Back in February 2001, information technology (IT) web operator TechTarget (Nasdaq: TTGT) got lucky. The firm was able to snag $30 million in venture capital before the markets dried up. Since then, the company has grown rapidly, and when it launched an IPO last Thursday, it raised a cool $100 million. The stock surged 14% to $14.79, and it's expected to continue growing.
TechTarget operates 36 websites that target key areas like storage, enterprise applications, and security. More than 100 full-time editors and 225 outside industry experts create thousands of articles, podcasts, webcasts, white papers, and product reviews. Technology vendors also supply a substantial amount of content.
For technology buyers, TechTarget is a big help in the complicated decision-making process of purchasing. The company's sites collectively boast roughly 4.9 million registered users.
This is a juicy audience for technology vendors, and TechTarget has snagged more than 1,000 advertisers, including bigwigs such as EMC (NYSE: EMC), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL), and SAP (NYSE: SAP). In 2006, TechTarget delivered 1.1 million sales leads to its IT vendors.
The company has turned into a compelling business; last year it grew revenues by 18% to $79 million and posted operating income of $12.6 million. Over the years, it has developed a streamlined system to deploy new sites; with the IPO proceeds, TechTarget should be able to use this system to rev up its growth. International markets may also present lucrative opportunities for expansion.
According to a report by IDC, the global market for corporate IT is expected to grow from $1.1 trillion in 2005 to $1.5 trillion in 2010. With lots of competition among IT vendors, and the continuin shift of ad dollars to the Internet, TechTarget is in an enviable position. While it's usually a good idea to wait for the hype to subside from a recent IPO, this company is definitely worth keeping an eye on.
Bullseye! Further Foolishness that hits the spot:
Fool contributor Tom Taulli, author of The Complete M&A Handbook, does not own shares mentioned in this article. He is currently ranked 1,898 out of 28,990 in CAPS.
Terms & Conditions
RSS Headlines
Fool UK