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Business-intelligence provider Qlik Technologies (Nasdaq: QLIK) has been on a tear, with the stock up close to 150% since last summer's IPO. But now the rally may be over, thanks to the ruminations of a Jefferies & Co. analyst.
In a research note, the firm changed its rating from "buy" to "hold" and set a price target of $34 a share. Investors sold on the news, and the stock is down more than 5% as I write Friday morning. Jefferies' concern? "Indirect channel deal slippage at the end of the quarter," notes TheStreet.com in covering the news.
Anyone else laughing at this? Not only does "indirect channel deal slippage" sound like it belongs in a sitcom one-liner, but it's also a short-term concern that means some deals that were supposed to close before the end of the quarter didn't. Big whoop.
Tech companies face this all the time, especially when it comes to closing multimillion-dollar deals. Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) had a similar problem last quarter that resulted in lower-than-expected hardware revenue.
Meanwhile, Qlik continues to grow more than twice as fast as its two closest competitors -- MicroStrategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) and Actuate (Nasdaq: BIRT) -- while tapping into the long-term, massive growth opportunity that pervasive BI represents. I'd be buying more shares if I wasn't writing about the selloff.
What about you? Please vote in the poll below and then leave a comment to tell us what you think of Qlik's business, strategy, and competition. You can also add Qlik Technologies to your watchlist for up-to-date analysis on the stock as soon as it's published.
