Systems               123.04            54.23          29.1%
Cognos                       46.10            29.57          22.8%
Research in Motion           41.54          -31.10           19.7%
Progress Software             4.64             4.24           5.4%
PalmOne                      -9.32          -172.34          -3.8%

TOTALS                         329                3           6.8%

Company                   % change      Last year's
                        in quarter          revenue
                           revenue

Accenture                    15.5%        11,818.00
Adobe Systems                42.6%         1,294.75
Cognos                       23.5%           683.12
Research in Motion          140.7%           594.62
Progress Software            20.3%           309.06
PalmOne                      22.6%           871.95

TOTALS                       21.0%           15,571

Company                      Cash,             Cash
                             Cash,     multiples of
                            equivs      one month's
                                            revenue

Accenture                    2,980              3.0
Adobe Systems                1,249             11.6
Cognos                         388              6.8
Research in Motion           1,156             23.3
Progress Software              149              5.8
PalmOne                        240              3.3

TOTALS                       6,162              4.7

Companies shown in order of net income last quarter