Internet security and content delivery network Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) beat analysts' expectations in Q4 FY2023, with revenue up 32% year on year to $362.5 million. The company expects next quarter's revenue to be around $373 million, in line with analysts' estimates. It made a non-GAAP profit of $0.15 per share, improving from its profit of $0.06 per share in the same quarter last year.
Is now the time to buy Cloudflare? Find out by reading the original article on StockStory.
Cloudflare (NET) Q4 FY2023 Highlights:
- Revenue: $362.5 million vs analyst estimates of $353 million (2.7% beat)
- EPS (non-GAAP): $0.15 vs analyst estimates of $0.12 (26.3% beat)
- Revenue Guidance for Q1 2024 is $373 million at the midpoint, roughly in line with what analysts were expecting
- Management's revenue guidance for the upcoming financial year 2024 is $1.65 billion at the midpoint, in line with analyst expectations and implying 27.2% growth (vs 33.1% in FY2023)
- Free Cash Flow of $50.72 million, up 45.4% from the previous quarter
- Gross Margin (GAAP): 77%, up from 75.3% in the same quarter last year
- Market Capitalization: $27.99 billion
Founded by two grad students of Harvard Business School, Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) is a software as a service platform that helps improve security, reliability and loading times of internet applications and websites.
Content DeliveryThe amount of content on the internet is exploding, whether it is music, movies and or e-commerce stores. Consumer demand for this content creates network congestion, much like a digital traffic jam which drives demand for specialized content delivery networks (CDN) services that alleviate potential network bottlenecks.
Sales GrowthAs you can see below, Cloudflare's revenue growth has been impressive over the last two years, growing from $193.6 million in Q4 FY2021 to $362.5 million this quarter.
Unsurprisingly, this was another great quarter for Cloudflare with revenue up 32% year on year. Quarter on quarter, its revenue increased by $26.87 million in Q4, which was roughly in line with the Q3 2023 increase. This steady growth shows that the company can maintain a strong growth trajectory.
Next quarter's guidance suggests that Cloudflare is expecting revenue to grow 28.5% year on year to $373 million, slowing down from the 36.8% year-on-year increase it recorded in the same quarter last year. For the upcoming financial year, management expects revenue to be $1.65 billion at the midpoint, growing 27.2% year on year compared to the 33% increase in FY2023.
Cash Is King If you've followed StockStory for a while, you know that we emphasize free cash flow. Why, you ask? We believe that in the end, cash is king, and you can't use accounting profits to pay the bills. Cloudflare's free cash flow came in at $50.72 million in Q4, up 50.7% year on year.
Key Takeaways from Cloudflare's Q4 Results It was good to see Cloudflare beat analysts' revenue expectations this quarter. It's full year guidance is showing the company is able to maintain a strong level of growth. And with free cash flow now in positive territory, the growth i is sustainable, Zooming out, we think this was a very solid quarter, showing that the company is staying on track. The stock is up 20.2% after reporting and currently trades at $115 per share.