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Box (BOX) Q4 Loss Narrower Than Expected, Revenues Match

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Box, Inc.’s (BOX - Free Report) fiscal fourth-quarter 2018 adjusted loss was 6 cents per share, lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Loss was 54% narrower on a sequential basis and 40% narrower than the year-ago quarter. The reported loss was lower than the guided range.

Revenues came in at $136.7 million, in line with the consensus mark. Revenues were within the guided range, increasing 7% sequentially and 25% year over year.

Following the fourth-quarter results, the share price plunged 23.3%. Also, the stock has gained only 10.8% in a year’s time, underperforming its industry’s gain of 30.4%.

During the fourth quarter, the company had 82,000 paid customers, up from 80,000 in the third quarter.

The company’s top-line growth was impacted by slowing growth in paid customers, partially offset by growing add-on products and positive contribution from its strategic partnerships.

Box is currently working on enriching its cloud content management and AI platforms. It has made some notable partnerships with Apple (AAPL - Free Report) and Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) .

The company’s rich technology partner ecosystem will continue to be a strong driving force behind its growth and we expect this to continue going forward.

Let’s delve deeper into the numbers.

Billings and Deferred Revenues

Billings were $204.6 million, up 28% year over year. Deferred revenues were $320.9 million, up 33% from the year-ago quarter.

Operating Results

Box’s operating expenses (general and administrative, sales and marketing, research and development) of $133.9 million increased 15% year over year.

On a non-GAAP basis, the company recorded operating loss of $7.5 million compared with $12.7 million a year ago. Operating margin was (5%) compared with (12%) in the year-ago quarter.

On a GAAP basis, the company recorded net loss of $32.7 million or loss of 24 cents per share compared with net loss of $36.9 million or loss of 28 cents per share a year ago.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

As of Dec 31, 2017, cash and cash equivalents, and accounts receivables balance were $208.1 million and $162.1 million, respectively, compared with $172.9 million and $95.9 million as of Oct 31, 2017.

Long-term debt was $40 million, flat with the previous quarter. During the quarter, cash provided by operations was $48.7 million and free cash flow was $13.3 million.

Outlook

For the first quarter of fiscal 2019, Box expects revenues between $139 million and $140 million. The Zacks consensus estimate is pegged at $143.6 million. On a non-GAAP basis, the company projects loss per share in the range of 9-8 cents. GAAP loss per share is expected within 28-27 cents per share.

For the fiscal year 2019, the company expects revenues of $605 million at its mid-point of guidance, well below expectations of $624 million.

Box, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

Box, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Box, Inc. Quote

Zacks Rank

Box has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). A better-ranked stock in the technology sector is Paycom Software, Inc. (PAYC - Free Report) , sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Paycom Software has a long-term earnings per share growth rate of 26%.

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