Electronic signature company DocuSign Inc. can be thankful to the COVID-19 pandemic for helping it smash its earnings and revenue targets once again.

The company today reported a fiscal fourth-quarter profit before certain costs such as stock compensation of 37 cents per share on revenue of $430.9 million, up 57% from the same period a year ago. That was some way ahead of Wall Street’s forecast of 24 cents per share in earnings on $408 million in revenue.

DocuSign also provided strong guidance for the next quarter and the year ahead, but apparently not strong enough for investors, since its stock lost almost 4% of its value in the after-hours trading session, though it had risen almost 6% in the regular session.

The company sells digital tools that make it possible to sign documents electronically without needing to meet face-to-face. It’s a capability that has proven extremely useful for many businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, where doing deals by remote has by and large become the norm.

DocuSign’s subscription revenue grew even faster than the total, rising 59% from a year ago, to $410 million. Total revenue for the year rose 49%, to $1.5 billion.

DocuSign Chief Executive Dan Springer (pictured) acknowledged that fiscal 2021 was a “milestone year” for the company. “We became a pillar of the ‘anywhere economy’ that lets people increasingly do anything in life and work from anywhere,” he said.

The e-signature provider shows no sign of letting up anytime soon, either. Billings, which are an indication of future business, jumped 46% in the quarter, to $535 million.

Analyst Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. told SiliconANGLE that when people are forced to do business remotely, it’s only natural that an electronic signature business such as DocuSign’s will thrive. He said its revenue growth of more than 50% was impressive and that it hit a major milestone by topping $1 billion in revenue.

“The challenge for the company has been to manage this growth, as its key cost drivers grew faster than revenue, making the vendor less profitable,” Mueller said. “In 2021 DocuSign will have to show better cost management amid its stellar growth.”

DocuSign provided guidance for the next quarter and full year that easily topped Wall Street’s models. For the first quarter it’s forecasting revenue of between $432 million and $436 million, versus the analyst consensus of $419 million.

For its full fiscal 2022, DocuSign sees revenue in the range of $1.963 billion to $1.973 billion, far ahead of Wall Street’s forecast of $1.46 billion.

Photo: DocuSign