Enterprise database software firm Couchbase Inc. saw its stock fall in extended trading today after posting its third-quarter financial results, wiping out some of its strong gains in the regular session.

The company reported a net loss of $15.9 million, or 29 cents per share, on total revenue of $30.8 million, up 20% from where it was a year ago. That was a bit better than expected, with Wall Street analysts modeling a loss of 36 cents per share on revenue of $29.42 million.

Couchbase’s stock had risen by almost 13% in the hours before the report was published, on a day when many tech stocks across the board roared back from recent declines. The stock was down just over 1% in after-hours trading.

Couchbase President and Chief Executive Matt Cain (pictured) said the company’s “strong” performance in the quarter was the result of its “ongoing large deal momentum” combined with the acceleration of its cloud business.

“We continue to see demand for our modern database as digital transformation remains a priority across industries, and are excited about the market opportunity for Capella which makes it faster and easier to consume Couchbase in the cloud,” the CEO said.

Couchbase also reported strong growth in its annual recurring revenue, which rose 21% from a year ago to $122.3 million. ARR is an important metric as far as investors are concerned because it shows how much revenue the company expects to repeat, meaning it serves as a measure of progress and also a prediction of future growth.

Couchbase, which only went public this summer, sells a popular NoSQL database that’s used to power enterprise applications. As opposed to traditional databases that can only accommodate either structured or unstructured data, Couchbase’s software can store both at the same time. It can function as a data cache, which allows enterprises to accomplish with one system what previously used to require three.

The company hosted its annual user conference, Couchbase ConnectONLINE, during the quarter, announcing a raft of updates that included the debut of Couchbase Capella, which is a fully managed and automated version of the on-premises Couchbase Server edition.

Looking ahead to the current quarter, Couchbase said it’s looking at revenue in a range of $33.9 million to $34.1 million. Its ARR forecast falls between $129 million and $130 million. Wall Street is looking for revenue of $33.36 million.

Constellation Research Inc. analyst Holger Mueller told SiliconANGLE that Couchbase is displaying a good level of growth based on strong demand for new innovations such as the Capella offering.

“This has led to healthy revenue growth in the 20% range, but its costs also rose faster, leading to a greater net loss,” the analyst said. “What that means is the management is either investing more money to fuel that growth, or it foresaw growth at an even higher clip, which could be likely as its guidance is better. All eyes will be on how the company performs in the fourth quarter.”

Cain spoke with Dave Vellante, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during the Couchbase ConnectONLINE event, where he discussed the growing enterprise need for a robust database service that allows applications to draw from structured and unstructured data:

Photo: SiliconANGLE