Los-Angeles-based J2 Global (Nasdaq: JCOM) is a leading Internet-based information and services company. The company recently reported its fourth-quarter results. Prior to the recent turmoil, its stock was climbing to record highs.

J2 Global’s Financials

J2 Global provides digital media services across technology, healthcare, communications, security, and MarTech sectors. Its portfolio includes brands like IGN, Mashable, Humble Bundle, Speedtest, PCMag, Offers.com, Spiceworks, Everyday Health, BabyCenter, and What To Expect. Additionally, the company also offers cloud services such as eFax, eVoice, iContact, Campaigner, VIPRE, IPVanish, and KeepItSafe to its customers. Its solutions reach over 180 million people each month globally.

For the fourth quarter of the year, J2 Global’s revenues grew 17% over the year to $405.6 million ahead of the market’s forecast by 3.7%. Adjusted EPS was $2.38, ahead of the market’s forecast of $2.37 and growing over previous year’s $2.11.

By segment, Cloud revenues grew 14.3% to $169.1 million, driven by 18% growth in fixed subscriber revenues. Digital Media revenues grew 19% over the year to $236.3 million.

J2 Global ended the year with revenues growing 13.6% to a record $1.37 billion and adjusted net income growing 10% to $344.4 million.

J2 Global expects to end the current year with revenues of $1.47-$1.51 billion with an adjusted EPS of $7.36-$7.66. The Street was looking for revenues of $1.45 billion with an EPS of $7.56 for the year.

J2 Global’s Acquisitions

J2 Global has a very active M&A strategy to expand its business offerings. It started last year with the acquisition of iContact, a North Carolina-based email marketing and social media marketing services provider, for an undisclosed sum. iContact focuses on the SMB segment and is one of the largest private provider of email marketing and social media marketing software and services globally. Its solutions simplify the process of creating, sending, and tracking email newsletters, surveys, and autoresponders.

iContact had raised $53.4 million in funding from investors including JMI Equity, North Atlantic Capital, IDEA Fund Partners, and Updata Partners. The acquisition is expected to help J2 Global expand its marketing services portfolio.

As part of the expanding MarTech capabilities, J2 Global announced the acquisition of Texas-based Spiceworks in 2019. Spiceworks allows users to collaborate on an online community to seek advice and engage in the marketplace to purchase IT-related services and products. Its product and community expertise are a great insight for technology professionals and offer intent-driven market and account intelligence for technology brands.

Last summer, J2 Global announced the acquisition of the VPN brands IPVanish, StrongVPN, and Encrypt.me from StackPath for an undisclosed sum. The acquired VPN solutions will be offered as part of J2 Global’s cloud services. Prior to the acquisition, J2 Global’s biggest corporate solutions were its corporate fax and the email marketing offering. The acquisition has helped it take a big step ahead in the VPN segment along with making inroads into the consumer privacy and security sector. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

To expand its digital media assets, the company announced the acquisition of BabyCenter from Johnson and Johnson. BabyCenter is an online pregnancy and parenting resource that claims to reach 7 out of 10 expectant mothers in the U.S. The acquisition will help complement its What to Expect offering. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. BabyCenter was set up by Stanford graduates in 1997. It had raised $13.5 million in venture capital before being sold to eToys for $190 million in 1999. The dotcom bust resulted in eToys filing for bankruptcy. It was a few years after that when Johnson & Johnson bought BabyCenter for $10 million.

While individual terms of the above acquisitions were not disclosed, J2 Global did note that it spent $400 million on all acquisitions in 2019.

Its stock is currently trading at $69.71 with a market capitalization of $3.3 billion. It hit a 52-week high of $104.57 in January this year. But following the recent stock market turmoil, it has fallen to a 52-week low of $66.99 earlier this month.