Topic: How To Invest

Pat: Can you tell me what you think of Rackspace Hosting and Demandware?

Article Excerpt

Rackspace Hosting Inc., $37.19, symbol RAX on New York (Shares outstanding: 142.8 million; Market cap: $5.4 billion; www.rackspace.com), provides cloud computing and information technology services for a range of businesses. Its offerings include web hosting and tools clients use to manage their data centres, networks and devices. The company gets about two-thirds of its revenue from managed cloud-hosting services, which combine cloud space with specialized client support. This approach appeals to businesses that want to outsource their computing needs so they can focus on their main operations. The remaining third comes from unmanaged (or public) cloud services. In the three months ended March 31, 2015, Rackspace’s revenue rose 14.1%, to $480.2 million from $421.0 million a year earlier. The rise came from an influx of new customers and higher sales to existing ones. The company gets about 30% of its revenue from outside of the U.S., and the higher U.S. dollar cut its sales by $11 million in the latest quarter. Earnings rose…