Shares in Palantir Technologies Inc. surged in late trading after the big-data analytics company beat analyst expectations and reported its first-ever profitable quarter.

For the fourth quarter that ended Dec. 31, Palantir reported adjusted earnings per share of four cents, up from two cents in the same quarter of last year, on revenue of $509 million, up 18% year-over-year. Analysts had expected earnings per share of three cents on revenue of $502 million.

Net income came in at $31 million, marking the first time Palanatir has had a quarter of positive net income. Commercial revenue grew 11% year-over-year, to $215 million, while government revenue rose 22%, to $293 million.

Palantir’s customer count rose 55% year-over-year and 9% over the previous quarter. U.S. commercial customers grew 79% year-over-year, to 143 at the end of the fourth quarter. Cash from operations came in at $79 million, representing a 15% margin.

In the quarter, Palantir closed 55 deals, 11 of which were at least $5 million and five that were at least $10 million. The company ended the quarter with $2.6 billion in cash with no debt.

“With this result, Palantir is profitable,” Alex Karp, co-founder and chief executive officer of Palantir, said in a statement. “This is a significant moment for us and our supporters.”

For its full fiscal year 2022, Palantir reported adjusted EPS of six cents on revenue of $1.9 billion, up 24% year-over-year. Total customers rose 55% to 237 and the company closed 976 deals, up 61%.

In a letter to shareholders, Karp said that “our commitment to and relentless focus on the long term at times has required patience” and that “at other times, as our profitability demonstrates, we will deliver results at a rate that surpasses even the expectations of those who believed that we would prevail. We expect to generate a profit for the current fiscal year, our first profitable year in the history of our company.”

Palantir expects revenue of $503 million to $507 million in the first quarter and $2.18 billion to $2.23 billion for the full year 2023. Both were surprisingly misses, with analysts having expected $520 million and $2.29 billion, respectively.

Despite the misses in its outlook, Palantir’s strong quarterly results, its first profit and a commitment to a profitable year in 2023 were well received by investors, and its stock jumped 16% in late trading.

Photo: Cory Doctorow/Flickr