Why Couchbase Stock Rocked the Market on Wednesday

Cloud database specialist Couchbase (BASE 7.92%) enjoyed a nice jump in share price on Wednesday following the release of its latest set of quarterly and annual financial results for fiscal 2024. Investors rewarded the company for its better-than-expected quarter by pushing the stock's price up by 4%. That was a far higher rise than the 0.5% advance of the S&P 500 index.

Convincing beats on the top and bottom lines for the fourth quarter

In said quarter, Couchbase took in revenue of slightly over $50 million. That was 20% higher than in the same period of 2022 and almost entirely comprised of subscription revenue. On the bottom line, the company narrowed its non-GAAP (adjusted) net loss considerably. This amounted to a bit more than $2.9 million ($0.06 per share), against the more than $8 million deficit in the year-ago quarter.

Both headline figures well exceeded the average analyst estimate -- hence, the positive reaction from the market. The consensus for revenue was just under $45.6 million and adjusted net loss of $0.14 per share.

Couchbase saw notable success the old-fashioned way -- by winning more business for its services. Annual recurring revenue (ARR), a key financial metric indicating the "stickiness" of a tech service company's offerings, rose by a sturdy 25% in 2024, compared to the previous year.

The growth train should continue to roll on

Couchbase also provided guidance for its current (first) quarter and the entirety of fiscal 2025. For the latter period, it's modeling $203 million to $207 million in revenue. If achieved, that would be a double-digit improvement over fiscal 2024's $180 million. That's on the back of an anticipated rise in ARR. The company believes this will land at $235.5 million to $240.5 million, against this past fiscal year's $204.2 million.

Finally, the specialty tech company is forecasting that its non-GAAP operating loss for the year will narrow to $22.5 million to $27.5 million, versus the fiscal 2024 shortfall of $31.3 million.

Couchbase did not provide any guidance for net loss.