Vignette's recent acquisition of Epicentric reminds us that several major CMS vendors still have reasonably healthy balance sheets, despite sickly and ever-declining income statements. In fact, a fine article in Forbes magazine points out that scores of dotcom-inflated software firms who IPO'd at the zenith of the equity boom retain large cash reserves despite precipitously falling revenues. They are "the Undead." The article notes that both Interwoven (whose Q3 report startled us) and Vignette (pre-Epicentric purchase) still have more than 10 years' worth of cash in the bank, based on current "burn" rates. Pity OpenMarket, who went public earlier and ran out of cash. Of course, if market caps fall faster than revenues, these firms could still take a page from former CMS vendor EBT: buy out their shareholders, take the balance of the money, and go home...
Check out Forbes' list of "Undead" firms