Friday, January 30, 2015

OpenTable: Provider of Real-time Restaurant-Reservation Services


One of the subsidiaries of The Priceline Group that is headquartered in San Francisco, California is OpenTable. The company is a provider of real-time restaurant-reservation services. Considered as a multi-million venture, the business is listed as part of the Russell 3000 Index.

It was Chuck Templeton, who created the business in 1998 and now provides services to more than 15 million diners every month. The company makes reservations to more than 31,000 upscale restaurants around the world. It generates its revenue from the monthly or the per-reservation fees they collect from the restaurants that use their systems. It was in 2014 that the company was purchased by The Priceline Group in a cash deal amounting to more than $2.6 billion.

In 2009, the company made its initial public offering on the NASDAQ, where its common stocks are traded under the symbol OPEN. Its applications are available in just about any smartphone that is able to download its mobile application.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Overstock.com: An E-commerce Retailer


Overtsock.com, Inc. is one of the online retailers that generate billions in annual revenue. The business is the owner and operator of Overstock.com and holds its headquarters in Cottonwood Heights, Utah. It was in 1999 that the company was launched and now caters to millions of consumers around the world.

The business started out as a seller in an online e-commerce marketplace. Its products were mostly returned merchandise and sold surplus from 18 failed dot-com companies. These products were disposed at below-wholesale prices to further hasten the discarding of its inventories. The venture clicked and it didn’t take long for the business to start selling brand new merchandise. From its operations in the United States, the company has slowly penetrated the international markets and carried products from well loved brand names. In 2010, the business was able to reach its first billion dollar revenue. Today, Overstock carries more than 1 million products that are stored in their fulfillment facilities around the world.

Other than providing quality products, the company strives to market their items at a much more lesser costs compared to its competitors. The level of service they provide remains to be one of the selling points of the company that customers want to keep on coming back for more. The items that are marketed by the company remain to be unique as these are manufactured or purchased specially for Overstock. Some of these products are also handmade by workers in developing nations that have partnered with the company as a source of living.

Overstock.com has been nominated as one of the companies that provide excellent service in the United States. Forbes even cited the company as one of the Top 10 best places to work in America. It continues to trade its common stocks publicly on the NASDAQ, using the ticker symbol OSTK.

Friday, January 23, 2015

MWI Veterinary Supply: Providing Animal Health Products


One of the international businesses that thrive in the industry of supplying animal health products is MWI Veterinary Supply. The company was created in 1976 and was founded as MWI Holdings. It was in 2005 that the company adopted its current brand name.

Millard Wallace Ickes is the person behind the creation of the company. From its humble beginnings, the business has flourished into a multi-billion venture that generates more than $2.34 billion in annual revenue. As a global company, the business distributes more than 10,000 products. There are more than 350 vendors around the United States and in the United Kingdom that help distribute the products offered by the business.

By acquiring similar competing companies, MWI Veterinary Supply was able to broaden its scope of business and enhance its product offerings. As of February 2014, the company has a market value of more than $2.17 billion and has more than 1,700 associates employed.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Morningstar, Inc.: A Provider of Independent Investment Research


Morningstar, Inc. provides investors a wide range of products and services that would aid them attain their financial goals. The business is publicly traded on the NASDAQ, under the ticker symbol MORN and is registered as a provider of independent investment research globally. Incorporated in 1984, the business currently holds its headquarters in Chicago, Illinois.

The company operates in Asia, Australia, Europe and across North America. Its services offered are used by financial advisors, asset managers, individual investors, sponsors and providers of retirement plans. The portfolio of the company includes data of more than 479,000 investment offerings. This information also covers market data of stocks, commodities, precious metals, futures, indexes, equities, options, treasury markets, foreign exchange and futures that number to more than 13 million. In addition to its advisory and research services, Morningstar also offers investment management services through its subsidiaries.

As of September 2014, Morningstar has operations in 27 countries and has a total of $169 billion in assets under management. The company started out from the apartment that converted into an office of its founder Joe Mansueto. From a very small venture, the company has grown into a multi-million venture that generates more than $698.3 million in revenue. They continue to provide insights and sound advice to their clients by combining their global resources with their award-winning research. As of, the company employs more than 3,800 associates around the world. These employees are experienced in the industry of investment research and investment management and are committed to the success of their business partners.

By working closely not just with the investor, but also with the institution and advisors that serve their clients, they are able to catapult their customers to their financial goals. They continue to provide educated investment advice to their clients, advisory and management services and the necessary tools to help their partners analyze and research investment ideas.

Friday, January 16, 2015

Medivation: Maker of XTANDI


There are a lot of unmet areas in medicine, that until now, are still waiting for innovations and development to come up with novel therapeutics. The area of oncology is one of these areas that has a huge need for treatment.

Medivation is one of the American biopharmaceutical companies that has taken on the challenge of discovering, developing and studying novel therapeutics to treat serious diseases like breast and prostate cancer. There is a very limited option for treatment for these serious diseases and the company is in the business rapidly developing a promising cure for these maladies. In partnership with Astellas, the company was given the approval from the Food and Drug Administration to start marketing their XTANDI (enzalutamide) capsules to treat patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Medivation continues to explore other means of treating cancer. It partners with other pharmaceutical companies to hasten the development of their drug candidates.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Mattel, Inc.: The Leading Toy Manufacturer


As more and more toys are made available in the market, parents are getting quizzical on which items to give to their children. In addition to this dilemma, they are also hesitant to just grab any toy because of the price tag that would cause a dent on the weekly budget. Not to mention the health hazards that some of the toys pose because of the materials used to manufacture them.

Despite the emergence of numerous brand names, Mattel, Inc. remains to be in the lead in providing educational, safe, high quality and entertaining materials and toys for kids. Registered as an American toy manufacturing company, Mattel has been around since 1945. The business has provided not just the entirety of the United States, but the entire world, toys that are classic and well-loved. By means of acquiring competing businesses, the company was able to expand its offerings and operations. The business is now part of the Fortune 500 companies and generates $6.4 billion in annualized revenue.

From toy cars to board games, dolls to toys for babies, video game systems and state of the art remote control toys, Mattel, Inc. has a thing or two for everyone in their shelves. The company is the owner of the brand names Barbie, Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Monster High, American Girl, Masters of the Universe and Fisher-Price. The video games that are marketed by the company are produced in collaboration with Nintendo.

Headquartered in El Segundo, California, Mattel, Inc. continues to dominate the market for toys and games. The business was founded as Mattel Creations in 1945 by Harold “Matt” Matson, Elliot and Ruth Handler. Mattel, Inc. is a component of the NASDAQ 100, the S&P 500 and the Russell 3000 Indices. It continues to exist as a publicly traded toy manufacturing company on the NASDAQ, under the symbol MAT.

Friday, January 9, 2015

LKQ Corp: A Leader in Alternative and Specialty Parts for Vehicles


There are more than 700 facilities that LKQ Corporation operates. These facilities carry various alternative and specialty parts that are used to repair and accessorize various automobiles and vehicles. Founded in 1998, the business has grown through organic expansion and through acquisitions.

LKQ Corp is a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ. Its operations remain global, with a strong presence in the North America, Europe, Taiwan, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia and in France. Best known for the quality and consistency of their products, LKQ continues to provide their service to their clients with an exceptional customer experience. They carry a wide array of components, parts, replacement systems and equipment that are used to alter and accessorize recreational and performance vehicles; repair trucks and different models of automobiles.

The steady growth of the business is strongly attributed to how the company has anchored to its commitment to help its customers repair, customize and accessorize their vehicles quickly and economically.