It seems fitting that Greenfield Online (NASDAQ:SRVY), a leading provider of survey solutions, reported its earnings a day after the presidential elections. While the election focused attention on outmoded voting technology, this is certainly not the case with Greenfield. This is a New Age polling company.
Results speak for themselves. In the third quarter, revenues surged 70% to $12 million, and net income increased to $1.2 million from $335,000.
Using sophisticated online technology, Greenfield has a panel of more than 3.4 million individuals who participate in surveys for fees. Their surveys represent a diverse, demographically representative sample, and they are faster and more cost-effective than traditional methods.
Greenfield's online model also has significant operating leverage; that is, the cost of adding another survey is incrementally small. For example, the biggest cost increase for the company was for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
Being a newly minted public company has its advantages. For example, Greenfield purchased OpinionSurveys.com, which added 1.1 million households to its panel.
With its cash flows and IPO money, the company is aggressively expanding into Canada, Europe, and India. Thus, the company indicated on its conference call that it is comfortable with the expectation of continued sequential growth in revenues and operating income.
Some businesses are just naturals for the Internet, such as Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY). This goes for Greenfield as well. While the company has competition, such as from Harris Interactive (NASDAQ:HPOL), Greenfield appears to have a significant lead and is a pure play in its industry.
Want to read more about Greenfield? Check out "Surveying for Growth," by Rick Munarriz.
Fool contributor TomTaulli does not own shares of any company mentioned in this article.
