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Cloudera stock plunges after earnings include weak forecast
Cloudera Inc. shares plunged in late trading Tuesday after the cloud-software company predicted growth would slow considerably in the current fiscal year. Cloudera stock fell more than 15% after releasing its fourth-quarter earnings report, which arrived nearly one year after the company’s initial public offering. Cloudera reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $43.9 million, or 31 cents a share, on sales of $103.5 million. After adjustments for stock-based compensation and other costs, the company claimed an adjusted loss of 10 cents a share. Analysts on average had expected an adjusted loss of 23 cents a share on sales of $98.7 million. While the results beat expectations, the forecast was well short. Cloudera predicted fiscal 2019 revenue of $435 million to $445 million, which would result in a growth rate of about 20% after Cloudera sales grew more than 40% in the fiscal year that ended Jan. 31. Analysts on average were expecting annual sales of $460.5 million, according to FactSet. The company said it expected adjusted losses of 59 cents a share to 62 cents a share, while analysts on average projected a loss of 59 cents a share. Cloudera stock closed Tuesday at $22.24, nearly 50% higher than the IPO price of $15 Cloudera commanded a year ago, in April 2017; the S&P 500 index has gained 9.5% in the past year.