IQVIA (NYSE: IQV) has launched a new commercial technology called Orchestrated Customer Engagement (OCE). The new enterprise software is described as a “transformative technology for life sciences commercial operations” that “can result in increased productivity, better alignment and communication between former silos in pharmaceutical commercial operations, higher customer satisfaction among HCPs and other stakeholders, and higher trust by HCPs through more relevant, timely and valued engagements.”

HCP refers to “health-care professionals.”

The program integrates platforms, and connects, marketing, sales and other functions so HCPs can more effectively work with customers. In essence, OCE is a way for companies to ensure their departments interact internally more efficiently and optimize their service delivery to customers.

Pierre Fabre Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of the second-largest private French pharmaceutical group, will be the first adopter of this new OCE technology. IQVIA and Fabre announced a seven-year deal. Fabre will migrate all of its customer-relationship management users over to OCE. It will test the program in Germany, France and Portugal first, then roll out OCE in 30 additional countries.

Next-Gen Attracting Strong Demand

IQVIA’s Next-Gen clinical offerings, which help pharmaceutical companies reduce time and cost in the research and development process, seem to have plenty of traction. Next-Gen backlog has grown to $900 million and about 180 new contracts. Despite the growth, Next-Gen still only accounts for less than 10% of overall backlog for IQVIA. We fully expect that percentage to rise.

The company is still integrating its moving parts after it was formed via the merger of Quintiles into IMS Health, but additional synergies should be realized over time. Revenue growth is expected to be in the single digits for the next several years, but earnings per share (EPS) growth should be in the teens as margins improve and the share count goes down.

IQVIA will generate more than $1 billion in free cash flow next year and will support its ongoing share repurchase program which has retired more than $3 billion worth of common stock over the past year. Given the same net income, the lower the share count, the higher the EPS.

Spending growth for pharmaceutical and biotech research & development projects to be 3% per year over the next five years, higher than real GDP growth in the U.S. and EU. These companies (IQVIA’s customers) by and large maintain healthy balance sheets. Moreover, the size of their pipelines is at all-time highs. All these factors suggest there should be plenty of demand for IQVIA’s offerings.

Sotheby’s (NYSE: BID) announced that so far in 2017 it has auctioned off more than $550 million in jewelry. This includes a diamond called “The CTF Pink Star,” which sold for a record $71.2 million. The company also auctioned off a pair of earrings for $57 million earlier this year, also a record for earrings.

The company’s auto division, RM Sotheby’s, has also enjoyed a strong 2017. It has auctioned off $526 in collector cars globally, an increase of 17% compared to last year. 40% of the bidders this year were new to RM Sotheby’s, a sign that the division is attracted new buyer interest.

A 1956 Aston Martin sold for $22.5 million, the highest auto auction sale this year. A Ferrari F2001 sold for $7.5 million. Separately, a Ferrari auction fetched €63 million for the sale of 38 Ferraris and select memorabilia.

More Disposable Income for the Wealthy

The strength in financial markets have increased disposable income for the already affluent, and the Republican tax plan is expected to benefit the richest households the most, which suggests the super wealthy will have more money to spend on high-end collectibles.

The company’s earnings, however, have been erratic, so for now we keep the suggested buy-up-to price at $50. Our readers who followed our suggestions should already have some shares.