E-signature and cloud-based document company DocuSign (DOCU 4.40%) reported its second-quarter results for its fiscal 2019 after the market closed on Wednesday. After the company went public this spring, this report marked DocuSign's second quarterly update as a publicly traded company.

The quarter was solid, featuring more strong revenue growth, a non-GAAP profit, and improving free cash flow. Here's an overview of the results.

DocuSign's e-signature product on a laptop and smartphone

Image source: DocuSign.

DocuSign's second-quarter results: The raw numbers

Metric

Q2 2019

Q2 2018

Change

Revenue

$167 million

$126 million

33%

Net loss

($36.7 million)

($12 million)

N/A

Data source: DocuSign second-quarter update. 

Second-quarter highlights

  • Revenue of $167 million was above management's forecast for $157 million to $160 million 
  • DocuSign's 33% year-over-year revenue growth in Q2 was slower than its 37% growth in its prior quarter
  • Non-GAAP gross margin was 81%, up from 79% in the year-ago period.
  • DocuSign's net loss widened from a loss of $12 million in the year-ago quarter to a loss of $36.7 million.
  • On a non-GAAP basis, DocuSign swung from a loss of $1.2 million in the year-ago quarter to a profit of $5.2 million.
  • Billings increased 32% year over year to $172.2 million.
  • Free cash flow during the quarter was $18.4 million, up from $7.8 million in the year-ago period.

What management had to say

DocuSign CEO Dan Springer said during the company's second-quarter earnings release that the quarter was strong, citing a 35% year-over-year increase in subscription revenue as a key catalyst for the quarter. Springer also said DocuSign added more than 25,000 customers during the period, bringing total customers to nearly 430,000.

Springer also commented on the company's Sept. 4 closing of its acquisition of SpringCM -- a cloud-based document and contract management company. "With SpringCM, we have a broader set of products to sell, additional technologies to commercialize, and a team whose experience complements ours almost perfectly," Springer said.

Looking forward

With such a strong quarter behind it, DocuSign lifted its full-year outlook for revenue and billings. Management now expects full-year fiscal 2019 revenue to be between $683 million an $688 million. Previously, DocuSign forecast full-year revenue between $652 million and $658 million. For billings in fiscal 2019, management expects $732 million to $752 million -- up from a previous forecast for $680 million to $700 million.

For DocuSign's third quarter of fiscal 2019, management said it expects revenue to be between $172 million and $175 million, implying a sequential jump from DocuSign's $167 million of revenue in Q2.