UPDATED 21:37 EDT / FEBRUARY 28 2019

BIG DATA

Wall Street darling Splunk easily tops earnings estimates

Big data analytics company Splunk Inc. further enhanced its reputation as one of Wall Street’s darlings today, reporting fourth-quarter earnings that easily topped estimates.

The company, which sells data analytics software that helps enterprises to make more informed business decisions, today posted a profit before certain costs such as stock compensation of 93 cents per share. Revenue came in at $622 million, up 35 percent from the year before. Wall Street analysts were expecting Splunk to report earnings of just 76 cents per share on revenue of $562.5 million.

Splunk’s performance was just the latest in a string of solid quarters that has helped drive its stock up more than 30 percent in the last year. Shareholders were once again happy to back the company, pushing its stock up 4 percent in after-hours trading today.

In a statement, Splunk Chief Executive Officer Doug Merritt (pictured) said the company’s success was mirrored by that of its customers. “Our customers are succeeding because they have access to their data through Splunk’s investigative capabilities and integrated monitoring, analysis and automation,” Merritt said.

The only real dampener for Splunk that may give cause for concern is its mysterious decision to pull out of Russia. Last week, the company said it will no longer be selling software and services to organizations in Russia, either directly or through partners. Existing contracts will be honored but not renewed, it said. It didn’t give a reason why it is pulling out.

Still, the Russian market is not exactly a critical one for Splunk, and whatever business is lost there will surely be offset by the rapid pace at which it’s acquiring new customers. Indeed, Splunk said it signed up more than 600 new enterprise customers in the quarter just gone.

That may explain why Splunk was raised its guidance for fiscal 2020. The company said it’s expecting full-year revenue of $2.2 billion, up from its earlier $2.15 billion forecast.

Splunk also projected first-quarter revenue of $395 million, just above the $393 million consensus forecast by analysts.

Photo: SiliconANGLE

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