Does Kinaxis have even more upside?

Kinaxis is a supply-chain management company with a cloud-based platform called RapidResponse, billed as a concurrent planning platform. Ahead of its annual Kinexions conference this week, the company announced on Monday a new partner program, PartnerLink, to be launched in the first quarter 2021. The program will allow for further tailoring of solutions to customers’ needs and give customers access to a broader range of services via RapidResponse.

The company said the new initiative’s partner-developed product capabilities will bring value-added solutions for customers.

“Over the past 24 months, we have purposefully grown our partner ecosystem, quadrupling the number of newly established partnerships and significantly increasing the number of trained and certified consultants,” said Conrad Mandala, Vice President Global Alliances for Kinaxis, in a press release. “Introducing a more robust partner program reinforces our commitment to the channel and scales our ability to help our customers know sooner and act faster to stay ahead of unexpected disruptions. Partners accelerate our customers' time-to-value in their supply chain transformation journey and are a key element to our success.”

Agostino commented that the new extension of Rapid Response’s capabilities is part of the company’s broader vision to have RR work with third-party modules sitting on top of the platform.

“We see this extension as the being of an opportunity where more developers design modular solutions to enhance RR’s capabilities, with a potential traditional 70/30 revenue split (the latter going to Kinaxis) similar to other app models,” wrote Agostino.

The analyst noted that Kinaxis already has five development partners: 4flow, a supply chain optimization services company, OCYO Consulting an end-to-end operational supply chain consulting firm, PlanetTogether, a planning and scheduling software, Project44, a global supply chain visibility solutions provider and Resilience360, a predictive analytics business.

So far in 2020, KXS’s share price has doubled, going from $100 to now $209 per share. Agostino sees more upside, having reiterated in his update a “Buy” recommendation and $260 per share target price, which as of publication date represented a projected one-year return of 24.1 per cent.

Kinaxis also on Tuesday announced a new app for enhanced visibility via its RapidResponse platform. The Command & Control Center app will help businesses cope with the quick changes occurring in the current pandemic environment with respect to issues such as supplier shutdowns and material scarcity.

“Businesses need the right tools to proactively automate enough of the decision-making process for planners to be able to respond to risk in time to mitigate negative impacts. The Kinaxis Command & Control Center represents an exciting and innovative way for companies to achieve this without requiring a PhD to use and implement,” said Steve Banker, vice-president of supply chain management for ARC Advisory Group, in an October 20 press release.

A year like the one Kinaxis has had was bound to draw some attention and the company recently received it in the form of an award for its boss.

On September 28, John Sicard was named Ottawa’s 2020 CEO of the Year by the Ottawa Business Journal and Ottawa Board of Trade.

“The success of Kinaxis under John’s leadership is remarkable and an inspiration in our region,” said Ottawa Board of Trade president and CEO Sueling Ching. “John and his team have set a fine example of what can be done when you optimize opportunities, build a solid foundation and prioritize your people. On behalf of the Ottawa business community, it is our privilege to honor John as a top leader and express our gratitude for his dedication and hard work.”

“I’m humbled to be recognized as Ottawa’s CEO of the Year for 2020 and I’d like to thank the Ottawa Business Journal and the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce for this honor,” Sicard responded. “This award is a reflection of the passionate, dedicated and talented team both here in Ottawa and around the world. More than ever supply chains are undergoing constant disruption, and at the same time they have never been more important in delivering every day necessities to people around the world. We are proud to work with our customers to help manage their supplies chains effectively and efficiently and make such a profound impact on the planet.”