Data integration company Talend SA beat revenue expectations for the first fiscal quarter of 2017, but missed on earnings per share, sending its stock down about 2 percent in after-hours trading.

Management issued an upbeat forecast, however, saying all the metrics that matter improved in the quarter. “We’re happy with the quarter,” said Chief Executive Mike Tuchen (pictured). “There’s a really nice pipeline lining up.” Talend also raised revenue expectations modestly for the full fiscal year.

Revenues of $32.9 million were up $10.1 million – or 44 percent – over the same quarter last year. Subscription revenues grew 47 percent and cloud- and big data-related revenue more than doubled year-over-year for the ninth quarter in a row.

The company reported a loss before certain costs such as stock compensation of 19 cents a share. Analysts had forecast a loss of only 16 cents a share.

But Talend continues to be cash flow-positive, fulfilling a pledge it made to investors when it went public a year ago. “We are committed to our plan to grow sales while remaining cash flow positive,” said Chief Financial Officer Thomas Tuchscherer. Significantly, enterprise bookings grew, with a 60 percent increase in customers spending more than $100,000 per year in annualized subscription revenue.

Cloud revenue continued to grow in line with enterprise customers’ migrations plans. “At some point this quarter, more than two-thirds of our business will come from the data and cloud,” Tuchen said. Microsoft Azure is growing particularly strongly and made up 30 percent of sales opportunities in the quarter, he said.

Talend said it expects revenue in the current quarter of between $34.8 million and $35.8 million, beating Wall Street forecasts. The company is predicting a net loss of 21 to 24 cents per share, compared with analysts’ forecast of 21 cents. For the fiscal year, Talend anticipates revenue of $144 million to $146 million and a net loss of 74 cents to 81 cents, both beating analysts’s previous forecasts.

The company also said it’s seeing evidence of weakening sales by competitors, based on hiring. Greeting a group of new hires for some of the company’s more-challenging technical positions, Tuchen said, “I was amazed to see how many are coming from our competitors.”

Photo: Talend