Cloud Stocks: Guidewire Expands Cloud Offerings

Last month, Guidewire Software (NYSE: GWRE), platform provider for insurance providers, announced its third quarter results. The company’s performance outpaced market expectations, driving the stock higher.

Guidewire’s Financials
Revenues for the third quarter grew 3% to $168.2 million, ahead of the market’s forecast by 10%. Net loss was $31 million, compared with less than $0.1 million for the previous year. On an adjusted basis, net income was $0.09 per share, compared with $0.18 per share a year ago. The market was looking for an EPS of $0.06 for the quarter.           

By segment, license and subscription revenues grew 22% to $93.2 million. Services revenue fell 17% to $54.3 million and maintenance revenues came in flat at $20.7 million.

Annual recurring revenue (ARR) grew from $460 million last year to $483 for the April ended quarter.

For the fourth quarter, Guidewire expects revenues of $204.9-$212.9 million with an EPS of $0.41-$0.49 per share. It expects to end the year with revenues of $703.5-$711.5 million with an EPS of $0.84-$0.92 per share. The market was looking for revenues of $213.62 million for the quarter with an EPS of $0.52 and revenues of $696.59 million for the year with an EPS of $0.82.

Due to the uncertainty around COVID-19, Guidewire is witnessing the lengthening of sales cycles and delayed decision-making that are impacting its results. It expects this to continue in the fourth quarter as well. But it does believe that it operates in a resilient vertical with a strong recurring revenue business model that delivers mission-critical applications, and thus is hopeful of bouncing back quickly.

Guidewire’s Product Expansion
Recently, Guidewire also announced the launch of Aspen 2020.1H, that features the first cloud-optimized release of Guidewire InsuranceSuite and includes several enhancements to its analytics and Salesforce offerings. Aspen extends support for insurers to help them accelerate product launches, deliver personalized digital experiences, and embed analytics throughout the insurance lifecycle.

Aspen aims to deliver a digital solution for insurance customers and agents. Delivering new insurance products requires strong analytics that can help continuously measure and test performance and process improvements. These goals require complex IT projects that most insurance companies find difficult to implement. Aspen provides the insurance companies with access to a cloud-optimized platform that is agile and can meet their business needs.

By integrating digital, AI, and analytics, it allows insurance companies to innovate, engage and grow. Aspen helps accelerate product launches with Advanced Product Designer that is a user friendly tool with visual, low-code configuration that streamlines collaboration and design efforts. It helps drive engagement by automatically creating customized digital experiences and delivering holistic customer insights through its Salesforce integration. It drives growth by empowering insurers with the ability to leverage Guidewire Analytics to identify new opportunities and deliver profitable businesses.

Besides products, Guidewire is also counting on partner network expansion to continue to drive growth in the current conditions. Earlier last month, it announced that Hi Marley, a leading communications solution for the insurance industry, had joined Guidewire PartnerConnect as a Solution partner. Hi Marley is known for its AI-enabled texting platform that has been built with a focus on the insurance industry. Its solution allows claims adjusters to communicate with customers and claimants through SMS. The integration with Guidewire will allow insurers to leverage Hi Marley’s texting platform within ClaimCenter to communicate with the customers.

Its stock is trading at $113.42 with a market capitalization of $9.4 billion. It hit a 52-week high of $124.16 in February this year and a 52-week low of $71.64 in March amid the crisis. Guidewire had listed in 2012 by pricing its stock at $13 apiece to raise $115 million. Prior to listing, it had raised an undisclosed amount from investors including US Ventures, Bay Partners, and Battery Ventures.

This segment is a part in the series : Cloud Stocks