Movers: Best Buy, Birkenstock, C3.ai, Duolingo, Salesforce, Snowflake

Scott Peters
29 Feb, 2024
New York City

Duolingo soared 20.1% to $235.56 after the language  learning platform estimated strong revenue guidance in the fiscal first quarter and full-year after posting better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. 

Total revenue in the fourth quarter increased 45% to $151 million from $103 million, net income swung to $12.1 million from a loss of $13.9 million, and diluted earnings per share were 29 cents compared to a loss of 35 cents a year ago.  

Cash flow from operating activities was $49.2 million compared to $11.6 million in the prior year quarter, and free cash flow was $47.7 million compared to $11.3 million in the prior year quarter. 

Total bookings increased 51% from a year ago to $191 million, and paid subscribers surged 57% to 6.6 million at the end of the quarter. 

Snowflake plunged 22.9% to $177.20 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly results and also announced the retirement of its chief executive, Frank Slootman. 

The stock was also under pressure after the company estimated a weaker-than-expected product revenue outlook in the first quarter. 

Okta soared 24.5% to $108.50 after the identity software management company reported better-than-expected quarterly results and estimated higher-than-expected quarterly results. 

Fourth quarter revenue increased 19% to $605 million, net loss shrank to $44 million from $153 million, and diluted loss per share decreased to 26 cents from 95 cents a year ago. 

Net cash provided by operations in the quarter increased to $174 million, or 29% of total revenue, compared to net cash provided by operations of $76 million, or 15% of total revenue, in the quarter a year ago.  

Free cash flow was $166 million, or 28% of total revenue, compared to $72 million, or 14% of total revenue, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.

C3.ai surged 19% to $35.07 after the artificial intelligence company reported better-than-expected quarterly results. 

Salesforce inched up 0.5% to $301.36 after the customer relationship management software reported better-than-expected quarterly results but guided revenue growth of less than 9% in the current fiscal year. 

Revenue in the fourth quarter increased 11% to $9.29 billion, net income swung to a profit of $1.44 billion from a loss of $98 million, and diluted earnings per share were $1.47 compared to a loss of 10 cents a year ago. 

The company guided fiscal year 2025 first quarter revenue between $9.12 billion and $9.17 billion, and GAAP diluted earnings per share between $1.42 and $1.44. 

For the full-year fiscal year 2025, the company estimated revenue between $37.7 billion and $38.0 billion, and GAAP diluted earnings per share between $6.07 and $6.15.   

Best Buy increased 4.8% to $83.46 after the electronics retailer reported a smaller-than-expected decline in sales. 

Revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter ending on February 3rd declined to $14.65 billion from $14.73 billion, net income fell to $460 million from $495 million, and diluted earnings per share dropped to $2.12 from $2.23 a year ago. 

In the quarter, the company returned a total of $268 million to shareholders through dividends of $198 million and share repurchases of $70 million. 

For the full year, the company returned a total of $1.1 billion to shareholders through dividends of $801 million and share repurchases of $340 million. 

The company announced its board of directors approved a 2% increase in the regular quarterly dividend to $0.94 per share payable on April 11 to shareholders of record on March 21.

The retailer guided fiscal 2025 earnings per share in the range of $5.75 to $6.20 and anticipated revenue between $41.3 billion and $42.6 billion.

For the fiscal first quarter, Best Buy expects comparable sales to decline by approximately 5%, with a non-GAAP operating income rate of around 3.4%, matching the rate in the first quarter of fiscal year 2024. 

Birkenstock edged up 0.3% to $52.12 after the newly listed German sandals company reported higher revenue and narrowed its loss in the holiday quarter. 

Revenue in the fourth quarter increased 22% to Є302.9 million from Є248.5 million, net loss shrank to Є7.15 million from Є9.19 million, and diluted loss per share fell to 4euro cents from 5 euro cents a year ago.