Okta (OKTA 1.38%) impressed investors once again when it reported its latest quarterly results. Shares surged on the trading day following the identity-management company's fiscal first-quarter results, rising about 7%. Okta's revenue and non-GAAP loss per share were both much better than analysts' forecast for the period, as the company picked up traction with large customers.
For investors who want a closer look at Okta's strong momentum, the company's earnings call provides some useful insight. These three excerpts, in particular, highlight notable drivers for revenue growth and one key area in which Okta is investing heavily to capture future growth.
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International momentum
One growth driver prominently discussed in Okta's earnings release and during the call was the company's recent prowess at attracting larger customers. Customers with more than $100,000 in annual contract value increased 53% year over year -- an acceleration from 50% year-over-year growth in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019.
But there are other key catalysts worth highlighting. One is Okta's growth internationally.
"Revenue from outside of the U.S. grew 60% and represented approximately 16% of our first-quarter revenue, compared to 15% in Q1 last year," said Okta CFO Bill Losch. "We continue to view our international business as a long-term growth driver and are investing to expand our international footprint."
Management is putting its money where its mouth is, as Okta announced a data center expansion in the Asia-Pacific region and a new office in Germany on the same day of its fiscal first-quarter earnings release.
Partners are helping sell Okta
While the bulk of Okta's sales come from the company's own salesforce, an increasing number of customer additions are the result of Okta's growing ecosystem of channel partners.
"While still in its early stages, the partner channel already contributes over a quarter of our business," Losch explained. "These channel partners provide Okta with a global reach and scale that we wouldn't be able to efficiently achieve on our own."
Okta is hiring aggressively
With such strong revenue growth, it's no surprise that Okta management sees some big opportunities ahead. Key strategic priorities for management are attracting the world's largest organizations, strengthening the network effect of its platform, and increasing its presence and capabilities with customer identity solutions.
Capitalizing on these opportunities, however, is no small task. This is why Okta will be hiring aggressively:
The headcount growth that we had in the first quarter was 40%. I think you should expect, that as we get into the second half of the year, that growth is actually going to accelerate. Because we feel like ... there are very strong strategic opportunities we want to capitalize on.
