The week ahead
In the UK, we are aware of no tech companies reporting this week that are on our radar; however, there is a handful of tech-related businesses reporting such as OnTheMarket PLC (LON: OTMP) and Oxford Instruments PLC (LON: OXIG) on Tuesday and Auto Trader Group PLC (LON: AUTO) and Halma PLC (LON: HLMA) on Thursday.
Across the pond, It is also a very quiet week for earnings. Tech companies expected to report include Coupa Software, Verint Systems and UiPath.
The highlight from the US will be UiPath, which reports its first-quarter (Q1) results for the period ending April, after the close tomorrow. UiPath floated on the New York Stock Exchange in April at US$56 and has since risen to around US$76, giving the company a market capitalisation of around US$39bn (approximately £28bn). The business has been growing at pace, with revenues rising by 81% to US$607.6mln in the year to January 2021. Its UK peer Blue Prism has slipped by 25% since the UiPath IPO, while UiPath has risen a further 10% on its closing price from the opening day. Blue Prism now stands 15% below the level of its £100mln fundraising which it conducted in April 2020 at 1,100p, and now has a market capitalisation of around £870mln. This means that UiPath’s market capitalisation is more than 30x that of Blue Prism’s.
UiPath is seen as the clear leader in industry analyses from the likes of Gartner and Forrester while Blue Prism has fared well in the analyses, which include names such as Automation Anywhere, Microsoft, NICE and WorkFusion; however, we note that Blue Prism has been criticised by some analysts for spending too little on research and development and there are concerns it has been losing its position. Blue Prism spent £17.7mln, or 12.5% of sales on research & development (R&D) in the year ended October 2020 which compares with US$109.9mln, or 18.1% of sales, for UiPath in the year ended January 2021. Blue Prism launched its Version 7 at its Blue Prism World 2021 event late last month. Nevertheless, the valuation disparity could be excessive, as Blue Prism trades on a relatively modest 5x this year’s revenues (simple market capitalisation divided by revenues) compared with more than 60x historic sales for UiPath, for the year ended January. Blue Prism reports its interim results on Thursday next week.
Meanwhile, Apple is holding its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) today, starting with a keynote address from Apple chief executive Tim Cook.
Date · Company · Event · Period ending
15-Jun · CML Microsystems · Final results · 31-Mar
15-Jun · GB Group · Final results · 31-Mar
15-Jun · IDOX · Interim results · 30-Apr
15-Jun · Kin + Carta · Virtual capital markets day
15-Jun · Iomart · Final results · 31-Mar
17-Jun · Tribal · Virtual capital markets day
17-Jun · Blue Prism · Interim results · 30-Apr
Week of 14/6 · SEEEN · Final results · 31-Dec
21-Jun · Sysgroup · Final results · 31-Mar
24-Jun · Alpha FMC · Final results · 31-Mar
24-Jun · Redcentric · Final results · 31-Mar
29-Jun · D4T4 · Final results · 31-Mar
30-Jun · Immotion · AGM trading update
June · Trackwise · Final results · 31-Mar
June · Osirium · Final results · 31-Dec
June · Intercede · Final results · 31-Mar
June · Napster · Final results · 31-Mar
June · Eckoh · Final results · 31-Mar
01-Jul · Micro Focus · Interim results · 30-Apr
01-Jul · AVEVA · Virtual capital markets day
05-Jul · Panoply · Final results · 31-Mar
06-Jul · Ocado · Interim results · 31-May
08-Jul · Bango · Onsite capital markets day
Early July · AdEPT Technology · Final results · 31-Mar
Early July · Quartix · Trading update · 30-Jun
13-Jul · ZOO Digital · Final results · 31-Mar
Approx 22/7 · Ideagen · Final results · 30-Apr
28-Jul · FDM · Interim results · 30-Jun
29-Jul · SRT Marine · Final results · 31-Mar
July · Access Intelligence · Interim results · 31-May
July · Shearwater · Final results · 31-Mar
July H2 · OTAQ · Final results · 31-Mar
Late summer · GRC · Final results · 31-Mar
Source: Data from regulatory news and company websites