The First Trust ISE Cloud Computing Index Fund (NasdaqGM: SKYY) rose just 0.16% yesterday, but that was enough for the lone cloud computing exchange traded fund to touch another record high on speculation that Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) is a potential takeover target.
Shares of Salesforce, SKYY’s ninth-largest holding at a weight of 3.6%, surged 11.6% Wednesday on volume that was more than six times the daily average on the takeover talk. Volume in SKYY was nearly quadruple the trailing three-month daily average.
California-based Salesforce closed Wednesday with a market value of $47.1 billion. That alone would limit the number of potential buyers, but there is talk Salesforce could fetch a price that would rival some of the technology sector’s largest and most expensive acquisitions.
“Tech takeovers larger than $10 billion have received a median valuation of only 15 times Ebitda, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Of those struck in the past decade, Salesforce would top the list as the priciest,” reports Tara Lachapelle for Bloomberg.
Pontificators and predictors have pinned the number of possible suitors for Salesforce between four and eight, though only five U.S. Internet and software firms have larger market values than Salesforce. According to CNBC, those firms are Microsoft (NasdaqGS: MSFT), Google (NasdaqGS: GOOG), Facebook (NasdaqGS: FB), Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) and International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM).
Germany’s SAP (NYSE: SAP) has also been mentioned as a viable suitor for Salesforce. SAP, Oracle, Facebook, IBM, Microsoft and Google combine for nearly 18% of SKYY’s weight.
SKYY’s top two holdings are Netflix (NasdaqGS: NFLX) and Amazon (NasdaqGS: AMZN). Those stocks combine for 9.2% of the fund’s weight. [New Highs for the Cloud ETF]
Cloud computing refers to a mode of accessing digital information from the internet through web-based tools and applications, instead of directly connecting to a server. The desired data and software packages are stored in servers where a consumer can access them anywhere as long as one has access to the internet. It is SKYY’s somewhat loose interpretation of cloud computing companies that has driven the ETF’s stellar performance. [Tech Investors Love the Cloud]
SKYY tracks the ISE Cloud Computing Index, which “is a modified equal dollar weighted index designed to track the performance of companies actively involved in the cloud computing industry. To be included in the index, a security must be engaged in a business activity supporting or utilizing the cloud computing space, listed on an index-eligible global stock exchange and have a market capitalization of at least $100 million,” according to First Trust.
First Trust ISE Cloud Computing Index Fund
Tom Lydon’s clients own shares of Facebook.