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Four Notable Tech Stocks With Earnings After Close Worth Watching

Earnings reports are on tap for Paycom Software ( PAYC ), Rubicon Project ( RUBI ), Zendesk ( ZEN ) and Zillow Group ( ZG ) after the market close Tuesday, and all sport long streaks of double-digit, or higher, sales growth. Earnings reports can often create big stock moves, up or down, depending on whether the company misses or beats Wall Street’s expectations, and whether its outlook for the upcoming quarter and year beat or miss expectations. Paycom is expected to report revenue of $83.4 million, up 51% year over year and maintaining a string of double-digit gains going back more than four years. The consensus on earnings per share minus items is 20 cents, up 67%. Paycom provides a cloud-based employment management platform with a software-as-a-service business model, with customers buying the software as needed. The company came public in April 2014. Paycom has a strong IBD Composite Rating (CR) of 96 and the highest-possible EPS Rating of 99. Credit Suisse analyst Michael Nemeroff has an outperform rating on Paycom stock, and price target of 43. “We believe that Paycom is well positioned to deliver strong revenue growth over the next two years,” Nemeroff  wrote in an earnings preview report. Paycom stock was near 38, down 2.5%, in morning trading in the stock market today . Rubicon Revenue Could Cross At 60% Gain Rubicon Project is expected to report revenue of $59.4 million, up 60% and maintaining double- or triple-digit revenue growth going back more than four years. The EPS consensus minus items is 3 cents, vs. 2 cents last year. Rubicon made its IPO in April 2014. It provides an online platform that helps optimize digital ad buying, selling and placement. The stock has a strong 98 CR and an EPS Rating of 80. RBC Capital Markets analyst Andrew Bruckner rates Rubicon stock outperform, with a price target of 22. Rubicon stock was near 19.70, flat, Tuesday morning. Zendesk Also Growing By Double-Digit Percentages Zendesk is expected to report revenue of $63.9 million, up 51% and maintaining a string of double- and triple-digit revenue growth going back more than four years. The consensus on EPS minus earnings is a 10-cent loss. The company, which came public in May 2014, has yet to show a profit. On Monday, Zendesk announced it hired a new chief financial officer, Elena Gomez, who previously was senior vice president of finance and strategy for Salesforce.com ( CRM ). Zendesk is a cloud-based provider of customer service software. The stock has a CR of 64 and EPS Rating of 46. Rosenblatt Securities analyst Kirk Adams rates Zendesk stock a buy, with a price target of 25. “We anticipate a solid report and positive commentary on the recently completed quarter and their future prospects,” Adams wrote in an earnings preview. Zendesk stock was near 23, down 2%, Tuesday morning. Zillow Seen Swinging To A Loss Zillow Group is expected to report earnings of 176.6 million, up 39% and maintaining double or triple digit growth going back more than four years. The EPS consensus is a 9-cent loss, swinging from a 5-cent profit in the year-earlier quarter. Zillow, the leading real estate website, came public in July 2011. The stock has a CR of 54  and EPS Rating of 50. Cowen analyst Thomas Champion has an underperform rating on Zillow and a price target of 12. Zillow stock was near 25.50, down 2%, Tuesday morning.

Ultimate Software Gains Momentum, Beats Street, Raises Forecast

Shares of enterprise software maker  Ultimate Software Group ( ULTI ) jumped 6% in morning trade before settling back, following Tuesday’s impressive first-quarter report, which beat Wall Street’s top and bottom lines. Ultimate, which specializes in HCM SaaS — human capital management software as a service — reported first-quarter EPS up 40% to 73 cents minus items, eight cents beyond consensus, on sales up 29% to $187 million, where Wall Street expected $180 million. With 2016 gaining momentum, Ultimate also raised its full-year forecast to 26% sales growth from 25% “and now claims 99% visibility into this goal,” noted Evercore ISI analyst Kirk Materne. Materne raised his price target to 200 from 195 “based on the continued acceleration in the business, especially in the midmarket,” he said in a Wednesday research note, reiterating a hold rating. “All in all, we believe the company remains on track to hit its $1 billion revenue target in 2018; and with the company’s current (2016) guidance implying (an approximately) 275 basis-point decline in recurring revenue growth in (the second half vs. the first half), we expect that estimates could potentially have room to move higher over the course of the year.” More bullishly, FBR analyst Samad Samana said in a Wednesday research note, Ultimate ultimately “can deliver accelerating revenue growth and margin expansion in 2016.” Samana raised FBR’s price target on Ultimate to 220 from 205 while maintaining an outperform rating. Climbing the right side of a 25-week cup base, Ultimate stock jumped 6% to 209.71 in morning trade before settling back to a 0.5% gain near 198 in the stock market today , 8% off a 216.27 record high set Nov. 9. Ultimate’s enterprise rivals and peers were mixed Wednesday, with Salesforce.com ( CRM ) down 1.5% to 75.05, while SAP ( SAP ) was up 1.2% to 80.43, less than 1% from recent highs. Legacy software developer Oracle ( ORCL ) was down fractionally. Microsoft ( MSFT ) was off 1%. One stock in IBD’s Computer Software-Enterprise industry group, that of cloud advertising software developer Rubicon Project ( RUBI ), enjoys a slightly better IBD Composite Rating than Ultimate: Rubicon’s best-possible 99 vs. Ultimate’s 98. Salesforce carries a 93 CR and SAP 72. Outside the group, Oracle is rated 60 and Microsoft 43. Ultimate’s 40% EPS growth rate was the best in eight quarters, but its 29% sales pace was the best in at least 19 periods. For the second quarter, Ultimate guided its adjusted operating margin to 20% and total sales to $187 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters are expecting earnings of 77 cents per share minus items on revenue of $185 million. A year ago in Q2, Ultimate earned an adjusted 62 cents per share on sales of $147 million. Needham analyst Scott Berg said he was “impressed” that Ultimate reported consecutive quarterly deferred revenue growth exceeding 30% in the first quarter and year-to-year deferred revenue up 34.5%, its best in at least six years. He reiterated a buy rating with a 220 price target.

IPO Stock Watch: Rubicon Jumps After Q4 Earnings Beat

Rubicon Project (RUBI) stock hit a 10-month high Wednesday, after reporting fourth-quarter earnings late Tuesday that soundly beat consensus estimates. The provider of an online platform that helps optimize digital ad buying, selling and placement earned 25 cents a share minus items, up 79% from the year-earlier quarter and smashing estimates of 3 cents. Revenue jumped 49% to $41.8 million, beating the Wall Street forecast of $39.4 million. Shares