Struggling Jive Software Might Be Looking For A Buyer [Report]

Advertisement

Jive Software Tony Zingale

Jive Software

Jive Software CEO Tony Zingale

On February 7, Jive Software celebrated its 13th anniversary. A few days later, Jive reported an earnings miss, offered up soft guidance and announced that James Larson, the leader of sales, was leaving to become a startup CEO.

Advertisement

And shares took a nose dive, dropping about 19% and hitting a low of $7.11.

Jive had a successful 2011 IPO, opening at $12 with shares hitting over $15 on day 1 of trading. Earlier last year, its shares were over $18. But as 2013 drew to a close, it has struggled and investors are no longer feeling the love.

Complimentary Tech Event
Transform talent with learning that works
Capability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More

Jive makes social collaboration software for businesses, a sort of Facebook for business, and is facing an onslaught of competitors as just about every software maker on the planet bakes "social" features into their products. Competitors these days include Oracle, Salesforce, Tibco, IBM, SAP, Microsoft, and the list goes on.

Instead of continuing to slug it out, Jive may have put itself on the sales block, reports Re/code's Arik Hesseldahl.

Advertisement

Jive had no comment on the report.

The numbers help tell the story. While Jive's 2013 revenue hit $145.8 million, up 28%, its net loss increased to 55 cents per share from 43 cents. That was a big miss. Analysts expected a 44-cent loss.

It then issued softer-than-expected guidance, expecting to end the current year with revenues of $170 million to $175 million and a net loss of 39 to 46 cents per share. The Street was expecting revenues of $176 million and a loss of 46 cents per share.

The bigger question is, if it wants to sell itself who would be interested in buying?

Last year, SAP was rumored to be in talks to buy Jive, but decided not to because SAP felt it already had plenty of similar products, Bloomberg reported in May.

Advertisement