Cloud-based contact center specialist Five9 (FIVN 5.08%) reported fourth-quarter results on Thursday evening. The company breezed past Wall Street's estimates across the board, and the stock opened Friday's trading session 19.7% higher.
But there's more to the Five9 story, and the stock is only up by 5.2% at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Five9's fourth-quarter revenues rose 16.6% year over year to $279 million. Your average analyst would have settled for approximately $267 million. On the bottom line, adjusted earnings jumped from $0.61 to $0.79 per diluted share. Here, the analyst consensus stopped at $0.70 per share.
So far, so good. Five9 posted record revenues and strong profits. Renewable subscription sales led the way with a 19% year-over-year gain. The company supported its marketing message while limiting its cost of operations by incorporating a growing number of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in its call center services. Personalized AI agents are emerging as a particularly important growth driver.
At the same time, longtime CFO Barry Zwarenstein announced his retirement after 13 years on the job. This unexpected announcement undermined Five9's clearly positive report.
But it's an amicable separation, and Zwarenstein will stay on until the summer to ensure a smooth transition to his permanent replacement. In other words, Five9's robust report should carry more weight with investors than Zwarenstein's departure.
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