Tableau Software Surges 10% As Q3 Results Top Estimates

(RTTNews) - Shares of Tableau Software, Inc. (DATA) surged more than 10 percent in extended trading on Wednesday after the business analytics software provider reported results for the third quarter that topped analysts' expectations.

However, the company reported a net loss for the quarter compared to a profit last year, reflecting higher stock-based compensation expense and nearly double operating expenses.

"Tableau delivered excellent financial performance in the third quarter. Total revenue for the third quarter exceeded $100 million for the first time, demonstrating continued momentum in the business," CEO Christian Chabot said in a statement.

The Seattle, Washington-based company reported a net loss of $4.63 million or $0.07 per share for the third quarter, compared to net income of $2.44 million or $0.03 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted net income for the quarter was $3.88 million or $0.06 per share, compared to $5.55 million or $0.08 per share in the year-ago quarter.

On average, 18 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report a loss of $0.06 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Total revenues for the quarter surged 71 percent to $104.47 million from $61.08 million in the same quarter last year, driven by strong customer growth and product adoption, and topped seventeen Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $94.44 million.

License revenue surged 66 percent to $69.76 million, as well as maintenance and service revenues nearly doubled to $34.71 million from 19.1 million in the year-ago quarter. International revenue was up 115 percent year-over-year to $24.1 million.

The company added more than 2,500 new customer accounts during the quarter, and closed 200 sales orders greater than $100,000, up 68% year-over-year.

Gross margin for the quarter contracted 160 basis points to 90.9 percent from last year's 92.5 percent. Total operating expenses nearly doubled to grew to $98.70 million from $53.97 million in the prior-year quarter.

"We continue to invest in product innovation in support of our mission. At our annual Tableau Conference, we unveiled innovations we are working on, including some that are slated for Tableau 9.0. We plan to further develop our cloud and mobile offerings, extend our enterprise capabilities, expand our analytics functionality, and expand our support for data sources and platforms," Chabot added.

DATA closed Wednesday's regular trading session at $76.50, down $3.99 or 4.96% on a volume of 2.18 million shares. However, the stock surged $7.97 or 10.42% in after-hours trading.