Proofpoint soars after raising guidance, beating on earnings

Proofpoint Inc. beat earnings expectations in a report Thursday and increased its expectations for the year, leading to a big after-hours spike for the company's stock. The security-software company reported a loss of $38.3 million, or 92 cents a share, on sales of $89.9 million in the second quarter; after adjusting for stock-based compensation and an extremely long list of other factors, the company claimed a profit of 6 cents a share. Analysts on average expected an adjusted loss of 1 cent a share on sales of $84.3 million, according to FactSet. The cloud-software company passed $100 million in quarterly billings, which accounts for contracts signed, for the first time, beating internal and analyst projections. With the strong revenue and billings showing, Proofpoint increased its guidance for full-year performance, predicting sales of $361.5 million to $363.5 million; the company had previously forecast annual revenue of $350.5 million to $353.5 million. Proofpoint shares, which have been on a roller-coaster ride since being targeted by well-known short seller Carson Block late last year, jumped more than 10% in late trading.

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