GitLab shares soar as developer tools company posts first adjusted operating profit

As more of GitLab's customers are making larger commitments, GitLab is able to expand its operating margin.

GitLab shares soar as developer tools company posts first adjusted operating profit

People celebrate the Gitlab IPO at the Nasdaq, October 14, 2021.

Source: Nasdaq

GitLab stock jumped as much as 18% in extended trading Monday after the developer tools software maker announced fiscal third-quarter results and quarterly guidance that impressed Wall Street.

Here's how the company did, compared with consensus of estimates among analysts polled by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:

Earnings: 9 cents per share, adjusted, vs. loss of 1 cent per share expected.Revenue: $149.7 million, vs. $141.5 million expected.

This marks the first time GitLab has posted an adjusted operating profit.

"We continue to grow responsibly and delivered over 2,200 basis points of non-GAAP operating margin expansion," the company's finance chief, Brian Robins, was quoted as saying in a statement.

GitLab's revenue grew 32% year over year in the quarter, which ended Oct. 31, according to the statement. The net loss attributed to the company came to $285.2 million, or $1.84 per share, compared with a net loss of $48.5 million, or 33 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. GitLab made a one-time income tax adjustment during the quarter that skewed results.

The company, which went public in 2021 and runs remotely, now has 874 customers contributing more than $100,000 in annual recurring revenue, up 37% from the same quarter a year ago.

Some organizations have been moving from Microsoft-owned GitHub, Sid Sijbrandij, GitLab's co-founder and CEO, said on a conference call with analysts. But a portion of GitLab's small and medium-size customers are still being cautious about economic conditions, Robins said.

A planning tool that nontechnical workers will be able to use won't impact results for the coming fiscal year, but it will make a difference in subsequent years, Sijbrandij said. He said GitLab is talking with Amazon Web Services about an integration into the Amazon Q work assistant, which AWS announced last week.

For the fourth quarter of its 2024 fiscal year, GitLab called for adjusted earnings of 8 to 9 cents per share on $157 million to $158 million in revenue. Analysts polled by LSEG were looking for a net loss of 1 cent per share and $150.2 million in revenue.

Excluding the after-hours move, GitLab stock is up 16% so far this year, while the S&P 500 stock index has gained 19% over the same period.

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