Yext
shares were surging early Wednesday after it reported first-quarter results that beat expectations and raised its full-year guidance Tuesday. The marketing-software company is positioning itself as a play on generative artificial-intelligence but is also benefiting from cutting its workforce.
Yext
(ticker: YEXT) shares were up 17% in premarket trading on Wednesday at $11.20. The stock was up 47% this year so far through to Tuesday’s close.
Yext said Tuesday that it broke even on a per-share basis for its first quarter to April 30, compared with a loss of 20 cents a share in the first quarter of the previous fiscal year. Adjusted for one-time items, Yext earned 9 cents a share. Revenue rose 1% to $99.5 million.
Analysts had expected an adjusted profit of 5 cents a share on sales of $98.5 million, according to a FactSet poll.
Executives at Yext, which specializes in online search products, said the results showed it was becoming more efficient after the company said earlier this year it would lay off around 8% of its staff. They also highlighted its AI efforts.
“Our launches of Content Generation Studio and Yext Chat in beta have been catalysts for more in-depth discussions around Generative AI,” CEO Michael Walrath told analysts on an earnings call.
The company raised its guidance for fiscal 2024, saying it expects revenue to be in a range of $404 million to $407 million, and adjusted EPS between 28 cents and 29 cents. It had previously guided for revenue of $402 million-$406 million, and adjusted EPS between 22 cents and 23 cents.
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