UPDATED 20:24 EST / AUGUST 06 2020

CLOUD

Dropbox beats earnings targets as its CFO makes for the exit

Cloud storage services provider Dropbox Inc. delivered another strong quarterly performance thanks to rising demand for its software amid the coronavirus-related shift to working from home.

The company also announced that its longtime Chief Financial Officer Ajay Vashee will leave next month. News of his departure sent its stock tumbling in extended trading.

Dropbox reported a second-quarter profit before certain costs such as stock compensation of 4 cents per share on revenue of $467.4 million, up 16% from a year ago. Wall Street had forecast a loss of 2 cents per share on revenue of $465 million.

Dropbox sells cloud-based software that’s used by companies to sync and share files over the internet. Demand for its services has grown throughout the coronavirus pandemic, as more employees are forced to collaborate remotely while working from home.

Chief Executive Drew Houston (pictured) said the company’s second-quarter results underscored how important its technology had become during the pandemic.

“Our Q2 results are a testament to our teams’ hard work supporting our customers in this new environment,” Houston said. “Over the past quarter, we introduced a number of products to help facilitate distributed work, addressing both team and personal use cases. With solid revenue growth, robust margin expansion, and continued GAAP profitability, we remain confident in the resiliency of our business.”

Dropbox reported that it now has 15 million paying customers, up from 13.6 million in the same period one year ago. Its revenue per average user has risen too, growing from $120.48 to $126.88 since the same quarter last year.

Analyst Charles King of Pund-IT Inc. told SiliconANGLE that Dropbox is one of several cloud companies to prosper due to new work-from-home trends.

“The company beat analysts’ estimates and grew its paying user base by over 10% year-over-year,” King said. “That’s all to the good and bodes well for the coming quarters as work-from-home trends seem likely to continue.”

Constellation Research Inc. analyst Holger Mueller agreed, saying Dropbox is benefiting from an acceleration in digitization that the pandemic has created. “It’s now down to Dropbox to manage growth and keep its offering relevant and attractive for the rapidly changing future of work and newly digitally empowered consumer,” he added.

Despite the strong performance, the company’s stock fell more than 5% of its value after it announced CFO Vashee’s impending departure.

Vashee, who has been with Dropbox for more than eight years, will step down from the company next month. Luckily for Dropbox, it has a ready-made replacement in Tim Regan, who is currently serving as the firm’s chief accounting officer. Vashee will stay on in an advisory capacity until mid-October in order to help ensure a smooth transition.

King told SiliconANGLE it isn’t clear if news of Vashee’s departure was related to the after-hours selloff. He said investors are often leery of major C-suite changes, especially if the executive concerned has played a major role in the company’s success.

“But Vashee’s move looks well-executed and his replacement, Tim Regan should have what it takes to be a solid CFO,” King said. “Overall, Dropbox deserves credit for a well-considered and well-orchestrated executive transition.”

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