Box Posts Stronger-Than-Expected Results

Box Inc. said its loss widened as the software and cloud storage company continued its spending push, in its second quarterly report as a public company.

Shares rose 8.1% to $19.23 in recent after-hours trading as the results beat expectations and the company raised its revenue outlook for the year.

The California-based company went public in January at $14 a share and surged 66% on its first day of trading, but shares have declined 23% percent since that time, on concerns about competition.

Canaccord Genuity Inc. analyst Richard Davis Jr. suggested in a research note that larger companies, including Google Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. or EMC Corp could simply bundle and give away cloud storage similar to what Box does for free as part of a broader feature suite. If they did, Box could evaporate.

For the quarter ended April 30, Box reported a loss of $47.3 million, compared with a year-earlier loss of $38.5 million. On a per-share basis, the loss narrowed to 40 cents from $2.81 as there were significantly more shares outstanding after the IPO.

Excluding stock-based compensation and other items, the loss fell to 28 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters projected a loss of 31 cents.

Revenue rose 45% to $65.6 million, beating Box's March guidance of $63 million to $64 million.

But expenses climbed 29% to $95.1 million.

For the year, the company now expects revenue of $286 million to $290 million, up from its projection from March of $281 million to $285 million.

Box expects to post revenue of $69 million to $70 million for the current quarter, while analysts were looking for $67 million.

Write to Neil Haggerty at [e-mail]

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