Shares in the network security and internet traffic management firm Cloudflare Inc. jumped more than 10% in after-hours trading today after it posted third-quarter earnings and revenue that easily topped analysts’ forecasts.

The company, which is based in San Francisco, reported a loss before certain costs such as stock compensation of 2 cents per share on revenue of $114.2 million, up 54% from a year ago. Wall Street had expected Cloudflare to report a bigger loss of 5 cents per share on revenue of $103.2 million.

Cloudflare operates an intelligent global network that helps websites deal with security, video streaming and traffic management issues, serving both corporate and consumer markets. The company has stepped up its efforts to grab a bigger slice of the lucrative enterprise security market, launching an expansive suite of new zero-trust based cybersecurity and networking tools in October that it said would help companies to protect their remote workers more effectively.

Protecting remote workers is a big consideration for many enterprises today as the COVID-19 pandemic forces more people to work from home, and it looks as if Cloudflare is benefiting from that. During the quarter just gone, Cloudflare said it added about 100 “net large enterprise customers.”

Cloudflare co-founder and Chief Executive Matthew Prince (pictured, with co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Michelle Zatlyn) said the company hit several milestones in the quarter just gone, surpassing $100 million in revenue and crossing the 100,000 paying customer threshold for the first time.

“I’m incredibly proud that we exceeded financial, customer, and innovation milestones, all while providing our services, at no cost, to state and local governments to ensure that cyberattacks don’t disrupt the United States 2020 elections,” Prince said.

Cloudflare’s success is likely to carry on into the next three-month period too. For the fourth quarter, it said it expects a loss of 3 to 4 cents per share on revenue of $118 million, versus Wall Street’s forecast of a 5-cent loss on revenue of $112.4 million.

Photo: Cloudflare