There was only one IPO last week, but it turned out to be a strong one:� Brightcove (NASDAQ:BCOV) pulled off a 30% return. The company is a top player in cloud-based video services.
O.K, so what can we expect for the coming week? Unfortunately, IPO activity will remain light. In fact, there are only two deals on tap: cloud company Bazaarvoice and Proto Labs, which manufactures custom parts for prototyping.
Of these, Bazaarvoice is likely to be the hot deal. The company has a sophisticated platform that helps companies manage social media by analyzing the buzz from online reviews, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and so on.� With advertising becoming saturated, companies are trying to find ways to enhance word-of-mouth marketing.
Bazaarvoice has 737 active clients, which include biggies such as Macy�s (NYSE:M), Home Depot (NYSE:HD) and Dell (NASDAQ:DELL).� The result is that the company has developed a substantial distribution footprint of web impressions, which amounted to 92.7 million for the past nine months.
From 2009 to 2011, revenues went from $22.5 million to $64.5 million. And the growth is likely to continue for some time. According to Forrester Research, about 52% of total online and offline sales will be influenced by Net content — such as reviews and ratings — by 2015.� A big driver is likely to be the growth in smartphones.
All in all, Bazaarvoice is at the heart of several key trends in technology: cloud, social media and mobile. That should be the right formula for IPO investors.
Tom Taulli runs the InvestorPlace blog IPO Playbook, a site dedicated to the hottest news and rumors about initial public offerings. He also is the author of �The Complete M&A Handbook, All About Short Selling and All About Commodities. Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli or reach him via email. As of this writing, he did not own a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
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