Tag Archives: independent internet stock research

Alarm.com

alarm.comAlarm.com (NASDAQ: ALRM), a cloud-based security systems provider is among the recent additions to our Battle Road IPO Review Software sector coverage. Founded in 2000 as part of a research and development unit within MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), a provider of business intelligence software, Alarm.com was later spun off from MSTR. Alarm.com is headquartered in Vienna, Virginia, and its CEO and president is Steve Trundle. Consensus estimates call for EPS of $0.14 in 2015, flat with $0.14 in 2014, while revenues are projected to increase by 16 percent in 2015 to $194 million.

Alarm.com debuted on the NASDAQ on June 26, 2015 at $14.00 per share. All proceeds from the seven million share offering went to Alarm.com. Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch acted as book-running managers for the transaction, with Stifel, Raymond James, William Blair, and Imperial Capital acting as co-managers. At a recent share price of $14.00, the company’s market cap is roughly $635 million.

Alarm.com deploys wireless security systems that can be monitored using video, mobile apps, and web-based apps. In 2010, Alarm.com added to these systems by allowing users to control heating and cooling temperatures using these apps. With 2.3 million subscribers, 25 million connected sensors and devices, and 20 billion data points processed in the last year alone, Alarm.com claims to be the largest connected home platform. This platform has been built specifically for home and business security, with a network of more than 5,000 service providers, with expertise in design, sales, installation, and support for the platform.

The connected home platform designed by Alarm.com has four main segments: Interactive Security, Intelligent Automation, Video Monitoring, and Energy Management. Interactive Security is an always-on security system powered by cellular connection which can survive otherwise detrimental occurrences such as line cuts, power outages and network problems. Interactive Security includes app alerts and triggers and constant emergency response. Intelligent Automation allows users to connect and control security systems, garage doors, lights, locks, thermostats, electricity and other devices. Intelligent Automation learns patterns and recommends adjustments.

Video Monitoring allows for on-demand viewing of security footage which can be accessed at any time, including live streaming, video alerts, constant high definition recording and clip captures. Video Monitoring can be accessed through the web and mobile apps. Energy Management enables users to control energy usage and comfort and is connected to thermostats, power meters, lights, shades, solar panels and appliances. Energy Management controls devices and manages temperatures. Users can also obtain a real-time look into their energy usage and efficiency. The pricing for Alarm.com is a monthly fee starting at $13.99 for homes and $19.99 for businesses, with more features available for a higher cost. There is also an initial set-up fee.

The Alarm.com app, which can control the entire connected home platform, is available on the iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone, Apple Watch, Pebble Watch, and Amazon Fire TV. This app is what brings the connected home platform together, allowing users access to their homes while out and about. Main competitors of Alarm.com include iControl, Frontpoint, Protect America, LiveWatch, Link Interactive, SimpliSafe, LifeShield, AlarmForce, ADT, and Vivint. Post-IPO, we note that Alarm.com has a solid balance sheet, with over $100 million in cash and net debt of just $7 million.

Fitbit’s IPO

fitbitFitbit (NYSE: FIT), based in San Francisco, CA, manufactures wearable fitness tracking devices that record various metrics, steps taken, distance traversed, calories consumed, and the quality of one’s sleep. Founded in 2007 as Healthy Metrics Research, the company changed its name to Fitbit in the same year. Consensus estimates call for revenue of $1.7 billion in 2015, an increase of over 120 percent over 2014, and EPS of $0.75, up slightly from the prior year.

Fitbit priced its 37 million share IPO on the NYSE on June 17 for a first trade on the following day at $20 per share. 22.4 million Class A shares were offered by Fitbit, thus raising $448 million for the company, while pre-IPO investors sold 14.2 million shares. The underwriters were granted a 30 day option to purchase an additional 5.5 million Class A shares. The deal was led by Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, and BofA Merrill, while SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and Barclays were “passive joint book-running managers, and Raymond James, Piper Jaffray, Stifel, and William Blair were co-managers. At a recent share price of $33, Fitbit’s market cap is roughly $6.8 billion.

Seemingly well-positioned at the confluence of consumer wearables, a trend toward greater health and fitness awareness, and the current fascination with collecting and analyzing data on oneself through the use of smart sensors, software, and the cloud, Fitbit is among the year’s most intriguing consumer product IPOs. Co-founded by CEO James Park and CTO Eric Friedman, the company began selling wearable fitness trackers in 2009, when the first model shipped as a clip-on device. By 2013, the company’s annual revenue grew to $271 million. It nearly tripled to $745 million in 2014, and in the second quarter of 2015 revenue rose to $400 million from $114 million in the prior year.

Emerging from the pedestrian category of pedometers, Fitbit, self-proclaimed a “fitness platform” in its IPO prospectus, sold 20.8 million devices, from its inception through the first quarter of 2015, and sold 4.5 million connected units in the second quarter of 2015, as compared to nearly 11 million units sold in all of 2014. Since shipping its first wearable device, Fitbit’s product line has grown to encompass six wearable fitness tracking models, ranging in price from roughly $60 to $250, available in both clip-on, and wristwatch style configurations. Fitbit offers a “good, better, best” approach to marketing, as its products range from everyday fitness products, to a single “active” product, the Charge, and a “Performance” product, the “Surge” priced at $250. Fitbit claims an 85 percent revenue market share of the US connected activity tracker market, according to data gathered by the NPD group.

As one might imagine, the price points of Fitbit’s activity trackers increase according to functionality, from basic tracking of number of steps taken to the total distance and calories burned, sleep duration and quality, to more advanced functions, such as heart rate tracking and GPS-type functions, such as speed, distance, and exercise routs. In addition to wearable products, the company also sells wrist bands, clips, clasps, power cords, belt holsters, charging stations, logoed T-shirts and caps, backpacks, and even a wifi scale.

Of all the competitors on the market, which include Jawbone, Garmin, Omron, and others, Apple offers the most serious competition, as it offers a free fitness app in its iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 products, though technically neither device is a considered a “wearable.” However, the long awaited introduction of its first generation iWatch, is the most formidable intermediate term challenger to Fitbit. Even though the fitness tracking capability of the iWatch falls short of Fitbit, and the device is still significantly higher in price, Fitbit runs the risk of becoming the Garmin of the fitness tracking market. Intriguingly, Fitbit’s IPO was priced on the same day that Apple made its iWatch available for purchase on a world-wide basis.