Data analysis company Splunk Inc. (SPLK: Quote) said Thursday its second quarter net loss widened from last year, as a higher spend on research and marketing, neutralized growth in revenues. Nonetheless, loss per share was narrower compared to Street analysts' estimates, while the topline surpassed their view.
Looking ahead to the fiscal year 2013, Splunk raised its revenue outlook, riding on the wave of an increased customer base, and the news propped its shares up by 13.0 percent in extended session on the Nasdaq.
Splunk, which went public in April this year, is part of an industry known as Big Data, which aggregates and analyzes information from an array of digital sources. It offers a namesake engine that collects, indexes, and harnesses machine data generated by physical, virtual or in the cloud IT infrastructure.
Like some other technology start-ups, Splunk has not recorded a profit. But the company posted strong revenue growth for the quarter, up 71 percent from a year ago, on robust licensing revenues.
San Francisco, California-based Splunk reported second quarter net loss of $4.6 million, compared to a loss of $3.9 million last year. However, on a per share basis, loss narrowed to $0.05 from $0.20 a year ago, reflecting a sharply higher share count.
Excluding items, loss for the quarter was $0.7 million or $0.01 per share, compared to loss of $2.6 million or $0.13 per share in the prior year.
On average, 12 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of $0.04 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Revenues for the quarter totaled $44.5 million, up from $26 million last year. Analysts estimated revenues of $39.84 million.
For the third quarter, Splunk expects revenues of $45 million to $47 million, while analysts currently expect $44.66 million.
For the fiscal year 2013, Splunk now expects revenues of $183 million to $186 million, compared to prior guidance of $174 million to $177 million. Analysts currently expect revenues of $178.28 million.
Splunk made its debut on the Nasdaq in April with a $229.5 million offering priced at $17 a share, which nearly doubled at opening to $32 apiece. On Thursday, the stock closed at $30.50, down 1.10%, on a volume of about 0.9 million shares. In after hours, the stock rallied $3.85 or 12.62%.
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by RTT Staff Writer
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