What happened
Shares of Varonis Systems (VRNS +0.21%), a data analytics and security company, were plunging this morning after the company reported its first-quarter results and issued full-year guidance that was below Wall Street's expectations. The tech stock was down by 15.8% as of 11:55 a.m. ET.
So what
Varonis reported a non-GAAP loss per share of $0.09 in the quarter -- which was larger than the $0.08 loss in the year-ago quarter but beat analysts' consensus estimate of a loss of $0.10 per share.
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The company's first-quarter sales of $96.3 million were up 29% from the year-ago quarter, which just slightly beat Wall Street's average estimate of $96 million for the quarter.
But investors were disappointed with the company's full-year guidance. Despite Varonis reiterating its full-year revenue guidance range of between $485 million to $490 million -- an increase of 25% year over year at the midpoint -- investors didn't like that the low end of the range fell below analysts' expectation of $489.3 million in sales for the year.
Now what
The stock market has been on a wild ride over the past six months, and technology stocks, including Varonis, have been especially volatile. The company's share price is down 40% over this period. While the company's first-quarter results weren't all that bad, investors are likely worried that rising inflation and a potential upcoming rate hike by the Federal Reserve could slow down growth for tech stocks.
With lots of pessimism in the market right now, Varonis investors may be skeptical that the company will be able to beat Wall Street's expectations for the full year.
