4-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: VMware

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Based on the aggregated intelligence of 140,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, virtualization pioneer VMware (NYSE: VMW) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at VMware's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

VMware facts

Headquarters (Founded)	Palo Alto, Calif. (1998)
Market Cap	$16.3 billion
Industry	Systems software
Trailing-12-Month Revenue	$1.93 billion
Management	CEO Paul Maritz CFO Mark Peek
Return on Equity (Average, Past 2 Years)	14%
Compound Annual Revenue and Net Income Growth (Over Past 2 Years)	30% and 21.4%
Cash / Debt	$2.18 billion / $450 million
Competitors	Citrix Systems Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Intel (Nasdaq: INTC)
CAPS Members Bullish on VMW Also Bullish on	EMC (NYSE: EMC) Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)
CAPS Members Bearish on VMW Also Bearish on	Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 92% of the 1,763 members who have rated VMware believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include Utekai and z26o.

Just last month, Utekai tapped the stock as a safe way to sit on the cloud:

VMware hires the brightest, ... keeps them happy and lets them perform. ... Backed by EMC they have a large and growing base of cash rich customers (those who will spend money to reduce costs). Heading now into the next era of computing in the cloud, the company is positioned to win.

In an earlier pitch from April, z260 also gives Fools a dose of virtual reality:

Virtualization is just becoming an acceptable solution in the Data Center. VMware has partnered with [Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO)], the largest supplier of networking gear, to provide the virtualization platform (ESX) for their flagship Data Center Server offering. With IT Managers feeling the burden of ever expanding cost of operations and an ever shrinking budget, they are becoming more receptive with the concept of doing more with less. I expect to see the market for this type of product to explode over the next 5 years.

What do you think about VMware, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. The CAPS community is waiting to hear your opinions. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!