SurveyMonkey Paints Mixed Picture in First Report as Public Firm
SurveyMonkey Paints Mixed Picture in First Report as Public Firm
(Bloomberg) -- SurveyMonkey gave a mixed picture in reporting its first results as a public company, with revenue that gained 18 percent in the third quarter, beating analysts’ estimates, but also showing a widening loss.
The company reported revenue of $65.2 million, in the three months ended Sept. 30. Analysts had forecast sales of $62.9 million on average. The net loss widened to $102.4 million in the period from $13 million a year earlier, due largely to stock-compensation charges related to the initial public offering in September.
Shares of SurveyMonkey, the operating name of SVMK Inc., have slipped about 6 percent since the IPO. They were little changed at $11.44, in extended trading after the results were published.
"We are thrilled to disclose our strong results for the first quarter out of the box," SurveyMonkey’s Chief Executive Officer Zander Lurie said in an interview. "As our platform has grown and evolved we see a multi-billion dollar opportunity in front of us," Lurie said, adding that the company is predicting 14 to 17 percent year-over-year sales growth in the current quarter.
The cloud-based survey development platform was founded in 1999 to help companies customize and carry out professional online surveys and data analysis. It touts itself as the internet’s most popular survey tool. The company got a boost Monday after its main rival, Qualtrics International Inc., was bought by SAP SE for $8 billion.
SurveyMonkey, based in San Mateo, California, had more than 16 million active users in the past year but, according to its IPO filing, only 3.8 percent of those were paying subscribers. In the last three years, it has begun partnering with companies such as Salesforce.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, according to the filing.
To contact the reporter on this story: Olivia Carville in New York at ocarville1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Molly Schuetz, Andrew Pollack
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