What happened
Healthcare benefits navigator Accolade's (ACCD -14.15%) stock won the best accolade possible on the market, with a big share price move upwards from happy investors. This followed the release of the company's latest set of quarterly earnings. At the end of trading on Friday, the stock was up by nearly 7%, trouncing the 1.2% bump of the S&P 500 index.
So what
Accolade published the financial details of its first quarter of fiscal 2024, revealing that its revenue rose 9% year over year to hit $93.2 million. It booked a net loss, but this was considerably narrower on a comparative basis. It was $38.4 million ($0.52 per share), according to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) standards; in the year-ago period, the shortfall was nearly $343 million.
Both headline numbers were well above analyst projections. On average, pundits following the stock were expecting Accolade to post just under $90.3 million on the top line and a net loss of $0.62 per share.
In the earnings release, the company attributed its improvements to a recent change in its business strategy. It quoted CFO Steve Barnes as saying, "Our One Accolade initiative is creating a more streamlined organization, benefiting overall costs, decision making and strategic planning."
Now what
Accolade is obviously confident that this approach will continue to reap rewards. The company raised its revenue and non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) guidance.
It now believes it will earn $93 million to $95 million in its current (second) quarter and post negative EBITDA of $11 million to $14 million. For the entirety of fiscal 2024, it has forecasted revenue of $410 million to $414 million and negative EBITDA of $6 million to $12 million.
