GIS WORLD STOCK WATCH

By L. Ried Schott

One Size Doesn’t Fit All

Despite some apparent similarity among firms listed in the GIS WORLD Stock Index below, they possess some significant differences. In particular, they have notable size variances as illustrated in the accompanying table.

For starters, the number of employees for an index firm ranges from 99 with Analytical Surveys Inc., Colorado Springs, Colo., to a whopping 9,209 for Intergraph Corp., Huntsville, Ala., before its fiscal year-end reductions (see last month’s “Stock Watch” column). Revenues bear some relationship to the number of employees and varies from about $11 million for Analytical Surveys to slightly more than $1 billion for Intergraph. The two firms also represent the extremes for total assets and book value.

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* As of September 1995; ** Based on fiscal year end data*** Based on recent quarterly data(first or second quarter 1995)Source: Market Guide Inc. and Schott Consulting Services. Note: Eagle Point Software data were unavailable
CompanyEmployees*Revenues**Total Assets***Book Value***Market Cap.*
AutoDesk1,788$465,278$512,702$339,410$2,392,140
Analytical Surveys99$11,176$9,042$4,811$21,660
Intera Info. Tech601$67,626$46,885$23,861$45,780
Intergraph9,209$1,041,403$800,572$523,068$521,240
Landmark613$166,202$199,339$135,891$442,830
MapInfo210$29,720$40,900$31,229$128,390
Primark3,789$477,026$519,590$239,903$467,350
Trimble881$175,694$129,792$54,517$673,470
With respect to market capitalization (market cap), which is the price of the stock multiplied by the company’s outstanding shares, a change occurs in the upper ranking. Intergraph is no longer tops, posting a market cap that’s far lower than AutoDesk Inc., San Rafael, Calif., and less than Trimble Navigation Ltd., Sunnyvale, Calif. Intergraph has a market cap similar to Primark Corp., Waltham, Mass., and Landmark Graphics Corp., Houston, Texas.. This measure is interesting, because Intergraph’s market cap is similar to its book value and far below total assets and revenues. That appears to indicate an undervalued company. Should Intergraph’s reorganization begin to produce good earnings again, it wouldn’t be surprising to see its stock price rise. On the downside though, because the market expects some earning improvements, the stock price could come under renewed pressure should the earnings not materialize.

A Downturn in Index
The GIS World Stock Index posted a five percent decline during the last month. This is one of the largest monthly declines for the index, but the downturn is similar to the declines that have occurred in general to technology stocks In contrast to the index, however, the Standard & Poors 500 Index still managed to post a gain of 4 percent gain during the same period.

The index’s overall decline was due primarily to two double digit declines: Trimble and Eagle Point Software Corp., Dubuque, Iowa. The companies lost 21 and 13 percent, respectively. For Trimble, some of the decline could be attributed to production delays that will cause third-quarter earnings to fall short of analysts’ expectations. Landmark gained the most this month (9 percent). Intera Information Technologies Corp., Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the largest gainer last month, is inactively traded due to the company’s announced sale. Primark is a new addition to the index due to GIS consulting services through its TASC Inc., Reading, Mass., subsidiary and its expanding presence in the information services industry. Primark also is affiliated with Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash., and was added to the index Aug. 24, 1995, the date Microsoft unveiled Windows 95.

L. Ried Schott is president of Schott Consulting Services in Playa del Rey, CA.

GIS WORLD Inc., December, 1995; pp 78.
(This article was reproduced with permission from GIS WORLD Inc.)

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