Topic: How To Invest

Q: May I have your recommendation for HubSpot on New York? Thanks.

Article Excerpt

A: HubSpot Inc., $632.60, symbol HUBS on New York (Shares outstanding: 51.0 million; Market cap: $30.1 billion; www.hubspot.com), provides a cloud-based marketing and sales software platform. That e-commerce platform aims to help businesses attract potential customers to their websites, and then convert those visitors into leads, and the leads into sales. The platform has three key features: Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered engagement hubs; a Smart customer relationship management (CRM) product; and a network that supports the customer platform with connections to marketplaces, templates, third-party experts, a community network, and educational content. The company operates under a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. That’s where its subscribers pay a monthly or yearly fee for software implementation, support and upgrades. That replaces the traditional model of charging customers a one-time fee on the initial sale of software, then charging them for upgrades. SaaS increases client retention and produces recurring revenue streams. For the customer, it stretches out the cost. It’s like renting the software instead of owning it. At…