Business intelligence software firm Domo Inc. did an about-face today, announcing that founder and former Chief Executive Josh James has returned to the hot seat, replacing outgoing CEO John Mellor.

News of Domo’s executive reshuffle came as the company reported fourth-quarter financial results that beat Wall Street’s expectations. Despite that, the company’s stock fell 4% in after-hours trading.

Domo sells business intelligence software that makes it possible to integrate data from multiple sources and transform it into live visualizations that can inform business decision-makers. The company was founded by James (pictured) back in 2010, and he helped it become a major player in the BI software market, taking it public in 2018. However, he surprisingly stepped down from the CEO role one year ago, without providing any reason for doing so.

James was replaced last March by Mellor, who had served as Domo’s chief strategy officer since 2019.

Once again, Domo didn’t give any reasons for the switch, which will see Mellor depart the company after a transitional period. Domo Chair Carine Clark hailed the “positive imprint” he had left on the company, saying he stepped in as CEO at a critical time and helped improve its business through tighter internal alignment and various key hires.

James announced that he is “encouraged and invigorated” to return to his old role at Domo, saying that he intends to take the company to the next level. He also heaped praise on Mellor, saying: “Thanks to his hard work and stewardship, Domo has a sizable and healthy pipeline with strong demand for our products and services continuing into 2023.”

Domo also said it has hired David Jolley as its new chief financial officer, replacing Bruce Felt, who had previously announced he would be stepping down. Other leadership appointments include naming Jeff Skousen chief revenue officer and appointing Dan Strong and Renée Soto to the board.

The executive reshuffle almost drowned out the company’s positive financial results. Domo reported a net loss for the quarter of $19.8 million, down from the $33.2 million loss it recorded a year earlier. Its loss before certain costs such as stock compensation came to two cents per share, while revenue rose 14%, to $79.6 million. Wall Street had been targeting a bigger loss of nine cents per share on lower revenue of $77.5 million.

For the full year, Domo posted a net loss of $105.6 million, widening slightly from the $102.1 million loss it reported in the previous year. Revenue for the year rose 20%, to $308.6 million.

For the current quarter, Domo is forecasting a loss of between 15 and 19 cents per share, higher than the 12-cent-per-share loss forecast by Wall Street. It’s also guiding for revenue of between $78.5 million and $79.5 million, the midpoint of which is just below the analysts’ consensus estimate of $79.5 million.

“Domo had a good year, despite all the challenges in the economy, growing by around 20% and breaking the $300 million in full year revenue barrier,” said Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. “Its expectations are lowered for 2023 with less than 10% growth expected. That might be a disappointment for some, as low code data apps really should perform better in 2023. Let’s see if founder Josh James and the new management team can help grow Domo faster.”

Photo: Domo