What happened
Shares of nCino (NCNO) were up about 17% as of noon EDT today. Second-quarter sales came in higher than expected, prompting an increase in management's full fiscal year 2022 expectations (for the 12-month period that will end in January 2022). The cloud-computing-based banking platform is doing well this year in spite of lapping the sharp uptick in sales last year during the pandemic, which sent a stampede of financial institutions scrambling to update their operations for a new digital era.
So what
Specifically, nCino reported second-quarter sales of $66.5 million, up 36% from a year ago and topping its previous outlook for revenue as high as $64 million. Through the first half of the current fiscal year, free cash flow was a positive $19.6 million. That was down from the $29 million generated during the same time frame last year, but this is a growing business that's funneling excess cash back into sales and marketing efforts. Even so, it's an efficient operation. Free cash flow profit margin was 15% during the first half of this year.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
As for the outlook, nCino upped full-year revenue expectations to a range of $263 million to $264 million (it was $258 million to $260 million previously). Based on this forecast, the stock now trades for nearly 27 times expected full-year sales.
It's a premium price tag, but nCino has a promising future. Even the largest banks are finding the small software outfit a worthy partner in executing their digital transformation. During the last quarter alone, a new commercial banking deal was inked with Wells Fargo, a relationship with U.S. Bank was expanded to help with its wholesale bank lending division, and nCino made its entrance into France partnering with a top institution there.
Both here in the states and abroad, financial organizations need a digital upgrade, and nCino and its platform (built and partnered with Salesforce's software suite) are in high demand. The steep price tag on the stock means volatility will remain a constant for now, but it is at least proving it's far more than a one-off pandemic winner.
