What happened
Shares of work-management software company Asana (ASAN 3.15%) jumped on Friday, benefiting from an upgrade by Wall Street. As of 2:30 p.m. ET, Asana stock was up 8.5%, but it had been up as much as 11% earlier in the trading session.
So what
Asana doesn't report financial results for the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2023 until March 8. But analyst Robert Simmons of DA Davidson isn't waiting to give his opinion about the company. According to CNBC, Simmons raised his outlook for Asana stock today, citing strong download data from third-party research company SensorTower.
Asana's software is cloud based and can be accessed by web browsers -- users don't have to use the mobile app. Free versions are also available. Therefore, while a potential increase in app downloads is encouraging, it's important to remember that this doesn't necessarily mean that this tech company is poised to deliver strong financial results.
Now what
For Q4, Asana is guiding for revenue of $144 million to $146 million, which would be about a 30% year-over-year increase. On one hand, 30% growth is good. On the other hand, it would be the company's slowest growth rate by far since it went public in 2020.
ASAN Revenue (Quarterly YoY Growth) data by YCharts.
If there's one thing Asana is doing well, it's attracting customers. The company ended its third quarter with over 135,000 paying customers, adding about 4,000 during Q3 alone. Given its past success, perhaps the data from SensorTower is indeed pointing to strong Q4 results.
Considering Asana stock is down about 88% from its all-time high, it seems expectations for the company are still low right now. Therefore, strong Q4 results could spark a positive reaction when it reports next week.
