What happened
Shares of communication equipment company Allot (ALLT 4.58%) popped on Tuesday, rising as much as 14.1%. As of 3:26 p.m. EST, the stock was up 9.7%.
Shares of the Israel-based company were up because of the company's better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings release, which featured strong, double-digit revenue growth and a narrower-than-expected loss per share.
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So what
Allot reported fourth-quarter revenue of $26.9 million, up 16% year over year. This beat a consensus analyst estimate for revenue of $25.2 million. On a non-GAAP basis, Allot lost $0.01 per share during the quarter. On average, analysts had forecast a non-GAAP loss per share of $0.03 for the period.
With a strong finish to 2018, Allot's full-year revenue of $95.8 million was up 17% year over year.
"We are very pleased with our performance in 2018," said Allot CEO Erez Antebi in the company's fourth-quarter earnings release, "with revenues growing at a faster pace than we had originally expected."
Antebi cited solid performance from Allot's Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) business as one catalyst for last year's growth.
Check out the latest Allot earnings call transcript.
Now what
Looking ahead, the company said it expects 2019 revenue of $106 million to $110 million, representing 13% year-over-year growth based on the midpoint of this range. Analysts' consensus forecast for 2019 revenue was $104 million.
"As we enter into 2019, I have increased confidence in our long-term potential," said Antebi in the release. "Following our restructuring and changes, we are now executing better in sales, support and R&D and we look forward to continue to leverage these strengths to create continuing growth in 2019 and beyond."
