Image source: Splunk, Inc.
What: Shares of Splunk Inc. (SPLK +0.00%) fell as much as 9.8% early Friday, and traded down 8.5% as of 11:00 a.m. EDT despite the operational intelligence software platform company releasing stronger-than-expected fiscal second-quarter 2017 results yesterday after the market close.
So what: Quarterly revenue increased 43.4% year over year, to $212.8 million, including 31.5% growth in license revenue, to $115.7 million, and 60.8% growth in maintenance and service revenue, to $97.1 million. Based on generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) -- and keeping in mind Splunk consciously forsakes bottom-line profitability in favor of top-line growth in these early stages -- that translated to a net loss of $86.6 million, or $0.65 per share. On an adjusted (non-GAAP) basis, which excludes items like stock-based compensation, Splunk's quarterly net income was $7.3 million, or $0.05 per share.
For perspective, Splunk's guidance called for lower revenue of $198 million to $200 million. Analysts, on average, were looking for revenue of $200.5 million and adjusted earnings of $0.03 per share.
Splunk CEO Doug Merritt called it a "strong" quarter, crediting both the addition of 500 new customers and existing customers expanding their use cases of Splunk's products.
Splunk also increased its full-year guidance, telling investors to expect fiscal 2017 revenue of $910 million to $914 million. That's up from Splunk's previous outlook for full-year revenue of $892 million to $896 million, and well above analysts' consensus estimates for revenue of $897.5 million.
Now what: For what it's worth, this marked Splunk's seventh straight quarterly revenue beat, so perhaps the market is simply accustomed to the company's propensity for outperformance. What's more -- and with the usual caveat that past performance is no guarantee for future success -- note shares also fell around 8% the day after Splunk's equally exceptional fiscal first-quarter report in May, only to climb more than 20% in the ensuing weeks as investors had time to absorb Splunk's results.
So, while the market's reaction might not indicate as much today, I think patient, long-term investors should be more than happy with where Splunk stands.
