RingCentral (RNG 1.29%) may not be a household name for investors chasing glitzier cloud computing names, but the provider of next-gen enterprise communications solutions is making plenty of waves under the market radar. Shares of RingCentral hit new all-time highs on Monday, and that was before coming through with another blowout quarter after the market close.
Revenue rose 34% to hit $188.6 million for the fourth quarter. This is actually slight acceleration from the 33% top-line growth that it mustered last time out and well above the 27% to 29% gain that it was forecasting for the period three months ago. RingCentral's adjusted profit of $0.23 a share bested both the $0.14 a share it posted a year earlier and the $0.18 a share that analysts were targeting.
Image source: RingCentral.
Another big score
RingCentral is trying to shake up the traditional business phone and contact center markets. Its plans start at only $15.99 a month, routing inbound calls to IP phones, PCs, tablets, and smartphones. It's just as easy to set up conference calls, video conferencing, and faxing across all of the connected devices.
The cloud-based platform is gaining traction, resulting in a steady and growing stream of subscription revenue. RingCentral announced on Monday that it inked a deal with Columbia University, deploying its RingCentral Office to 14,000 faculty seats as well as offering team messaging to the iconic school's 30,000 students.
Revenue accelerated in 2018, just as it picked up the pace in 2017. RingCentral's top line had decelerated in at least each of the five previous years before back-to-back years of putting the pedal to the metal. RingCentral sees growth slowing to 26% to 28% in 2019, but we've seen analysts get burned when they fall for RingCentral's knack for lowballing its growth prospects.
Check out the latest RingCentral earnings call transcript.
Wall Street certainly can't get a handle on RingCentral's bottom line. It continues to trounce analyst profit expectations.
| Quarter | EPS (Estimate) | EPS (Actual) | Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q4 2017 | $0.06 | $0.07 | 17% |
| Q1 2018 | $0.12 | $0.16 | 33% |
| Q2 2018 | $0.15 | $0.19 | 27% |
| Q3 2018 | $0.16 | $0.19 | 19% |
| Q4 2018 | $0.23 | $0.18 | 28% |
Good things happen when you consistently beat the pros by double-digit percentage margins. RingCentral may not be a popular stock with investors, but it's been a great sleeper investment. It went public at $13 six years ago, and the shares have popped better than sevenfold as it starts to crack into the triple digits for the first time. RingCentral is proving that you can thrive in the shadows of Wall Street, though keeping its success a secret will get harder if it keeps blasting to new highs in 2019.
