Based on the aggregated intelligence of 125,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, educational software provider Blackboard (NASDAQ:BBBB) has earned a respected four-star ranking. While five-star stocks have been the best performers, our data has shown that four-star stocks still outshine the market by a significant margin and shouldn't be taken lightly; conversely, low-rated stocks have woefully lagged the market average.

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

Blackboard facts

Headquarters (Founded)

Washington, D.C. (1997)

Market Cap

$847.76 million

Industry

Application Software

TTM Revenue

$290.32 million

Management

Co-Founder/Chairman Matthew Pittinsky

CEO Michael Chasen

Compound Annual Revenue Growth (over last three years)

30.7%

Competitors

Desire2Learn

ANGEL Learning

CAPS members bullish on BBBB also bullish on

Apple,

Nuance Communications (NASDAQ:NUAN),

Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ:BWLD)

CAPS members bearish on BBBB also bearish on

Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM),

General Motors (NYSE:GM),

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Sources: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, and Motley Fool CAPS. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Over on CAPS, fully 1,252 of the 1,309 members who have rated Blackboard -- some 96% -- believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These Fools include wackywebname and CAPS All-Star CaptureRatio.

Two weeks ago, wackywebname summed up the stock's bull case in five words: "Uniquely positioned. Defensible. Growing market."

In a pitch from one week earlier, CaptureRatio shares that bullishness, using firsthand knowledge to explain Blackboard's first-mover advantage:

We use Blackboard (Bb) at the university where I teach. Due to lower physical plant costs and a state subsidy for distance ed, our administration continues to encourage (even pressure) us faculty to teach virtual classes, and Bb is the "method of delivery," to use the current jargon. Even those of us who teach face-to-face use Bb to record grades, email students, distribute course materials, etc. Bb's competitors are far behind. I see this product as something like Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Word: at one time there were many word processing software products, but even the superior ones fell by the wayside because Word had too big a head start. Bb is like that: I doubt any competitors will be able to catch up.

What do you think about Blackboard, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 125,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.

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