If there's one thing DocuSign (DOCU -6.22%) has investors convinced of since it went public last April, it's the company's ability to consistently grow its business at rapid rates. DocuSign's fourth-quarter results reinforced how impressive the e-signature company's momentum is, as robust revenue and customer growth continued. In addition, DocuSign continued to strengthen its ecosystem with partner additions, new features, and user-interface improvements to its platform.

Here's a look at key takeaways from the company's fourth-quarter results.

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

Image source: DocuSign.

DocuSign's fourth-quarter results: The raw numbers

Metric

Q4 2019

Q4 2018

Change

Revenue

$199.7 million

$148.9 million

34%

Net cash from operations

$34.1 million

$32.0 million

6.7%

Fiscal years shown. Data source: DocuSign fourth-quarter update.

Fourth-quarter highlights

  • DocuSign's revenue jumped 34% year over year, to $199.7 million.
  • Subscription revenue, which accounted for 94% of total revenue, increased 37% year over year.
  • Non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) was $0.06 based on 188 million shares outstanding, compared to $0.01 in the year-ago quarter based on 42 million shares outstanding.
  • Net cash provided by operating activities was $34.1 million, up from $32 million in the year-ago quarter.
  • DocuSign's billings were up 31% year-over-year -- a deceleration from 40% growth in Q3 and 32% growth in Q2.
  • DocuSign's GAAP gross margin was 74%, down from 79% in the year-ago quarter.
  • Non-GAAP gross margin was 78%, narrower than an 80% margin in the same period last year.
  • The company added 23,000 customers during the quarter, bringing its total customer count to 477,000.

Check out the latest earnings call transcript for DocuSign.

What management had to say

DocuSign CEO Dan Springer was pleased with the quarter, noting that the period closed out "an exciting first year as a public company." He pointed out the fact that it was the company's first full year of non-GAAP profitability.

Management also used the quarterly update to highlight DocuSign's progress on improving its overall ecosystem with strong partner integrations, like its recent partnership with business-software company Salesforce (CRM -3.41%). DocuSign launched a solution on the Salesforce platform that helps businesses easily send documents for e-signatures, reduce administrative hassles like scanning and printing, and more. "Paired with Salesforce Essentials," management explained in the earnings release, "the product helps small businesses accelerate the completion of agreements, ranging from quotes to contracts to sales orders and more."

In addition, the e-signature company noted that it announced a range of new improvements and features as part of its DocuSign Winter '19 Release, including enhanced contract management, an iOS user interface refresh for a better mobile experience, and more.

Looking forward

Management is confident it can achieve more strong growth in fiscal 2020. "As we look to fiscal 2020, we are focused on delivering new and innovative solutions to market across the System of Agreement," explained Springer, "growing our already-strong partner ecosystem, and continuing our relentless commitment to customer success."

The company guided for full-year fiscal 2020 revenue between $910 million and $915 million, up significantly from $701 million in fiscal 2019. Management also said it expected its full-year non-GAAP gross margin to be between 78% and 80%. The midpoint of this range is notably below the company's non-GAAP gross margin of 80% in fiscal 2019.