Okta Inc (NASDAQ:OKTA), the identity data protection firm, saw its stock rise in Thursday’s early deals as it upgraded its guidance for its financial year.
Alongside last night’s bullish second-quarter results, Okta lifted its full-year earnings expectations for the year by close to a third – to $1.17 to $1.20 per share, up from 88 to 93 cents per share.
The upgrade also eclipsed what Wall Street analysts have previously pencilled in, their consensus forecast was pitched at 91 cents per share for the full year.
Full-year revenue is also expected to top prior expectations, with Okta guiding a range between $2.21 billion and $2.22 billion, whereas the market had envisaged $2.18 billion.
Chief executive Todd McKinnon, in media quotes, highlighted that Okta could now upgrade because it previously prepared for a ‘worst case’ view of 2023’s macroeconomic, which he said didn’t occur.
Operationally, performance was driven by Okta’s Identity Governance product which is described as an identity and access management platform for enterprise IT and HR.
Okta, in its second quarter, generated $556 million in revenue representing an improvement year-over-year, from $452 million, and exceeded analyst forecasts of $234.7 million. Earnings were reported at 31 cents per share, versus forecasts of 22 cents and last year’s second-quarter loss of 10 cents a share.
In New York, Okta stock was up over 11% in Thursday’s early trade changing hands at $82.00.