Workday Loss Below Estimates; Again Lifts FY Guidance

(RTTNews) - Cloud software provider Workday Inc (WDAY), Wednesday reported a wider loss for the second quarter, hurt by operating expenses that offset robust growth in revenue. Excluding items, loss was lower to Wall Street estimates, and revenue surpassed expectations.

Nevertheless, the company again lifted its revenue guidance for the full year.

Workday, based in Pleasanton, California, operates as a cloud-based human resource and financial management software vendor. The company went public last October in an impressive initial public offering.

While Workday has recorded revenue growth over the past quarters and added new customers, its results have been bogged down by stock-based compensation expense and other costs.

For the second quarter, Workday posted a net loss of $69 million or $0.38 per share, compared with a loss of $36 million or $0.21 per share last year.

Results for the quarter include $40.8 million of stock-based compensation expense, among other items.

Excluding items, adjusted loss for the second quarter was $0.11 per share, compared with a loss of $0.13 per share a year ago.

On average, 24 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of $0.14 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenue for the second quarter surged to $186.8 million from $107.6 million in the prior year. Twenty-two analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $177.45 million.

Total expenses for the quarter climbed to $248.5 million from $140 million last year.

For the third quarter, Workday projects revenue of $200 million to $205 million, while analysts expect $195.6 million.

For fiscal year 2015, the company now expect revenue of $760 million to $770 million, up from prior range of $730 million to $750 million. Analysts currently expect revenue of $748.7 million for the year.

Workday stock closed Wednesday at $90.30, down $0.48 or 0.53%, on a volume of 2 million shares on the NYSE. In after hours, the stock gained $0.70 or 0.78%, trading at $91.00.