Cloudflare shares rose 19% in extended trading on Thursday after the web security and content distribution network provider issued results and quarterly guidance that proved more robust than analysts had projected.
Here’s how the company did, in comparison with estimates from analysts polled by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:
Earnings per share: 15 cents, adjusted, vs. 12 cents expected
Revenue: $362.5 million, vs. $353.1 million expected
Cloudflare’s revenue rose about 32%, consisted with growth in the third quarter, according to a statement. The company’s net loss of $27.9 million, or 8 cents per share, narrowed from $45.9 million in the year-ago quarter.
CEO Matthew Prince said in the statement that Cloudflare signed its largest new customer deal and biggest renewal to date during the quarter, resulting in the highest annual contract value in corporate history. On a conference call with analysts, executives mentioned business from the U.S. Commerce Department.
Also on Thursday, Cloudflare said Mark Anderson, a board member who was formerly CEO of Alteryx
, is joining Cloudflare as president and replacing Marc Boroditsky. Private equity firms Clearlake Capital Group and Insight Partners announced in December that they would acquire Alteryx for $4.4 billion.
With respect to guidance, Cloudflare called for 13 cents in adjusted net earnings per share on $372.5 million to $373.5 million in revenue. Analysts surveyed by LSEG had expected 12 cents per share in adjusted earnings and revenue of $372.3 million.
For all of 2024, Cloudflare’s earnings outlook was higher than consensus, but the middle of the revenue range missed slightly. The company sees 58 cents to 59 cents in adjusted earnings per share and revenue from $1.648 billion to $1.652 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG were looking for 56 cents in adjusted earnings per share and $1.652 billion in revenue.
Excluding the after-hours move, Cloudflare stock is up about 8% so far this year, while the S&P 500 has gained about 5% during the same period.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/08/cloudflare-net-q4-earnings-report-2023.html
