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Maker of supply-chain management software Manhattan Associates ( MANH ) on late Tuesday posted Q4 earnings that beat expectations. Fourth-quarter earnings rose 32% to 39 cents a share minus items, beating Wall Street analysts by 4 cents, on revenue up 8% to $141.4 million, or $100,000 better than Wall Street. It also guided 2016 beyond Wall Street expectations. Still, Manhattan Associates stock seesawed Wednesday and was flat in late-afternoon trading in the stock market today , near 55. Shares touched a record high 77.75 on Dec. 7. Analysts, though, were mostly upbeat. “Manhattan closed 2015 strong,” said William Blair analyst Matthew Pfau in a research note Wednesday. The company’s enterprise platform lets a warehouse manager 100 miles away see which Harry’s Apothecary goods are flying off the shelves and lets Harry know what’s stacking up at the warehouse, helping him prepare for the next sale. The visualization can extend from the checkout counter to the manufacturer’s parts supplier. With a market value of $3.77 billion, Manhattan is the eighth largest member of IBD’s Computer Software-Enterprise industry group. It earns an IBD Composite Rating of 87, meaning its stock is outperforming 87% of all S&P 500 companies, and ranks higher than most larger rivals, including SAP ( SAP ), Salesforce.com ( CRM ), ADP ( ADP ), Workday ( WDAY ), ServiceNow ( NOW ) and NetSuite ( N ). Only Ultimate Software ( ULTI, ) with a 98 CR, is bigger and performing better. The stock of the largest, SAP, with a market cap of $94 billion, spent most of the morning down before rising up a fraction Wednesday afternoon. Ultimate Software stock was up 6%, after that company also beat earnings expectations late Tuesday. “Although the retail environment remains challenging, Manhattan has not seen a material change in IT purchasing trends from retailers and the pipeline is still strong,” Pfau said. “However, we believe that management’s guidance takes into account a cautious retail IT spending environment for 2016.” While consumer spending makes retailers cautious, Manhattan’s supply-chain tools are intended to make the shopkeepers more cost-efficient. “Demand for our omni-channel, store and distribution management solutions continues to be strong and we’re working hard to extend our market leadership position,” Manhattan Associates CEO Eddie Capel said in the company’s earnings release. “Despite persistent global macro sluggishness, we are optimistic about our growth opportunities in 2016. We will continue to be a serial investor in innovation. . . .” For the year, Manhattan expects adjusted EPS to rise 11%-13% at $1.69-$1.72 per share, on revenue up 9%-10.5% to $609 million to $615 million, or $612 million at the midpoint. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters have modeled $1.66 and $611.6 million. Scalper1 News
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