CrowdStrike (CRWD) stock jumps as Q4 results beat; loss narrows

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) reported a narrower net loss for the fourth quarter, aided by strong revenue growth. The results also topped the Street view and the company’s stock gained during Thursday’s after-hours trading session.

Net loss, on an adjusted basis, narrowed to $3.9 million or $0.02 per share from $28.0 million or $0.60 per share in the fourth quarter of 2019. Analysts were looking for a wider loss. Reported loss was $0.14 per share, compared to $0.67 per share last year.

Revenues Beat

The positive bottom-line performance reflects an 89% surge in revenues to $152.1 million, which is far above the consensus estimate. There was a 90% growth in subscription revenue, while annual recurring revenue climbed 92% to $600.5 million.

The total number of customers more than doubled from last year and came in at 5,431 at the end of January. Around 870 new subscribers were added in the fourth quarter alone.

“Throughout this past year, we continued to execute on the increasing demand we see in the market and the Security Cloud vision we pioneered. Looking into fiscal 2021 and beyond, the powerful combination of our cloud-native platform and frictionless go-tomarket positions us well as the fundamental endpoint platform for the future,” said George Kurtz.

Outlook

For the first quarter of 2021, the management forecasts adjusted net loss in the range of $0.07 per share to $0.06 per share, on revenues of $164.3-$167.6 million. Loss from operations, excluding one-off items, is expected to be between $16.2 million and $1.39 million.

For the whole of 2021, CrowdStrike expects adjusted loss in the range of $0.14 per share to $0.10 per share. Revenues are estimated to be in the range of $723.3 million to $733.5 million in 2021.

New Tech Head

The company also announced the promotion of Michael Sentonas to the post of chief technology officer. Most recently, Sentonas served as vice president of technology strategy.

The technology industry is going through a major crisis as investors continue to withdraw from the markets, scared by covid-19, and CrowdStrike is no exception. The company’s stock, which lost 14% since the beginning of the year, made strong gains Thursday evening following the announcement.