Okta Inc. Beats Earnings Expectations for 2021 Q1

Todd McKinnon and Frederic Kerrest founded Okta Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA) in 2009 to provide workforce identity services over the internet. The company has grown at an exceptional rate since then. Okta identity cloud software lets users securely access applications from any device. It also helps customers manage user authentication into apps. Okta serves thousands of clients, including notable names such as Slack and Western Union.

The company recently announced better-than-expected financial results for the first quarter. Okta reported a loss of 83 cents per share for the three months ended April 30, compared to a loss of 47 cents per share in the same quarter of 2020. On an adjusted basis, the cloud-software company lost 10 cents per share, narrower than a loss of 20 cents per share estimated by analysts.

Revenue for the quarter climbed 37 percent on a year-over-year basis to $251 million, topping the consensus forecast of $239 million. Subscription revenue in the quarter rose 38 percent to $240 million, while total calculated billings jumped 74 percent to $364 million.

Speaking on the results, CEO Todd McKinnon said,“Broad-based demand for both our customer and workforce identity solutions led to another quarter of strong financial results and an excellent start to the fiscal year. Organizations around the world are turning to Okta to improve the digital customer experience and to improve how their employees safely connect to their applications from anywhere. With the closing of the Auth0 acquisition earlier this month, we are further enhancing Okta’s market-leading identity platform, enabling us to provide even more choice and unprecedented innovation to customers and developers. Together, we’ll capture more of the massive $80 billion identity market opportunity even faster.”

Okta also issued its financial outlook for the second quarter. It expects to report an adjusted loss in the range of 36 cents per share to 35 cents per share. Revenue is expected to come between $295 million to $297 million, translating to year-over-year growth of 47 to 48 percent.