Veeva stock catapulted into a breakout Thursday after the life-sciences-focused cloud computing company obliterated fiscal first-quarter expectations and issued a bullish full-year outlook.
During the three months ended April 30, Veeva Systems earned $1.97 a share, minus some items, on $759 million in sales. Earnings surged more than 31% and crushed forecasts for $1.74. Sales also grew 17% year over year, and topped calls for $728.4 million.
The company also handily beat its own guidance for the quarter. Pleasanton, Calif.-based Veeva Systems is known for its cloud-based software, which helps biopharmaceutical and life sciences companies manage their research and development data and commercial operations.
"I consider this our best first quarter ever," Chief Executive Peter Gassner said in a statement. "We executed with speed, quality and innovation across all areas on short-term objectives and long-term initiatives aligned to our values and 2030 goals."
Veeva stock jumped 19%, closing at 279.04. Shares broke out of a lengthy consolidation, topping a buy point at 258.93, according to MarketSurge. Veeva stock easily blasted past the buy zone, which runs up to 271.88. The stock's relative strength line also hit a fresh high.
Veeva Stock Rises On Outlook
The lion's share of Veeva's sales came from subscriptions. Subscription revenue climbed 19% to nearly $635 million. Professional services and other revenue advanced almost 7% year over year to $124.3 million. Both measures handily beat projections for $616 million and $112 million, respectively, according to FactSet.
Veeva noted the company passed its $3 billion annual revenue run rate goal for the first time this quarter. This puts the company on steady pace to double that by 2030, Chief Financial Officer Brian Van Wagener said in a written statement.
"Delivering results ahead of guidance for all metrics again demonstrates our focused execution and sizable market opportunity," he said.
For the fiscal year, Veeva expects adjusted earnings of $7.63 a share and $3.09 billion to $3.1 billion in sales. The earnings outlook topped analysts' call for $7.58 a share, and the midpoint of Veeva's revenue outlook came in above the Street's view for $3.09 billion.
The company also projects $1.89 to $1.90 earnings per share and $766 million to $769 million in sales for the fiscal second quarter. Both measures beat forecasts for $1.88 and $765 million, respectively, according to FactSet.
A Top 2% Stock
Veeva stock has risen roughly 11.5% this year, as of Wednesday's close. Shares have strong and matching Composite and EPS ratings of 98. This means Veeva shares rank in the top 2% of all stocks in terms of fundamental and technical metrics and recent earnings strength.
The stock's Relative Strength Rating is lower, though, at 81. This means Veeva stock outranks more than eight in 10 stocks when it comes to 12-month performance.
Veeva Systems lands on the IBD Tech Leaders list. Shares also rank first in Investor's Business Daily's Computer Software-Medical industry group. The group itself ranks a strong No. 39 out of 197 industry groups.
Follow Allison Gatlin on X/Twitter at @AGatlin_IBD.
