AppFolio Expands Product Offerings For Property Managers

AppFolio, Inc. ( (NASDAQ:APPF) ) recently announced that it has enriched its product portfolio for AppFolio Property Manager (APM) customers.

The new additions include AppFolio Renters Insurance a new Value+ Service, and same day ACH, an enhancement to the existing Electronic Payments Value+ Platform.

This announcement was made concurrent with AppFolio’s fifth annual Customer Conference that started on Sep 18, 2017.

Notably, the company will also focus on integration with Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) voice service, Alexa. This feature will allow tenants to pay rents or submit other requests using voice commands through AppFolio’s platform.

We believe the company’s collaboration with Amazon along with the expansion of its offerings will boost its top line going forward. Shares of AppFolio have gained 88.7% year-to-date significantly outperforming the 19.5% rally of the industry.

New Features to Drive Customer Base

Of the new enhancements to the product portfolio, Renter’s Insurance will enable property managers to keep a record of tenant’s liabilities and insurance policies and also to offer related services.

The addition of same day ACH payments to the existing electronic payments system will ensure lesser time consumption. Per management, this first-of-its kind service in the industry will be beneficial to property managers in case of emergency and also keep a better updated record.

We believe that this new features will boost AppFolio’s clientele going forward.

Growth Aspects of AppFolio

AppFolio’s product and technology related innovation is one of its key growth drivers. The improvement of the product suite in accordance with customer specifications is a massive positive for the company, which helps in attracting customers and retaining them.

Its increasing customer base with 10,800 property managers and 9,000 legal customers at the end of the second quarter, is a major tailwind. The expansion of the customer base has been driven by accelerated adoption of the company’s software applications, Appfolio Property Manager and MyCase.

Per a recent article by PR Newswire, which quoted ReportsnReports, the property management software market is expected to witness CAGR of 5.2% between 2017 and 2021. We believe AppFolio, with its wide range of updated products, is poised well to make the most of the projected growth of the market.

However, a competitive market, marked by the presence of players likes Buildium, Rentec Direct Software and Propertyware, is a bit of concern for the company.

Zacks Rank and Key Picks

AppFolio sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Other stocks that can be considered in the broader technology sphere are Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) and Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) , both sporting a Zacks Rank #1.

The long-term earnings growth rate for Applied Materials and Lam Research is projected to be 17.1% and 17.2% respectively.

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