What happened

Shares of Braze (BRZE 2.53%) were trading up 10.3% as of 12:20 p.m. ET on Tuesday, following a better-than-expected earnings report. The gain is notable since the worries over the economy continued to weigh on the major market indexes. The S&P 500 index was down 0.2% at the time of this writing.

Year to date, expensive growth stocks have been hit the hardest by the bear market. The stock is down 30%, but it's worth noting that Braze has outperformed the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite loss of 58%. 

So what

Braze is a leading customer management platform that helps companies connect with customers to better understand their needs. The company entered the year with over 1,300 customers using its platform to process customer data and manage and optimize their marketing campaigns. Braze grew its customer count to 1,503 in the first quarter, which led to robust revenue growth of 62% year over year. 

Braze reported its third consecutive quarter of more than 60% revenue growth.  It won new business with Pizza Hut (Australia), Little Spoon, Mercari, and PaulCamper (Germany) in the quarter. 

The company maintained a dollar-based retention rate of 127%. It has been very consistent in keeping the retention rate above 125% in recent quarters, which shows customers are continuing to spend on additional services.

Even more telling was that the retention rate for customers spending more than $500,000 is higher at 133%, although the dollar-based retention for larger customers dipped 130 basis points year over year, or 1.3 percentage points. 

Now what

Management is optimistic about demand trends, as CEO William Magnuson noted on the earnings call: "Zooming out to our market, we believe the opportunity for customer engagement platforms has never been stronger as businesses increasingly prioritize customer-led growth."  

The company guided for approximately 45% year-over-year revenue growth for the fiscal second quarter and full year. While that looks soft compared to recent growth trends, management noted that guidance factors in risk adjustments for new business and renewals that have yet to close.