Investors in enterprise-software developer NetManage (NASDAQ:NETM) might not have felt very enterprising after the company released its latest earnings report. In the second quarter, revenues fell from $10.7 million to $9 million, and the company recorded a net loss of $899,000, or $0.10 per share, compared with net income of $695,000, or $0.07 per share, in the same period a year ago.
NetManage's software helps companies put their existing technology environments to better and wider uses. Suppose a company has a traditional software system from Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) or SAP (NYSE:SAP). Using NetManage, that company could develop Web-based applications that connect to these systems and thereby, as one example, let a customer check on an order via the Internet.
With Corporate America moving more data to the Internet, the market for products like NetManage's is robust. On the other hand, the competition from the likes of Hummingbird and IBM (NYSE:IBM) is intense -- because these companies have deep product lines, they can aggressively price their offerings against companies such as NetManage.
NetManage CEO Zvi Alon admitted that his company's Q2 performance was disappointing. In so many words, he said he had been too optimistic about his company's ability to close sales. But he believes the second half of 2006 will be much better.
Unfortunately, his company faces another problem: His team had only nine new customer wins for the second quarter.
NetManage's disappointing quarter is not a new trend, and the deteriorating stock price is proof. Words are no longer enough for this stock. Investors want to see results.
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Fool contributor Tom Taulli does not own shares of companies mentioned in this article.
