So NetSuite (N) went public today at $26 and the shares moved sharply as some IPOs tend to do, closing at $35.50. This is in spite of the fact that the price had already been adjusted upward twice before the stock came to market. The company is in a hot sector and Oracle Corp. (ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison controls a majority stake and this has contributed to the buzz around the stock.

So at $35.50, is the stock a buy?

Company Background

NetSuite operates in the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) sector. It provides business applications over the Internet so that customers do not need to install the software in their own datacenters. NetSuite offers an all-in-one solution that integrates accounting, sales, payroll, order fulfillment, purchasing, inventory, billing, CRM and more. It provides features that support eBay and offers a facility for users to create web sites that integrate tightly with the underlying accounting and inventory functions. Much like SalesForce.com, NetSuite has sales force automation (SFA) capabilities to oversee and manage the entire selling process including sales order entry, post-sale follow-up and support and up-sell opportunities.

So what does it cost to use the software? NetSuite Small Business starts at $99 per month per company plus $49 per month for each user. NetSuite starts at $499 per month per company and $99 per user per month. The NetSuite eBay integration is available as an add-on module for both NetSuite Small Business and NetSuite and starts at $99 per month. NetSuite CRM starts at $79/month for each user.

Financials

According to the SEC filing, NetSuite posted a net loss of $35.7 million in 2006, and in 2007 has so far lost $20.6 million for the nine months ended Sept. 30. Its accumulated deficit stood at $241.6 million as of Sept. 30.

Its revenue has grown steadily from $17.7 million in 2004 to $67.2 million in 2006. That trend continued this year, as the company took in $76.8 million for the nine-month period ended Sept. 30. NetSuite said it had 5,400 customers as of that date.

The company is offering only about 10% of the shares available.

Commentary

Quarterly data was provided in the SEC filing and here is where I started to get wary.

Since the March 2006 quarter, revenue has been steadily increasing by roughly $2M to $2.5M per quarter. As an investor, I would rather see revenue accelerating instead of increasing at a linear rate.

Many analysts point out that, though the company remains unprofitable, losses have been decreasing over time.