Monster (
MWW
) is an online job search portal that connects employers with
job seekers. Employers pay Monster to list available job openings
on the Monster.com website as well as for the opportunity to view
resumes of job seekers. Monster also charges job seekers for
premium services such as cover letter writing, resume writing and
priority resume listing. Monster not only competes with niche
players like careerbuilder.com and jobcentral.com, but also with
social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Craiglist. Monster
acquired its previous competitor Yahoo (
YHOO
) HotJobs in February 2010 in order to boost its customer
base.
Monster Provides Brighter Outlook for 2011
Monster recently announced its Q4 2010 earnings in which it
projected 20%-25% revenue growth for 2011, and a significant margin
expansion in international markets. International markets account
for roughly 41% of our
$13.63
price estimate for Monster, while North American markets represent
about 39%. Our price estimate currently stands about 20% below
market price.
See our full analysis and $13.63 price estimate
for Monster
Innovative Products Will Drive Revenue Growth
Monster has introduced quite a few innovative products over the
last few years. This includes Power Resume Search, an innovative
product launched in November 2009 that is based on Monster's
patented 6Sense technology. 6Sense technology is much more
efficient than traditional resume search technology, and helps
recruiters to quickly find suitable candidates (See
Better Resume Search Technology Can Help Monster
Compete with LinkedIn, Facebook
).
According to Monster, the usage of Power Resume
Search technology has steadily increased and now represents
around 50% of resume searches in North America. Monster benefits
from the roughly 30% premium pricing it charges customers for this
functionality.
Another product that Monster has recently introduced is its
Career Ad Network Direct (CAN Direct). This product allows
customers to syndicate their job advertisement directly into
Monster's ad network, from which Monster can drive traffic directly
to the customer's career website. According to Monster, CAN product
sales increased 50% between 2010 and 2009.
These innovations should also help Monster increase its customer
base, consequently lifting the number of job postings on Monster's
website.
Higher job posting pricing and an increased number of job
postings should drive revenue growth for Monster going forward.