Medidata Solutions Inc. Stock Upgraded (MDSO)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Medidata Solutions (Nasdaq:MDSO) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income, revenue growth and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. Although no company is perfect, currently we do not see any significant weaknesses which are likely to detract from the generally positive outlook.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• MDSO's debt-to-equity ratio is very low at 0.01 and is currently below that of the industry average, implying that there has been very successful management of debt levels. To add to this, MDSO has a quick ratio of 1.55, which demonstrates the ability of the company to cover short-term liquidity needs.
• MDSO's revenue growth trails the industry average of 33.0%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 8.3%. This growth in revenue appears to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, improving the earnings per share.
• The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Health Care Technology industry. The net income increased by 70.9% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from $1.86 million to $3.19 million.
• MEDIDATA SOLUTIONS INC reported significant earnings per share improvement in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, MEDIDATA SOLUTIONS INC increased its bottom line by earning $0.96 versus $0.22 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($1.43 versus $0.96).
• Powered by its strong earnings growth of 62.50% and other important driving factors, this stock has surged by 41.78% over the past year, outperforming the rise in the S&P 500 Index during the same period. Turning to the future, naturally, any stock can fall in a major bear market. However, in almost any other environment, the stock should continue to move higher despite the fact that it has already enjoyed nice gains in the past year.

Medidata Solutions, Inc. provides software-as-a-service based clinical development solutions for life science organizations worldwide. The company has a P/E ratio of 22.6, above the average computer software & services industry P/E ratio of 22.4 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Medidata has a market cap of $549.1 million and is part of the technology sector and computer software & services industry. Shares are down 5.7% year to date as of the close of trading on Monday.

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For more information on Medidata Solutions Inc. click any of the following:

• Medidata Solutions Inc. Stock Price

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• Medidata Solutions Inc. Key Stats & Profile

• Medidata Solutions Inc. Earnings

• Medidata Solutions Inc. Ratio Comparison

• Medidata Solutions Inc. Growth Rates

• Medidata Solutions Inc. Balance Sheet

• Medidata Solutions Inc. Cash Flow

• Medidata Solutions Inc. Income Statement