Cloud communications services provider Twilio Inc. saw its stock jump almost 25% in after-hours trading today after posting fiscal first quarter financial results and guidance for the next period that blew past analysts’ forecasts.

The company’s stock is now at a new all-time high, surpassing its record $149.95 close in July 2019.

For the first quarter, Twilio reported a profit before certain costs such as stock compensation of 6 cents per share on revenue of $364.9 million, up 57% from a year ago.

Wall Street had forecast an adjusted loss of 11 cents per share on revenue of just $331.88 million.

“In many ways Twilio was built for this moment,” Twilio Chief Executive Jeff Lawson (pictured) said in a conference call with analysts. He noted that while the company saw a decline with ride-sharing customers such as Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. during the quarter, it also saw an increase in use of its services from telehealth and distributed contact center customers.

Altogether, Twilio now counts more than 190,000 active customer accounts as of March 31, up 23% from a year ago.

For the second quarter, Twilio is forecasting a loss of between eight and 11 cents cents per share on revenue of $367 million to $370 million. That was better than Wall Street’s forecast of 13-cent loss on revenue of $336.9 million.

The company declined to provide any full-year guidance, citing uncertainty from the coronavirus.

“Given the strength of our balance sheet, as well as the size of the opportunity in front of us, our intention is to continue investing through the cycle,” Twilio Chief Financial Officer Khozema Shipchandler said on the call. “We believe this is in the best interest of Twilio and our stakeholders and will continue to generate elevated growth outcomes for the foreseeable future, enabling us to come out of this current environment in an even stronger position.”

With large parts of the world’s population required to shelter in place, business models are going digital faster and more consistently than ever, Constellation Research Inc. analyst Holger Mueller told SiliconANGLE.

“It’s almost like digital transformation is the biggest benefactor of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the analyst said. “The other winners are software vendors that enable digital communication, and in that respect, Twilio is very well-placed to take advantage of the trend, as it latest numbers show. The only question is, how much can Twilio grow next quarter?”

Photo: JD Lasica/Flickr