Experience management software provider Qualtrics International Inc. today reported its first quarterly financial results since going public in January, beating expectations on profit and posting revenue that was in line with analysts’ forecasts.

The company reported a fourth-quarter loss before certain costs such as stock compensation of 2 cents per share on revenue of $213.6 million, up 24% from a year ago. Wall Street had been looking at a wider loss of 4 cents per share on revenue of $213.5 million.

Qualtrics sells a cloud-based experience management software that companies use to collect feedback from their various stakeholders. For example, human resources departments rely on Qualtrics to ask employees their opinions on topics such as the effectiveness of the new hire onboarding process. Product teams also use Qualtrics to measure customer satisfaction and find new market opportunities.

The company launched its initial public offering in January, raising more than $1.5 billion on its stock market debut as its share price jumped 45% on that first day of trading. It had taken a rather long and convoluted path to going public, having originally planned to list in 2018, only to be acquired by the enterprise software giant SAP SE days before its debut.

But just two years later, SAP announced it would partially spin off the company in order to “increase its opportunity.” SAP remains the company’s largest shareholder.

Qualtrics Chief Executive Zig Serafin (pictured) told investors that the company’s mission to help others design and continuously improve the experiences they deliver has never been more relevant, and that this was reflected in its “outstanding results.”

“We’re innovating faster than ever before to make our more than 13,500 customers successful, and we’re well-positioned for continued strong growth in 2021,” Serafin added.

Qualtric’s report provided some additional metrics for investors to digest, saying that its subscription revenue for the quarter jumped 33%, to $160.4 million. It added that its remaining performance obligation, which is a measure of software sales that have not yet been billed, shot up 78%.

Analyst Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. told SiliconANGLE that he thinks Qualtrics did well in its first quarter as an independent company, showing strong growth and increasing its profitability, even though it posted a net loss overall. He said that due to its small reductions in research and development and sales and marketing spending, plus the huge savings it has made with its general and administrative expenses, it has a real shot at turning over a net profit in its next full year.

“What Qualtrics needs to do now is continue to deliver on its vision and find additional revenue drivers for experience management,” Mueller said. “The next year, 2021, will be crucial for the vendor.”

For the first quarter Qualtrics is expecting a loss of 2 to 4 cents per share on revenue of $226 million to $228 million. That’s better than expected, with Wall Street analysts modeling a 4-cent-per-share loss on revenue of $220 million.

For the full year, Qualtrics iss forecasting a loss of 16 to 18 cents per share on revenue of $950 million to $954 million. Again, that was better than Wall Street’s forecast of a 19-cent loss on revenue of $932 million.

Qualtrics’ stock fell 2% in after-hours trading.

Photo: SiliconANGLE