What happened

Avalara (AVLR) saw its shares surge on Wednesday, rising as much as 25.7%. As of 11:45 a.m. EDT today, the stock was up 17.8%.

The stock's gain follows Avalara's first-quarter results, which featured better-than-expected revenue and adjusted earnings per share for the company, which specializes in cloud-based transaction tax solutions.

A chart showing a stock price moving higher

Image source: Getty Images.

So what

For its first quarter, revenue was $85 million, made up of $78.2 million in subscription revenue and $6.7 million in professional services revenue. This is up significantly from revenue of $61 million in the year-ago quarter. Revenue was much higher than analysts' average forecast for $78.7 million.

Avalara's non-GAAP loss per share of $0.01 was also significantly ahead of a consensus forecast for a loss of $0.16.

"We are off to a strong start in fiscal 2019, as our first-quarter revenue grew 38% over the prior year's quarter," said Avalara CEO Scott McFarlane.

Now what

For its second quarter of 2019, management said it expects revenue between $84 million and $85 million and a non-GAAP operating loss between $7.5 million and $8.5 million.

For the full year, Avalara guided for revenue between $346 million and $349 million and a non-GAAP operating loss between $10 million and $15 million.