September 4, 2008 | Posted By : Derek Vaughan at 5:16 AM PERMALINK | Blog Comments (0)

Rackspace to Review Results

On September 10, 2008 (next Wednesday) we will all have the opportunity to listen in on an interesting conversation between the CEO and CFO of Rackspace and the analysts in the investment community that follow them.

This will be the first conference call with the investment community to discuss the earnings and operations of the company since Rackspace went public on August 7th.

If you would like to listen in live, here are the specifics:

The company will announce second quarter 2008 financial results Wednesday, September 10, 2008, after the close of the financial markets. That same day at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time - Lanham Napier, president and chief executive officer, and Bruce Knooihuizen, chief financial officer, will host the analysts call. The call can be accessed via a live feed from the Rackspace website at: www.rackspace.com. A replay of the call will be available until midnight September 24 by calling 888-203-1112 in the United States or 719-457-0820 for calls from outside the United States. The replay passcode is 9143062.

So why will this be such an interesting call to listen in to? Well, any company operating in the same market space – managed dedicated servers – can gain great insight into the market conditions by hearing an assessment directly from management. Also – since this is the very first analysts call – one can gain a great understanding of what the investment community keys in on when creating investment scenarios or ratings for a company like Rackspace. We may also hear some comments on how the IPO process went in general. It is likely that we will hear some type of forecast for the market – and whether the generally faltering global economy will impact future revenues for Rackspace.

In any event, it should be good information to secure if you are interested in the general hosting marketplace, or are interested in investor sentiment regarding hosting. I know I’ll be listening in.

This content is provided courtesy of the managed dedicated hosting experts at HostMySite.com.

Print | Send | del.icio.us | Linking Blogs

April 28, 2008 | Posted By : Derek Vaughan at 4:28 PM PERMALINK | Blog Comments (1)

Why the Rackspace IPO is Good for Hosting

As reported here at The WHIR and around the Internet, Rackspace has filed the preliminary paperwork with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to issue an Initial Public Offer of stock (IPO). The complete S-1 documents can be found here and make pretty interesting reading for anyone who has a business involving web servers or large scale hosting.

Assuming that the IPO is issued, and that Rackspace becomes a New York Stock Exchange traded stock - this is great news for the web hosting industry. Here are the main reasons why:

An IPO at this time indicates that this sector is growing like crazy despite the specter of a U.S. recession - While there has been a pull back in a number of high visibility stock market sectors (think: housing markets, mortgages, banking, consumer durables) there is actually an acceleration in web hosting going on. This is driven by the growing acceptance of the web as the place for any and all data and applications. We are witnessing the transference of data from the desktop to the 'cloud'. Rackspace is riding the crest of this wave and pointing the way for the entire hosting industry.

Rackspace is an almost pure play web hosting company - Anyone, either within the web hosting industry or outside, can now have much greater visibility into the specific metrics that make web hosting a great business. Many investors are reluctant to invest in a sector or industry which is complex or laden with technical jargon. Rackspace will educate the market on many of the terms and realities that accompany web hosting operations. This will benefit other web hosting companies seeking investment in the future.

A successful IPO will create demand among investors for similar companies - Once Rackspace reveals the money to be made in web hosting, the larger investment community will seek out web hosting investments. This will mean more money available for web hosting companies in every niche of hosting. In essence, the business model will be vetted and the mechanisms for profit better understood.

The publicity surrounding the IPO will generate buzz for 'web hosting' - Just by submitting the S-1 documents, Rackspace has already created a substantial buzz around the investment and Internet communities related to web hosting. As of this morning, there are over 111 references to Rackspace on Google news. Over 35 of those posted in the past few hours, and all related to the IPO. Web hosting buzz and publicity enriches all those in this industry.

I wish everyone over a Rackspace the very best of luck with this exciting new venture, and on behalf of the entire web hosting industry I offer a heart-felt, ''Thank You''.

This content provided by HostMySite.com.

Print | Send | del.icio.us | Linking Blogs