As cloud-based information security company Zscaler Inc. wrapped up its fiscal year today, it topped expectations on earnings and revenue with its fourth-quarter results.

The company reported a profit before certain costs of 5 cents per share on revenue of $125.9 million, up 46% from a year ago. Wall Street had expected earnings of 3 cents per share on revenue of $118.5 million.

Zscaler, which sells cloud-based security tools, has become increasingly popular with companies forced to move quickly to cloud architectures to support people working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company sells cloud-based web security gateways that inspect customer traffic for malware. It provides its services via 150 data centers located around the world.

Zscaler’s closest rivals, such as Fortinet Inc., sell firewall products that aim to secure virtual private networks. But the Zscaler Private Access service replaces VPNs altogether.

Zscaler has enjoyed rapid growth this year as more employees shift to working from home, forcing companies to upgrade or replace their VPNs to support remote access. The company’s stock has more than tripled in the past six months, though it barely moved in after-hours trading today.

Jay Chaudhry (pictured), Zscaler’s chairman and chief executive, said digital transformation is fueling rapid adoption of the company’s products.

“In the new work-from-anywhere economy, where legacy network and security is an inhibitor, organizations are turning to our Zero Trust Exchange for the right architecture to enable success and create competitive advantage in this cloud and mobile world,” Chaudhry said.

Zscaler reported $194.9 million in billings in the quarter. Billings is an important metric that investors tend to look for, since it reflects expected long-term revenue under contracts signed during the quarter. For the full year, Zscaler reported total revenue of $431.3 million.

Zscaler’s guidance looks promising too, with the company saying it expects first-quarter revenue of between $131 million and $133 million, above the analyst forecast of $126.65 million. For the full year, Zscaler anticipates revenue of $580 million to $590 million, ahead of Wall Street’s $557.83 million forecast.

Zscaler’s Chaudhry appeared last year on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE’s video studio, where he talked the advantages of securing user access to applications:

Photo: SiliconANGLE