Payments software company Coupa Software Inc. topped Wall Street’s expectations in its fiscal second-quarter results today, but its stock fell after it posted disappointing guidance for the next quarter.

Coupa sells payment management software covers procurement, invoicing, sourcing and business expenses. Its software sits alongside enterprise resource planning software in the larger financial information technology stack. Benefits for customers include faster approvals routing, better invoice and purchase order matching, and centralized electronic payment routing to suppliers.

The company reported a profit before certain costs such as stock compensation of 21 cents per share on revenue of $125.9 million, up 32% from a year ago. Wall Street was expecting earnings of just 8 cents per share on revenue of $118.8 million.

Coupa said its subscription revenue grew 34%, to $111.6 million. Meanwhile, its net loss in the quarter came to $43.1 million, more than doubling a net loss of $20 million a year ago.

The numbers looked good, but investors were disappointed to see that Coupa was forecasting third-quarter earnings of just 2 to 3 cents per share on revenue of $123.5 million. Wall Street had forecast earnings of 5 cents per share on revenue of $122.3 million. Coupa’s stock fell nearly 5% in after-hours trading.

Coupa Chief Executive Rob Bernshteyn (pictured) said the company’s strong performance in the quarter underlines the importance its customers place on business resilience.

“We were proud to deliver record revenues and adjusted free cash flows during the quarter,” Bernshteyn said. “We also reached a new financial milestone, generating $100 million in adjusted free cash flows over the trailing twelve months, while continuing to assertively invest in our long-term success.”

Coupa added a number of new high-profile customers in the quarter, including Canfor Corp., Confluent Inc. and Tokyo Finance Australia.

The company announced a major update to its business spend management platform during the quarter, introducing new artificial intelligence-based features. They include a new automation tool that helps customers to improve their spending by pointing out if a certain expense is costing it more than average. It also provides recommendations on how to reduce those expenses.

Photo: Coupa