Corporate Office HQ

LinkedIn Shares on a Downward Slope

In after hour trading, LinkedIn shares plunged downward Thursday on poor expectations for 2016, even though 4th quarter reports were better than expected. The workplace networking website beat Wall Street estimates for the end of 2015, but the company’s forecast for 2016 was far below expectations. 2015 saw a strong demand for LinkedIn’s hiring and recruiting software but the company’s online advertising software has not taken off as hoped for.

LinkedIn suffered a loss of $8.4 million, when it had experienced a profit of $3 million the year before. Although the company had a powerful finish to the end of 2015, they disappointed many by forecasting an increase of only 55 cents per share for 2016, far below the expected 75 cents per share that analysts were forecasting.

Spokespersons for LinkedIn stated that the lower forecast comes from expected slower growth from their “Talent Solution” division, from which revenues were expected to drop from the current 30 percent to 20 percent, as well as an economic downturn in Europe and Asia. This Mountain View, California, based company also stated that it intends to discontinue its advertising program, “Lead Accelerator” due to higher than expected costs.

History

LinkedIn receives about 60% of its revenue from recruiters, headhunters, and employers who are seeking qualified individuals to fill employment vacancies. The remainder of the company’s income is derived from advertising and premium subscriptions.

Although the company has seen a steady increase in revenue over the past 5 years, it often reports a general net loss due to large stock grants awarded to employees.

LinkedIn shares were volatile in 2015, taking a huge downward plunge in the spring after the purchase of online education site Lynda.com, then hitting a big upswing in the fall, only to drop once more in the last few months of 2015.

Membership in LinkedIn grew to 419 million in the last quarter, an increase of 19 percent. Company executives are expecting more clients from China and other markets, as well as increased revenue from online training and software sales which allow sales reps to increase contacts from their LinkedIn accounts.

The company does face some stiff competition, however, from companies such as GlassDoor, and even from Facebook, which recently launched a new platform so that workers can find and communicate more easily with co-workers and network with other colleagues.

Source: ABC News

Love With Food Corporate Office

Love With Food

Love With Food was founded in 2011 by Aihui Ong in Foster City, California. Ong spent one year traveling the world and saw that many people lacked even clean water or decent food. When her friend developed cancer, Ong decided to provide her with a week’s worth of healthy snacks at a time. Love With Food was born.

History

The company delivers healthy snacks to the home via subscription service. Clients can order more of the snacks they enjoyed the most and receive discounts on their next deliveries. Love With Food also donates one meal to a food bank for every snack box purchased.

Love With Food is listed as #129 on the Inc. 5000 list of America’s Fastest-Growing Companies. The company has a 3-year growth rate of 2,859% and an annual revenue in 2014 of $3 million. Love With Food has 15 employees with 12 of these jobs being added in the past 3 years.

The company is also listed as #7 on the Inc. list of Top Food and Beverage Companies, as well as #7 on the list of Top San Francisco Companies.

In June 2018, SnackNation acquired Love With Food and EdgiLife for an undisclosed sum.

Love With Food was founded in 2011 by Aihui Ong in Foster City, California. Ong spent one year traveling the world and saw that many people lacked even clean water or decent food. When her friend developed cancer, Ong decided to provide her with a … [Continue reading] about Love With Food Corporate Office

Target and CVS – A Match Made in Heaven?

Target’s next 3 stores, which should be opening this year in the Greater Boston area, will all look very much like the location that opened last year at Fenway and they will all have one thing in common: all locations will contain CVS pharmacies, rather than Target pharmacies.

CEO of Target, Brian Cornell, calls the Fenway Target store “the crown jewel” of all the companies current locations. The Fenway location is huge in size, consuming 160,000 square feet of space and 3 stories of shopping space. This location is much larger than any other Target location, but it’s all in the new CEO’s plan.

Target will be focusing more on cultivating their urban customers, so while the Fenway location might be enormous, the truth is that there aren’t that many 10 acre lots waiting to be developed in large cities. This means that many of the future Target locations will need to be compact or look towards adding floors, making them some of the first “high rise” Target stores in America.

History

Cornell recently announced that, starting this month in North Carolina, Target branded pharmacies will be replaced with CVS pharmacies. This re-branding effort will be nationwide and is expected to be completed within 8 months. The CEO has said that he is not concerned that long time Target pharmacy customers will be turned off by the name change. Cornell states that survey’s have shown most people have complete trust and confidence in the CVS brand and that he believes this is the perfect marriage of convenience and one-stop shopping. People can do their weekly shopping at Target while their prescriptions are being filled.

Target’s on-line sales are also soaring. Cornell believes that more and more people will place their orders online, then swing by the pharmacy to get their prescriptions on their way to check out.

The company plans to open at least 3 stores in the greater Boston area and Cornell says they are actively looking for more locations to suit this CEO’s aggressive plan for growth.

Source: Boston Business Journal

Target's next 3 stores, which should be opening this year in the Greater Boston area, will all look very much like the location that opened last year at Fenway and they will all have one thing in common: all locations will contain CVS pharmacies, … [Continue reading] about Target and CVS – A Match Made in Heaven?

Smart Energy Today Corporate Office

Smart Energy Today

Smart Energy Today was founded in 2007 in Olympia, Washington. The company specializes in energy efficient home improvements which provide lower energy consumption levels, greater levels of comfort to the homeowner, as well as adding value to the home. The company also provides energy improvements and/or upgrades to both large and small businesses. Almost all products come with a life time warranty. Smart Energy Today is currently licensed to perform work in 7 states, including California and New York.

Smart Energy Today is listed as # 109 on the Inc. 5000 list of America’s Fastest Growing Companies. The company has a 3 year growth rate of 3,199% and had annual revenue in 2014 of $10.9 million. The company employs 60 persons and added 58 jobs during the past 3 years.

The company is also listed as # 8 on the Inc. list of Top Energy Companies and Smart Energy Today takes the #2 spot on the Inc. list of Top Washington State Companies.

History

Google Kicks Apple Off the Top Spot as Most Valuable Company

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has finally kicked Apple off their throne as the World’s Most Valuable Company. This came after Google posted stunning growth in the last quarter, mostly fueled by digital advertising.

Alphabet is a spin off from Google business and in its first ever business report, the company posted a profit of $4.9 billion. This is up from the $4.7 billion it listed as profit before the spin off. This report sent Wall Street into a frenzy, boosting the company’s stock price and giving it an approximate overall worth of $570 billion, which is more than Apple’s current worth of $535 billion.

Even though Apple announced record quarter sales just last week, the company is facing a rocky road in 2016. Smart phone sales have stalled while advertising via mobile phones is hotter and more profitable than ever. Google is still the preferred search engine and that engine appears to have unlimited potential, which is driving company profits through the roof.

History

Google’s hiring of a new Chief Financial Officer, Ruth Porat, a former Wall Street executive with a great deal of experience, has helped to bring financial discipline to the company. This, in combination with growth and transparency, has allowed the company to find its own magic potion that continues to bring new customers, especially in the area of click marketing.

Apple had disappointing sales with their iPhone 6s, which has some questioning if Apple has reached its pinnacle. There are plans to release a completely new iPhone later this year, so this news does not necessarily mean that Apple is out of the race but that this giant might have simply stumbled a bit right out of the 2016 gate.

At its core, Google has always been an advertising and search engine company but their latest forays into self-driving cars, fighting cancer, and Internet beaming drones has made this company one of great interest to the public. For investors, the thought that Alphabet might spin off some of these endeavors in to even more profitable companies, these ideas are like ringing the bell for Pavlov’s dogs. They see the potential for huge profits and are willing to part with their hard earned cash in hopes of, one day soon, cashing in.

This is a huge mile marker for Alphabet and Google as many in the industry thought Apple the unbeatable business model. Apple now needs to become a “prove it” company to Wall Street in order to regain their title and throne.

Source: ABC News

Google's parent company, Alphabet, has finally kicked Apple off their throne as the World's Most Valuable Company. This came after Google posted stunning growth in the last quarter, mostly fueled by digital advertising. Alphabet is a spin off … [Continue reading] about Google Kicks Apple Off the Top Spot as Most Valuable Company