The stock market celebrated huge gains on Thursday, with investors reacting positively to news that the pace of consumer price increases, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, over the past 12 months slowed from where it had been the previous month.
It would be natural for the market to take a pause after such a huge move, but Wall Street seemed to be in a mood to keep the good times rolling, as futures contracts on popular stock indexes moved higher by another half a percent or so Friday morning.
The bear market during 2022 has hit a lot of companies hard, but IPO stocks have been among the worst performers. Yet many of those stocks did well on Thursday and look poised to keep advancing. In particular, shares of Doximity (DOCS -1.34%) and Toast (TOST 0.22%) jumped on Friday morning following positive news on the financial front. With investors reassured about the fundamental prospects for their respective businesses, both Doximity and Toast could be getting back their positive momentum, giving shareholders the chance to earn back some of their recent losses.
Doximity heals itself
Shares of Doximity were up nearly 20% on Friday morning, adding to gains of almost 10% from Thursday. The provider of a digital software platform for medical professionals in the U.S. market reported 2023 fiscal second-quarter results for the period ending Sept. 30 that included reaching a new milestone and continuing to move forward along its growth trajectory.
Doximity saw mixed results compared to year-ago levels. Revenue jumped 29% year over year, surpassing the $100 million mark for the first quarter in the company's history. However, Doximity's profits sagged somewhat, with adjusted earnings of $0.17 per share inching downward from the $0.19 per share the company posted a year ago for the second quarter of fiscal 2022.
Investors were pleased to see Doximity expressing confidence about its future. The company affirmed its full-year fiscal 2023 guidance, projecting revenue of between $424 million and $432 million. Moreover, Doximity's board of directors authorized an additional stock repurchase program, adding the ability to buy back as much as $70 million in stock over the next 12 months.
Some have feared that the weak advertising environment might spur less spending to reach out to healthcare professionals on Doximity's platform, which has been a notable component of the company's revenue. Yet with 370,000 clinicians using the telehealth service, Doximity's longer-term prospects look sound. Moreover, investors are pleased to see the stock move back above its $26 IPO price from June 2021.
Proposing a Toast
Elsewhere, shares of restaurant-focused digital platform provider Toast were up 11% early Friday, extending its 13% gain from Thursday's regular trading session. Third-quarter financial results from the company reflected the ongoing adoption of its platform across the industry, and even with restaurants struggling economically, Toast is finding ways to keep growing.
Toast's revenue jumped 55% during the quarter to $752 million, with an even stronger 60% rise in annualized recurring revenue. Gross payment volume was up 53% year over year to $25.2 billion, as Toast added tens of thousands of locations to boost its final tally to 74,000 restaurants. The company did lose money during the quarter, but net losses of $98 million were much narrower than the $254 million in red ink that Toast suffered in the third quarter of 2021.
Even better, Toast boosted its guidance for the full year. Fourth-quarter revenue is likely to come in between $730 million and $760 million, putting the restaurant software specialist in line to see 2022 sales of $2.692 billion to $2.722 billion. That's $62 million to $72 million higher than Toast's previous guidance, and it points to the resiliency of the business even in the face of extreme macroeconomic pressures among its clients.
Despite the gains, Toast stock remains well below the $40 per share the company fetched in its September 2021 IPO. If the restaurant technology pioneer can manage to keep helping its customers overcome the financial challenges that restaurants face right now, though, Toast has the chance to keep pressing higher.
