IMAGE SOURCE: LUXOFT HOLDING.
What happened
Shares of Luxoft Holding (LXFT +0.00%) were up 10.2% as of 3:00 p.m. EST Friday, after the software-development company announced stronger-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results.
So what
Quarterly revenue climbed 21.6% year over year, to $196.5 million, and translated to a 2.8% decline in adjusted net income to $27.8 million, or $0.83 per share. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was $37.4 million, or 19.1% of revenue, up from $29.6 million, or 16.6% of revenue, in the same year-ago period.
Luxoft doesn't provide quarterly financial guidance. But for perspective -- and though we don't usually pay close attention to analysts' expectations -- consensus estimates were more conservative in predicting that the company would achieve revenue of $193.7 million and adjusted earnings of $0.82 per share.
Luxoft CEO Dmitry Loschinin said the company is "pleased" with the results, which were driven by "strong growth despite extremely volatile economic conditions and a lack of visibility in the market." He elaborated:
This is a transformational year for Luxoft. We are diversifying our business and lowering client and vertical concentration, resulting in 7.5% decline in top-client concentration over the first six months. We are expanding premium services and offering consulting capabilities in many standard platforms, such as Murex, Calypso, Pivotal, and Pega, which our clients are adopting at increasing rates. We are rolling out new offerings in Internet of Things, big data, predictive analytics, and many more.
Luxoft also made two strategic acquisitions during the quarter. These include IT consulting provider INSYS Group, which provides Luxoft a presence in the healthcare and pharmaceuticals markets, and Pelagicore AB, which provides open-source software platforms and services for in-vehicle infotainment and human machine interface development.
Now what
As such, Luxoft reiterated its previous guidance for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017, which calls for revenue of at least $781 million, adjusted EBITDA margin of 17% to 19%, and adjusted earnings per diluted share of at least $2.85. Luxoft also reduced its guidance for earnings based on generally accepted accounting principles to at least $1.65 per share, down from $2.10 per share previously because of higher expenses related to acquisitions, as well as higher incremental incentives for new and existing key management.
In the end, this was an undeniably strong quarter from Luxoft even in the face of challenging market conditions, and it's no surprise to see investors bidding up shares today.
