Exa’s Q1 up 7% as reported, up 18% in cc

Exa Corp. just reported that FQ1 revenue was up a strong 7% as reported and up 18% in constant currencies to $14.8 million, right in the middle of the earlier forecast of $14.5 million to $15.1 million and ever so slightly ahead of Wall Street’s consensus. More after I listen to the earnings call, but these are the high-level breakdowns:

• Total revenue was $14.8 million, up 7% as reported and up 18% in constant currency (cc)
• License revenue was up 5% to $12 million (up 16% in cc)
• Project revenue was up 20% as reported and up 33% in cc to $2.5
• Even with the revenue increase, Exa reported a GAAP loss from operations of $1.8 million, slightly larger than the $1.6 million GAAP loss from ops reported a year ago, leading to a GAAP net loss of $1.9 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2016
• Included in last year’s GAAP net loss  for Q1 are $15.2 million related to non-cash charges and write-offs related tax assets. Why am I telling you this? Because you’ll see news reports that the net loss shrank substantially from last year’s $17.2 million in Q1. It’s true — but don’t be fooled.

Given Q1, Exa is sticking to its fiscal 2016 forecasts. For Q2, Exa expects total revenue of $15.0 million to $15.8 million, or an increase of 1% to 7% as reported; and for the year, Exa still expects total revenue between $64.7 million and $67.0 million, an increase of 5% to 9% as reported. The company still anticipates a GAAP net loss in the range of $5.9 million to $5.2 million. [It’s a loss, so we’re going from -5.9 to -5.2. — Ed.] During the day today, investors sent Exa’s share price down 5%, perhaps in anticipation of slower growth than was reported here. Let’s see what happens in after-hours trading and when the market opens tomorrow …