Veeva Systems' Product Portfolio Strong, Competition Rife

On Jan 30, we issued an updated research report on Veeva Systems (NYSE:VEEV) . Growing demand for cloud-based and vault applications and a diverse product portfolio are key positives. However, the company has been struggling against foreign exchange headwinds and intense competition in niche markets.

Veeva Systems carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). The company’s price movement continues to be robust. Veeva Systems has gained 12.3% year to date compared with the industry’s 6% rally. The current level is also higher than the S&P 500 index’s return of 6.9%.

Veeva Systems boasts a strong product portfolio. The company’s unique solutions include Veeva Vault, Veeva CRM, Veeva Network and Veeva OpenData. Veeva Vault is the first cloud-based content management system built specifically for the life sciences.

Further, Veeva OpenData is a reference data platform. The platform provides the most comprehensive and accurate customer reference data — healthcare professional ("HCP"), healthcare organization ("HCO"), affiliations, email and compliance data — delivered in Veeva CRM.

Notably, Veeva Systems added a large number of Vault customers in the last reported quarter. Also, the number of customers using multiple Vault applications rose approximately 50% year over year, backed by growth across all Vault application areas. Vault represented almost 40% of total revenues in the third quarter, up from 33% reported in the year-ago quarter.

On the flip side, Veeva Systems faces stiff competition in most of its product lines. The competitors include the likes of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL), Cegedim SA and IMS Health Holding in the CRM solutions market.

In the content management market, the company’s Vault product competes with products from EMC (NYSE:EMC), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and OpenText. Intense competition is likely to affect the company’s market share in the upcoming days.

Veeva Systems generates a significant portion of its revenues from the international markets. Hence, volatility in foreign currency exchange rates is a headwind. The company’s performance is subject to the movement in foreign currencies, particularly in Europe, Japan and China. Management expects favorable as well as adverse foreign currency impacts due to persistent volatility in currencies.

Key Picks

A few better-ranked stocks in the broader medical sector are Amedisys (NASDAQ:AMED) , Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) and ABIOMED (NASDAQ:ABMD) .

Bio-Rad Laboratories flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. The company has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 25%.

Amedisys has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 18.5%. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2.

ABIOMED has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 31.5%. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2.

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