HotTopics: Financial Performance Scorecard, 2Q 2005: After Six Quarters Of Declines, 2006 Will See Level Growth

Author: Chuck Richard, Vice President & Lead Analyst

Revenue growth for the Outsell 100(SM) group of companies was solid at 9.3 percent in the second quarter of 2005, but that rate represents the sixth consecutive decline in the overall growth rate, down from 15.5 percent in the first quarter of 2004. This Scorecard analyzes the companies and trends behind the performance of the Outsell 100. The top 10 list of companies in percentage growth is dominated by giants Google and Yahoo!, but also includes a few smaller companies with less than $30 million in revenue, such as Greenfield Online and Audible. Top 10 companies in the Outsell performance rankings are dominated by Market Research, Reports & Services (Non-IT) firms such as CEB and Greenfield Online; Company, Credit and Financial (CCF) companies such as Moody's and Bankrate.com; and Search, Aggregation & Distribution Services (SADS) companies Google and Yahoo! This quarter is notable for three companies that significantly improved their rankings while breaking out of the bottom 10: Scholastic, Comtex, and FIND/SVP. 'Sinking stones' companies this quarter are Verity, Plato Learning, and New York Times Co., all of which have fallen dramatically in recent quarters. The report analyzes other metrics around the Outsell 100 companies' performance, and includes a list of Essential Actions that derive from learnings in the rankings. It includes detailed tables of financials and ratios for the companies.