Rechat is now integrated with The Agency and will serve as a centralized operating platform for the brokerage.
Agents affiliated with The Agency will now have access to Rechat’s CRM, the People Center, as well as a range of tools including a marketing center and an AI agent assistant.
“The Agency is one of the most respected luxury brands in real estate, and their commitment to thoughtful growth and agent empowerment aligns closely with how we build Rechat,” Shayan Hamidi, CEO of Rechat, said in a press release. “Our team across 18 countries and our platform are designed to help reduce complexity and support scale. This partnership reflects a shared belief that technology should enable great agents, not get in their way.”
“The Agency was built on the belief that collaboration, innovation and world-class service go hand in hand,” said Mauricio Umansky, founder and CEO of The Agency. “Our partnership with Rechat reinforces that commitment, creating a more connected global ecosystem while delivering intuitive, best-in-class technology that drives efficiency, empowers our agents and ultimately elevates the client experience.”
MoEngage, a customer engagement platform that works with consumer brands across 75 countries, says it has raised new funding led by its existing investor, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, to ramp up global growth and infuse more AI into its platform.
All told, $100 million in shares just traded hands, split roughly 60% primary and 40% secondary, as part of MoEngage’s Series F round. The funding marks the entry of Indian venture firm A91 Partners as a new investor co-leading the round with Goldman Sachs Alternatives. According to MoEngage, it has now raised $250 million in funding altogether.
As consumer brands increasingly rely on digital channels to reach customers, competition for attention has intensified. That’s pushed companies to use the customer data they already have to deliver more personalized marketing. While established marketing platforms continue to serve this space, brands are now seeking AI-driven tools that can automate decision-making and reduce manual labor. MoEngage positions itself in this segment with its Merlin AI suite, which helps marketing and product teams launch campaigns faster and improve targeting efficiency.
“We help B2C brands engage more effectively with their customers by leveraging the first-party data they already have,” Raviteja Dodda (pictured above), co-founder and CEO of MoEngage, said in an interview.
The 11-year-old startup spent its first seven years focusing largely on India and Southeast Asia. Over the past four years, it has expanded its reach to new markets, particularly North America, which now contributes more than 30% of its revenue, Dodda told TechCrunch. About 25% of the business comes from Europe and the Middle East, and the remaining 45% from India and Southeast Asia.
Goldman Sachs’ backing in the latest funding will help further bolster MoEngage’s global presence. The investment bank also co-led the startup’s Series E round of $77 million along with B Capital in June 2022.
“The current investors know the most about the company, in terms of how the company performs, and they know everything good and bad,” said Dodda. “[Goldman Sachs] leading the round is a strong validation of our fundamentals.”
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Over the past two to three years, MoEngage has invested heavily in generative AI and decisioning AI capabilities. These efforts are reflected in its Merlin AI suite, which Dodda said includes a range of AI agents built for marketing use cases.
Some of these agents act like copywriters, helping consumer brands draft marketing messages, create multiple variants of a campaign, or generate text in natural language along with relevant images. The suite also includes decisioning AI tools that help brands determine which customers should receive a particular message or offer, on which channel, and at what time, Dodda said.
MoEngage’s Merlin AI suiteImage Credits:MoEngage
MoEngage currently serves over 1,350 consumer brands worldwide, including SoundCloud, McAfee, Kayak, Domino’s, Deutsche Telekom, and Travelodge, as well as prominent Indian household names such as Swiggy, Flipkart, Ola, Airtel, and Tata. About 60% of the company’s business comes from traditional enterprises, while the remaining 40% is from internet-focused firms. The platform also works with more than 25 global banks and several large insurers, including JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, and India’s largest insurer, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).
Some of these brands previously used marketing platforms from incumbents such as Adobe, Oracle, and Salesforce. MoEngage has since won over more than 300 of them, helping drive growth in North America and the EMEA regions.
In one instance, SoundCloud migrated over 120 million users to MoEngage within 12 weeks, utilizing AI-driven insights to accelerate product launches and enhance retention among its paid users, said Hope Barrett, senior director of martech at SoundCloud.
Several of MoEngage’s customers also relied on multiple point solutions to handle specific tasks. The company helped consolidate those tools into a unified platform to cut costs and streamline marketing operations.
“If you look at all of our brands, whether it’s a bank or an e-commerce company, they leverage MoEngage to unify all their customer data from all the touchpoints. It could be their offline stores, website, mobile app [or other channels],” Dodda told TechCrunch.
Without disclosing exact figures, Dodda said MoEngage grew about 40% year-over-year last year and aims to maintain a 35% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next three years. The company also expects to become adjusted EBITDA-positive on a quarterly basis by the end of the current fiscal year.
MoEngage sees companies such as Braze and CleverTap, as well as legacy marketing clouds by Adobe, Oracle, and Salesforce, among its key competitors.
The startup has about 800 employees across its 15 offices worldwide. It plans to expand its workforce, particularly in North America and Europe, by scaling its customer success, support, sales, and marketing teams to deepen its presence in those markets. MoEngage also intends to build additional AI capabilities and hire more talent to support that effort.
MoEngage plans to become IPO-ready within the next couple of years, Dodda told TechCrunch, without sharing a specific timeline for going public.
“We see an opportunity to build a multi-billion dollar revenue company in our space,” he stated.
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Running a business comes with enough challenges without having to manage a stack of disconnected tools. If you find yourself wasting time moving between platforms instead of focusing on growth, Sellful may offer a more efficient solution.
Sellful is a fully integrated business platform that combines website building, CRM, marketing, invoicing, scheduling, and project management in a single dashboard. Designed with agencies and entrepreneurs in mind, it supports full white labeling so you can brand the system as your own. You can manage everything from client portals to payroll, all in one place. The lifetime Agency Plan is currently available for $349.97, down from $1,497, but only for a limited time.
What can Sellful do?
You don’t need to be tech-savvy to use Sellful. It has a unique AI-powered website builder that lets you launch sites, landing pages, and sales funnels in minutes. You can manage product sales, inventory, and payments across 20 supported gateways. Built-in CRM tools help you track customer relationships and automate communication via email and SMS. Sellful also includes tools for scheduling, course and membership management, help desk support, and team collaboration.
Agencies can manage multiple client accounts, customize the platform for each business, and handle internal tasks like HR and accounting. With integration support for more than 5,000 apps, Sellful is designed to fit into your existing workflows without disruption.
There are no limits on users, contacts, or hosted websites. One upfront payment gives you lifetime access, allowing your business to scale without additional subscription costs.
Running a business comes with enough challenges without having to manage a stack of disconnected tools. If you find yourself wasting time moving between platforms instead of focusing on growth, Sellful may offer a more efficient solution.
Sellful is a fully integrated business platform that combines website building, CRM, marketing, invoicing, scheduling, and project management in a single dashboard. Designed with agencies and entrepreneurs in mind, it supports full white labeling so you can brand the system as your own. You can manage everything from client portals to payroll, all in one place. The lifetime Agency Plan is currently available for $349.97, down from $1,497, but only for a limited time.
Canyon GBS and Thesis ink a significant partnership to offer AI and CRM capabilities with Thesis’s existing industry-leading SIS technology. This collaboration offers higher education institutions a unified, innovative tech ecosystem, going live in Q1 2025.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., August 6, 2024 (Newswire.com)
– Canyon GBS™ (canyongbs.com), a pioneering tech company based in the vibrant Phoenix Metro Area, is proud to announce a new strategic partnership with Thesis Elements (thesiscloud.com), the high growth system for small to mid-size colleges and universities in the US and Canada. This collaboration aims to deliver an unparalleled ecosystem of integrated technology that will redefine the higher education landscape.
Canyon GBS™ is dedicated to enhancing operational efficiency across the public sector, including higher education, government agencies, and nonprofits. We equip organizations with powerful yet accessible AI-powered technology to better serve their constituents. Canyon GBS™ strives to be a trusted partner in navigating today’s digital landscape through our relentless pursuit of innovation and our customer-centric approach.
Launched in October 2023, Advising App™ by Canyon GBS™ is a comprehensive cloud-based solution designed specifically for colleges and universities. Advising App™ features a state-of-the-art AI personal assistant, retention CRM, and recruitment CRM, enabling institutions to operate more efficiently and manage holistic profiles to better serve both students and prospects. The product includes advanced messaging capabilities, integrated task management for staff, and a variety of add-ons to enhance institutional capabilities throughout the student lifecycle.
Launched in April 2023, Thesis Elements, is a modern, cloud-based Student Information System (SIS) optimized for small to mid-sized institutions in the US and Canada. As a cloud-based SaaS offering, institutions are able to automate critical business processes and streamline user experiences, Thesis Elements increases collaboration, transparency, and data centralization, freeing faculty and staff from administrative burdens so they can focus on their core mission.
The partnership between Canyon GBS™ and Thesis Elements will drive improved student engagement and retention support, leveraging advanced AI and CRM capabilities to Thesis’ customer offerings. This integration will create a harmonious user experience, allowing seamless data synchronization and a comprehensive view of student records. Messaging from Thesis Elements will be part of the holistic student records in Advising App™, enhancing transparency and collaboration across platforms.
New customers for the integrated technology are expected to go live in Q1 2025. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in our mission to transform higher education through innovative and accessible technology.
SAN FRANCISCO—Microsoft said it is hiring Sam Altman to helm a new advanced artificial-intelligence research team, after his bid to return to OpenAI fell apart Sunday with the board that fired him declining to agree to the proposed terms of his reinstatement.
Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella posted on X (formerly Twitter) late Sunday that Altman and Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s president and co-founder who resigned Friday in protest over Altman’s ouster, will lead its team alongside unspecified colleagues. Nadella said Microsoft was committed to its partnership with OpenAI and that it would move quickly to provide Altman and Brockman with “the resources needed for their success.”
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) COO Brian Millham sold 1,745 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $365,577.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 3,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $700,149. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.
Brian Millham also recently made the following trade(s):
On Monday, September 25th, Brian Millham sold 1,679 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.22, for a total value of $344,564.38.
On Tuesday, August 22nd, Brian Millham sold 1,746 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.85, for a total value of $366,398.10.
On Monday, July 24th, Brian Millham sold 330 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.05, for a total transaction of $74,266.50.
Salesforce Trading Down 0.0 %
CRM opened at $206.34 on Tuesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $126.34 and a 12 month high of $238.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $216.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.83. The firm has a market cap of $200.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 129.77, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The CRM provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.22. Salesforce had a net margin of 4.77% and a return on equity of 7.67%. The business had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. CGC Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth $47,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 9.0% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,905 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $825,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,125,000. Finally, Jag Capital Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 32.1% during the 2nd quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 87,700 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $18,528,000 after purchasing an additional 21,288 shares during the last quarter. 77.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research firms recently issued reports on CRM. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 31st. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, September 13th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Salesforce from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. Northland Securities increased their price target on Salesforce from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.28.
Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company’s service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and relationship intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer service and support at scale.
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
The life of a small business owner can be far from easy at times. There are prospects to follow up with, sales to track and commitments to deliver to clients daily. Feeling overwhelmed and fearing the business will fail if you can’t keep up is easy.
When I became an entrepreneur, prioritizing my tasks and projects was one of my biggest challenges.
Since I was coding and selling, I had a lot going on at once and was constantly switching between multiple roles. I would forget to call a prospect or customer back, where a previous conversation had left off, and what I had to do as part of a follow-up interaction.
Initially, I tried to streamline my work process. Yet, after much research, I could not find a solution I needed in the Mac ecosystem.
So, I decided to build one for myself to meet my needs. As they say, “Necessity is the mother of invention.”
Years later, that initial product designed to keep me organized in my earliest days as an entrepreneur evolved into Daylite, an all-in-one tool for solopreneurs and small business owners.
I understood that I was not the only entrepreneur to experience the same struggles trying to prioritize my tasks and projects. And we don’t even have enough people on our teams to do it all for a long time, so we are juggling and switching between tasks. We are forced to focus on multiple things simultaneously, leading to errors and client frustrations.
The path to success in a small business can have many obstacles. Investing in the right tools can be a true game-changer. A CRM can boost sales by 29%, elevate productivity by 34% and increase forecast accuracy by 42%. It can also help us navigate challenges, regain control of our businesses and work more efficiently to close more deals and get more done.
Today, you have a choice and can take advantage of many options. I can’t say which CRM is right for you, but I can tell you that having one is absolutely crucial to the success of a one-man (or woman) show or any small business.
With the evolution of my career and after speaking with so many small business owner customers, I’ve learned four important things about having a powerful CRM in your business.
1. Saves time
Something as trivial as searching for a client’s contact information, a seemingly trivial task, can accumulate to be a significant drain on your time. Imagine a scenario where you must make a follow-up call but find the contact details missing. You have sent your team a request, and time is lost waiting for the details to be sent.
In the long run, the ripple effect of such delays compounds into significant time loss. A CRM solves it by being a centralized repository — wherein all essential contact information is present and ready to access when needed.
An often overlooked aspect of business interactions is the personal touch. Having a repository of insights into our clients’ lives, ranging from family details to memorable dates, can help us build better relationships with them.
We store information about the achievements of our client’s children and their key life events to reference in future conversations. But even storing something as simple as the client’s birthdate and being able to send them a present, a card or perhaps simply an email with congratulations can go a long way.
We all care about our clients and want to be attentive, but storing all of this information in our minds is impossible. A CRM acts as our second brain, in this case, storing it all for us.
It’s normal sometimes to forget discussions or even agreements. It’s also normal to remember things differently. And yet, a memory lapse can have dire consequences.
Imagine you implement something that a client approves via email. And a few months later, he challenges your execution simply because he forgot about this old request. Finding an old email in an overflowing inbox can turn into a nightmare. Being able to pull out any email from a client’s file in the CRM becomes a game changer.
4. Helps focus on the right opportunities
Effectively selling to a variety of potential customers requires careful planning. Deciding where to focus our efforts is crucial – some clients are ready to buy, while others need more time.
Having all this information in one place and being able to categorize prospects helps sales professionals know which opportunities to pursue and which to hold off on. This approach ensures that we can match our efforts with each customer’s progress, increasing the chances of a successful outcome.
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.73, for a total value of $3,205,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,951,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,409,242,709.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.
Marc Benioff also recently made the following trade(s):
On Monday, August 28th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.11, for a total value of $3,166,650.00.
On Thursday, August 24th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.29, for a total value of $3,109,350.00.
On Tuesday, August 22nd, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.65, for a total value of $3,114,750.00.
On Thursday, August 17th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.12, for a total value of $3,076,800.00.
On Monday, August 14th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.43, for a total value of $3,156,450.00.
On Friday, August 11th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $3,124,950.00.
On Wednesday, August 9th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.42, for a total value of $3,111,300.00.
On Monday, August 7th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.68, for a total value of $3,235,200.00.
On Friday, August 4th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.15, for a total value of $3,227,250.00.
On Wednesday, August 2nd, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.73, for a total value of $3,310,950.00.
Salesforce Stock Down 0.0 %
CRM stock opened at $221.39 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $215.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 582.62, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $126.34 and a 12 month high of $238.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $216.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $202.26.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 30th. The CRM provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 5.75%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce
Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its position in Salesforce by 374.1% in the 2nd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 128 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Union Savings Bank purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 132.8% in the 1st quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 149 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 270 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Live Oak Investment Partners purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.52% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. StockNews.com raised Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho increased their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Salesforce from $145.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 1st. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price target on Salesforce from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.43.
Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company’s service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and relationship intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer service and support at scale.
See Also
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Salesforce Inc. shares rallied in the extended session Wednesday after the customer-relations management software giant’s earnings outlook topped Wall Street expectations two weeks ahead of its annual confab.
Salesforce CRM shares rallied more than 6% after hours, and held steadily in that range during the conference call with analysts, following a 1.5% rise to close the regular session at $215.04.
When investors think of technology stocks, they might automatically gravitate toward “the next big thing,” or to the giant companies that dominate the S&P 500 SPX, -0.40%.
But Robert Stimson, chief investment officer of Oak Associates Funds, makes a case for diversification through exposure to smaller innovators which he believes are “overlooked in this environment.”
The River Oak Discovery Fund RIVSX, +0.98%
invests in tech-oriented companies with market capitalizations of $5 billion or less, with an average of about $2 billion. It has a five-star rating, the highest, from Morningstar, despite having what the investment information firm considers “above average” annual expenses of 1.19% of assets under management. The fund is ranked in the 6th percentile among 546 funds in Morningstar’s “Small Blend” category for five-year performance and in the 13th percentile among 374 funds for 10-year performance. The performance comparisons are net of expenses.
The Black Oak Emerging Technologies Fund BOGSX, +1.54%
has more of a midcap focus, with some small-cap stocks and follows a similar strategy to that of RIVSX. But with no restriction on the size of companies this fund invests in, “we don’t have to sell stocks,” Stimpson said. So long-term holdings of this fund include Apple Inc. AAPL, -0.05%
and Salesforce.com Inc. CRM, +0.69%.
This fund is rated three stars within Morningstar’s “Technology” category and has a lower expense ratio of 1.03%.
Both funds are concentrated. The River Oak Discovery Fund held 34 stocks and the Black Oak Emerging Technologies Fund held 35 stocks as of March 31. Lists of both funds’ largest holdings are below.
During an Interview, Stimpson, who co-manages both funds, said that when investing in the small-cap technology space, he and colleagues identify companies that are “focused on niches.
“I want a company that knows who they are, what they do and do it well, rather than a small company trying to growing into the next Microsoft, Google or Salesforce,” he said.
Stimpson said Oak Associates pays close attention to what corporate management teams say during earnings calls and in presentations, preferring comments related to improving sales and operations with a market niche, rather than expressions of grand visions for exponential growth.
That type of narrow focus can support higher valuations over time, Stimpson said. “They have better execution, a better ability to fend-off competition and they are quality acquisition candidates.”
“ “I caution everyone that until there is revenue, earnings and a product, the hype can be more dangerous than an opportunity.” ”
— Robert Stimpson, chief investment officer at Oak Funds, when discussing AI and ChatGPT.
All of those factors can be important to investors, considering how easily tech giants such as Microsoft Corp. MSFT, +1.00%
or Google holding company Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, +2.89%
GOOG, +2.88%
can begin to compete with smaller innovative companies because they can afford to make such large investments, he said.
Simpson went further, saying that when running screens for “quality” metrics, such as improving free cash flow yields, the Oak Associates team also looks for “shareholder friendly practices.” For example, a company may be repurchasing shares. But are the buybacks lowering the share count significantly (which boosts earnings per share) or are they merely mitigating the dilution caused by the shoveling of new shares to executives as part of their compensation?
Finally, Simpson cautioned investors not to get caught up in tech-focused hype.
“When I talk to our clients, I get questions about AI and ChatGPT and how to play it. People get focused on a new great tech innovation,” he said. “You can replace ChatGPT with bitcoin, metaverse or 3-D printing.”
“I caution everyone that until there is revenue, earnings and a product, the hype can be more dangerous than an opportunity.”
Two examples
These companies are held by theRiver Oak Discovery Fund and the Black Oak Emerging Technologies Fund.
Cirrus Logic Inc. CRUS, -2.37%
is the largest holding of the River Oak Discovery Fund. Stimpson calls the company “a derivative play on the success of Apple.”
“They are focused on the chips that go into mobile and [vehicles],” as well as the needs of their customers, including Apple, “rather than problem areas of the chip sector, such as memory or PCs. They are not talking about chips for AI, for example,” Stimpson said.
Cirrus focuses on systems and related software used in audio systems..
Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc. KLIC, +1.92%
makes equipment, tools and related software used by a variety of manufacturers of computer chips and integrated electronic devices.
Stimpson likes the company as a long-term play on the worldwide disruption in semiconductor manufacturing and supply, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. “All chip companies learned that any supply disruption in Southeast Asia is a problem. Over time, the opportunities for semiconductor equipment makers are very good. There will be more plants in more locations, so more equipment,” he said.
He said KLICK was in a “protected” position, with returns on equity of about 20% and free cash flow yields of about 10%.
Top holdings of the funds
Here are the largest 10 holdings of the River Oak Discovery Fund as of March 31:
Silicon Valley could use a reboot. The biggest players aren’t growing, and more than a few are seeing sharp revenue declines. Regulators seem opposed to every proposed merger, while legislators push for new rules to crack down on the internet giants. The Justice Department just can’t stop filing antitrust suits against Google. The initial public offering market is closed. Venture-capital investments are plunging, along with valuations of prepublic companies. Maybe they should try turning the whole thing on and off.
The only strategy that seems to be working is to lay people off. Tech CEOs suddenly are channeling Marie Kondo, tidying up and keeping only the people and projects that “spark joy,” or at least support decent operating margins. Layoffs.fyi reports that tech companies have laid off more than 122,000 people already this year.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Customer loyalty is the holy grail of a high return on your investment. However, many people tend to think and invest more in customer acquisition and marketing than they do in cultivating loyalty. The evidence is clear; customer loyalty translates to steady revenue, lower marketing costs and more effective word-of-mouth advertising.
Implementing many customer loyalty programs offers a marketing advantage that can improve customer acquisition. Customer loyalty and engagement can be the tiny edge that propels you over the competition, even in the face of an inferior product or service.
To successfully implement an efficient customer loyalty program, I’ve outlined four important considerations.
Incentives are a powerful force that motivates individual economic decision-making. Tapping into the personal motivations of customers and why they purchase your products is essential in understanding how to reward them and encourage them to take that action again.
Depending on the nature of your business, there may be several underlying incentivizes driving customers to your brand, including:
Financial incentives: Your brand offers the best financial advantage.
Psychological incentivizes: Your products offer joy important to your customers’ happiness.
Exclusivity incentives: Your products offer a level of exclusivity that makes customers feel unique, special or elite.
In some ways, understanding what motivates people to your brand is knowing what your brand offers that your competitors don’t.
However, to understand more about customers and their thinking, consider the following strategies:
Invest in a CRM program to collect more granular data
Use social listening tools to understand how your brand is perceived by customers online
Dig into keyword research to see which terms people use to look for products, such as discounted or best
Use market research for low-level demographic data
Undergo competitor research to see how competitors in your field cultivate customer loyalty
Once you understand what motivates your customers, you can create a loyalty program that rewards them. For example, customers motivated by financial incentives will benefit from BOGO deals and discounts, while customers motivated by exclusivity will be motivated by exclusive branded gifts and merchandise.
One tip to really keep in mind is to make rewards unique and exceptional. Don’t just settle on branded stickers and pens; go the extra mile with branded tote bags, t-shirts, hats and anything else that people will see in public. I particularly love branded merchandise because it provides ancillary marketing benefits that can be more impactful than traditional advertising.
I would also suggest going above and beyond regarding financial rewards, whether it’s giving away free monthly trials or purchases. You can even work with other companies like Amazon or retailers to help transfer rewards points or incentives for a discount on purchases they already make.
Once you have a set of rewards, you can even tier your program to encourage additional engagement. Ideally, the greater the engagement by the customer, the higher the reward. Those customers that reach the top tier will feel special as you give them the best financial rewards.
Customer satisfaction is when expectations meet reality. A core component of your customer loyalty program must focus on creating positive and consistent customer interaction via your products, marketing and customer service. Ensure all brick-and-mortar locations and online assets follow a consistent branding pattern and a set of branding guidelines.
To create a consistent digital experience, you need to invest in multi-channel customer service. This strategy could include utilizing chatbots on your website, responding to users over social media and email or even implementing a digital HR help desk for people to communicate with customer representatives directly.
I also recommend creating a consistent experience across your sales funnel to build a positive first impression of your brand through the following strategies:
Offering promotions or discounts for first-time purchases
Delivering thank you emails and/or texts at purchase
Emailing follow-up for surveys and additional thanks
Offering online and telephone support for any questions
Providing additional online resources for tutorials, guidance or sending feedback directly
Finally, create above-and-beyond customer service by offering omnichannel support and investing in AI that allows for personalized and automated responses.
Great customer service also starts with hiring the right staff and implementing the right procedures. Train staff to practice active listening and empathy to achieve better customer interactions and offer solutions that resolve customer problems meaningfully.
In fact, bad customer experiences offer brands the opportunity to fix their mistakes, which often leads to higher positivity than if the customer just had a fairly normal experience.
Go above traditional interactions to create a community
Today’s younger generations are often motivated to shop with brands that conform to their social values.
A survey from Sprout Social found that 70% of customers felt it was necessary for brands to take a stand on social and political issues. The key here is to use your community values and inclusivity as an asset to cultivate greater loyalty.
For example, there are several strategies for cultivating greater community loyalty among your customers, including:
Incorporating political/social messaging in your advertising
Donating to a charity
Hosting fundraisers for important causes
Hosting brand-exclusive events and parties that reward loyalty
Encouraging users to submit UGC for promotions
Sometimes your products and actions can also speak for themselves. For example, my digital marketing company became the first to purchase NFL tickets with Bitcoin, helping to build strong relationships with sports fans and tech enthusiasts among our customer base.
In many ways, inspiring brand loyalty involves following many of the best practices I recommend for any new business.
Once you understand what motivates your customers and put the proper infrastructure in place, cultivating brand loyalty is all about executing your promises and being there when they need you most.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes recorded their worst day in almost a month on Monday,after a hotter-than-expected U.S. services-sector reading fueled concerns that the Federal Reserve may need to be even more aggressive in its inflation battle.
How stocks traded
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.26%
finished down 482.78 points, or 1.4%, at 33,947.10.
The S&P 500 SPX, -1.79%
ended 72.86 points lower, or 1.8%, at 3,998.84.
The Nasdaq Composite COMP, -11.01% closed down 221.56 points, or 1.9%, at 11,239.94.
Those were the largest declines for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite since Nov. 9, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Strong wage growth numbers released Friday were followed up on Monday by a robust reading for the U.S. services sector — both of which helped to stoke fears that the Fed’s interest-rate hikes, along with the central bank’s modest balance-sheet unwind, haven’t had much of an impact on the tight labor market.
“If nothing else, the ISM services report is being interpreted as very strong, and thus the economy is overheating and that means more Fed tightening,” said Will Compernolle, a senior economist at FHN Financial in New York. “Consumer resilience has proven to be more intense than I would have expected. In the two most interest-rate sensitive sectors — housing and autos — tightening has channeled into markets in meaningful ways.”
But there has been so much pent-up demand, that higher interest rates haven’t been cooling overall spending as much as the Fed would like because companies are still having to fill a backlog of orders, he said via phone.
In other economic data, the final November S&P Global U.S. services PMI edged up to 46.2 from 46.1, but remained in contractionary territory.
November jobs data released on Friday showed average hourly wages grew over the past year by more than 5% as of November, beating economists’ expectations and stoking concerns that robust wage growth would continue to fuel inflation, market strategists said.
Worries about a more-aggressive Fed also helped to drive Treasury yields higher, adding to the pressure on stocks. The yield on the 10-year note rose 9.6 basis points to 3.6% on Monday. Treasury yields move inversely to prices, and yields had fallen sharply over the past month, driven by shifting expectations about the pace of Fed rate hikes.
Monday’s ISM services figure “surprised to the upside, suggesting that the economy is still running above its long-run sustainable path and that the Fed is going to have to slow the economy more than expected in 2023,” Bill Adams, the Dallas-based chief economist for Comerica Inc. CMA, said via phone.
Meanwhile, oil futures ended lower on Monday, a day after Sunday’s decision by OPEC and its allies to keep production quotas unchanged.
Falling equity prices helped drive the CBOE Volatility Index VIX, +8.87%,
also known as the VIX, back above 20 on Monday. The volatility gauge had fallen sharply in recent weeks as stocks rallied, potentially signaling complacency that could ultimately hurt stocks, said Jonathan Krinsky, chief market technician at BTIG, in a note to clients.
GameStop Corp.‘s Class A shares GME, -7.12%
ended down by 7.1% ahead of the company’s third-quarter results, which are set to be released after the market closes on Wednesday. Analysts are looking for a narrowing loss from the videogame retailer.
Shares of U.S. airlines and aircraft makers traded higher on Monday, bucking the broader trend in stocks. Boeing Co. BA, +1.22%
and United Airlines Holdings Inc. UAL, +2.60%
were among the best performers in the S&P 500, finishing up by 1.2% and 2.6%, respectively.
Salesforce Inc. performed better than expected in the third quarter, but executives issued a fourth-quarter forecast that fell short of expectations on Wednesday and revealed that co-Chief Executive Bret Taylor is leaving the company.
Salesforce CRM, +5.65%
shares fell about 7% after hours, after rising about 5.5% in the regular session to close at $159.97, their fifth gain in the past six sessions.
The cloud-software company said in a news release that founder, co-CEO and Chairman Marc Benioff will resume the sole CEO role on Jan. 31. Taylor is the second executive to be elevated to co-CEO with Benioff, only to leave with Benioff still in charge. Keith Block stepped down in February 2020 after just 18 months in the position, and Taylor lasted exactly a year in the co-CEO position after being promoted Nov. 30 of last year.
“I am grateful for six fantastic years at Salesforce,” Taylor, who was also vice chairman, said in a statement. “Marc was my mentor well before I joined Salesforce and the opportunity to partner with him to lead the most important software company in the world is career-defining. After a lot of reflection, I’ve decided to return to my entrepreneurial roots.”
On the company’s earnings call, Benioff said “we’re still in a little bit of shock and extremely sad” about Taylor’s exit, but did not answer an analyst’s question about whether he would fill the co-CEO position.
At least one analyst said he didn’t see the departure coming: “Given that Mr. Taylor was assumed to be the ‘heir apparent’ at CRM, this does bring up a lot of questions in terms of the management team and frankly offsets some of the positive narrative around margins heading into [calendar year 2023],” wrote Kirk Materne, analyst for Evercore ISI, in a note Wednesday.
Salesforce reported that third-quarter net income fell to $210 million, or 21 cents a share, compared with $468 million, or 47 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for stock-based compensation and other costs, earnings were $1.40 a share. Revenue rose to $7.84 billion from $6.86 billion in the year-ago quarter.
“We remain positive on the long-term outlook for Salesforce as front-office applications leader,” Michael Turits, analyst for KeyBanc Capital Markets, wrote ahead of the company’s earnings report. “That said, we remain cautious regarding the near-term outlook given ongoing recession concerns, slowing cloud spend, and weaker conversations we had with a few Salesforce channels this quarter.”
Those concerns sprung up in the company’s forecast, as Salesforce executives’ guidance fell $900 million short of expectations. They expect fourth-quarter earnings of 23 cents to 25 cents a share on revenue in the range of $7.932 billion to $8.032 billion, and adjusted earnings of $1.35 to $1.37 a share. Analysts had forecast adjusted earnings of $1.44 a share on revenue of $8.94 billion.
Chief Financial Officer Amy Weaver said on the earnings call that along with the “unpredictable” macroeconomic environment and some slowing in customer spending, the strong dollar had an impact on the company’s showing. “Foreign exchange continued to be a headwind for our results,” she said.
Still, Weaver said the company remains committed to a goal of operating margins of 25% or above; in the third quarter it was at 22.7%, which she said was a record high. Among the things the company is doing, she said, is taking a measured approach to hiring. Earlier this month, the company confirmed hundreds of layoffs, though it did not address them during the call.
In response to an analyst’s question about employees working from home and the company’s real-estate footprint, Benioff said the San Francisco-based company will have more employees in the office while maintaining the flexibility of remote work. “We’re never going back to how it was, we all know that,” he said. Meanwhile, Weaver said the company is “looking at every aspect of our real estate .”
Shares of Salesforce have declined about 37% this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +2.18%,
whose 30 components include Salesforce, has fallen about 5% year to date, while the S&P 500 index SPX, +3.09%
is down almost 15% this year.
Salesforce, Inc. engages in the design and development of cloud-based enterprise software for customer relationship management. Its solutions include sales force automation, customer service and support, marketing automation, digital commerce, community management, collaboration, industry-specific solutions, and salesforce platform. The firm also provides guidance, support, training, and advisory services. The company was founded by Marc Russell Benioff, Parker Harris, David Moellenhoff and Frank Dominguez in February 1999 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.
