The headlines surrounding the devastating coronavirus pandemic, which has so far infected more than 4 million people worldwide and killed approximately 291,964 people, have been the main driver of market sentiment in recent months.
A warning of the highest infectious disease in the US. expert Anthony Fauci said the untimely reopening of the U.S. economy from coronavirus infections hit the markets on Tuesday, causing stocks to sell out. However, compared to COVID-19, there are more than a few technology companies showing signs of growth.
Below we focus on three leading names in cloud software, which, after their latest quarterly earnings reports, are worth considering.
1. Twilio
Twilio (NYSE 🙂 skyrocketed the EPS and earnings consensus estimates when it released fiscal Q1 earnings on May 6 due to increased demand to the cloud communications platform of telehealth and education companies amid widespread lockdowns due to the corona virus.
"In many ways, Twilio is built for the moment, we provide the three things businesses need to accelerate their digital plans," Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson said during the company's post conference call.
The San Francisco-based company reported an adjusted earnings per share of 6 cents, which disrupted expectations for a loss of 11 cents per share. Revenue increased to $ 364.9 million from the same quarter a year earlier.
Since earnings were reported last week, the stock has risen a whopping 55% to a record high of $ 197.00 on Tuesday, before ending at $ 190.29 with a market cap of approximately $ 26.65 billion. The shares have risen 93.6% year-on-year, compared to an annual profit of 0.3%.
Twilio & # 39; s active customer accounts also maintained a scorching growth rate, increasing by nearly 23% year-on-year to 190,000 by the end of the quarter.
While demand weakened in the quarter from several of its top clients, including taxi companies Uber (NYSE 🙂 and LYFT (NASDAQ :), more use was made of cloud-based services by call centers, education companies, healthcare and food delivery companies.
For the second quarter, Twilio's forecast called for revenues of between $ 365 and $ 370 million, well ahead of consensus estimates for sales of only $ 336.9 million.
Despite significant gains so far this year, Twilio's stock still looks attractive in the future, given the strong demand for its cloud-based communications platform, making it one of the true leaders in its field.
2. Shopify
Shopify (NYSE 🙂 reported on May 6 a sample of its first quarterly earnings and revenue figures, as demand for the booming e-commerce software platform is increased.
The company, which allows merchants to build online stores and manage their brands, saw new stores on the platform increase by 62% between March 13 and April 24 as many physical companies migrated online.
Shares of the Ottawa-based company rose to a record high of $ 770.90 yesterday before hitting $ 742.28. The stock has gained 86% to date in 2020, giving it a market capitalization of $ 87.0 billion.
Shopify reported adjusted earnings per share for the first quarter of 19 cents, against earnings per share of 9 cents in the same period last year. Analysts are bracing for a loss of 19 cents per share. Revenue increased 47% year-over-year to $ 470.0 million, which was above the estimated $ 320.5 million.
Gross trade volume, a key measure used in the e-commerce industry to measure transaction volumes, increased 46% to $ 17.4 billion, well exceeding the estimates of $ 16.6 billion.
"While the COVID-19 pandemic has dampened global trade and put pressure on small and medium-sized businesses in particular, it has accelerated the shift from buying behavior to e-commerce," Shopify said in a release.
Although Shopify did not provide any prospects for the coming quarters, we expect inventory to increase as consumers change their shopping habits in the aftermath of the corona virus.
3. Paycom Soft
Paycom Soft (NYSE 🙂 continued its success and beat analyst expectations when it released cloud-based human resource management software on April 28 saw who bumped the demand for his services.
Shares of the Oklahoma City-based company, which closed for $ 263.45 last night for each of its quarterly reports since its initial public offering in 2014. The stock has gained 11% since reporting its results at the end of last month, giving it a market capitalization of approximately $ 15.43 billion.
The HR management software company said adjusted earnings per share were $ 1.33, up 12% from the first quarter of 2019. Revenue was up 21% to $ 242.4 million, which exceeds analyst expectations of $ 238.6 million as new business wins and the high margin recurring revenue business drives results.
"I am proud of our excellent first quarter results and continued success in acquiring new customers," said Paycom founder and CEO Chad Richison, adding that he sees the corona virus crisis as an opportunity to gain market share.
"The pandemic exposes seams created by the disparate systems, driving increased demand for the Paycom single database solution," Richison said in Paycom's first-quarter earnings call.
With reference to uncertainty about the economic and business Essential conditions of its customers, Paycom withdrew its full year 2020 outlook.
Nevertheless, we expect the company to continue to thrive in customer acquisition as it positions itself as a leader in providing cloud-based human resource software solutions.
