Viva, Veeva!

Meet Veeva Systems (NYSE: VEEV), a pricey stock worth considering. It provides dedicated cloud services to biotech and pharmaceutical companies, helping them maintain customer relationships, keep track of clinical trials and regulations, and store and analyze their data.

The majority of its income comes from subscriptions to its Veeva Commercial Cloud and Veeva Vault services. That’s an attractive business model, because subscriptions mean relatively reliable, predictable revenue. Veeva’s “sticky” environment is another plus, as it can seem like more trouble for customers to leave and set up with a different provider than to just remain with Veeva.

Escalating competition between top drugmakers has boosted demand for Veeva’s services in recent years. The company has expanded its digital health care ecosystem by acquiring Crossix Solutions, a leader in patient data privacy and analytics, and PhysiciansWorld, a provider of speakers bureau services.

With a forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio recently north of 90, Veeva’s stock isn’t cheap. But Veeva is growing briskly, with revenue and earnings both increasing by more than 30 percent year-over-year in fiscal 2021’s second quarter. Veeva is expected to grow by more than 15 percent annually over the coming five years.

Consider investing in Veeva if you can be patient — or, to play it safer, add it to a watch list. Then you can buy it later, if the price drops.