Exa’s Q1 is back on track

Exa Corporation just announced results for its first quarter of fiscal 2014, which ended April 30, 2013. CEO Steve Remondi said that “revenue for the quarter was at the high end of our guidance, increasing 11%, or 14% on a constant currency basis, from a year ago.  Recall the Q4 fell short as customer spending stalled; in Q1 it seems that customer activity returned to more normal levels. Mr. Remondi is still cautious about the rest of 2014, though: “we are seeing an improvement in product development activity among our customer base [even as] some vertical markets and geographies continue to face economic challenges.” The details:

• Total revenue for FQ1 was $12.5 million, up 11% year/year and up 14% on a constant currency basis.
• License revenue was $11 million up 7% y/y
• Project revenue was $1.8 million in FQ1, up from $1.3 million a year ago.
• Even so, the company reported a GAAP net loss of $500,000 as compared to GAAP net income of $100,000 a year ago, as the expenses of being a public company and expansion of its field operations flowed to the bottom line.

For FQ2, Exa sees revenue between $12.5 million and $13.5 million, with a GAAP net loss of ($0.9) million to ($0.6) million, due to a one-time charge of $0.8 million associated with repayment of the company’s term loan facility. That would be revenue growth of 8% to 14%. For fiscal 2104 (ending in March), Exa expects revenue between $55 million and $58 million and a GAAP net in the range of a loss of ($0.3) million to income of $0.5 million. That would be revenue growth of 12% to 19%. Clearly, Exa sees growth accelerating as the year progresses. No geo or vertical data in the earnings material; more details after I listen to the earning call.