DocuSign posts strong Q1, enters remote work, digital transformation winner's circle

DocuSign's e-signature and Agreement Cloud are among the first quarter winners as companies aim to go more digital and perform more work remotely.

The company reported a first quarter net loss of 26 cents a share on revenue of $297 million, up 39% from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings for the quarter were 12 cents a share.

Wall Street was expecting DocuSign to report first quarter non-GAAP earnings of 10 cents a share on revenue of $281.1 million.

CEO Dan Springer said the COVID-19 pandemic spurred enterprises to accelerate digital transformation efforts and driving demand.

• DocuSign acquires Seal Software to bolster AI in Agreement Cloud
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On a conference call with analysts, Springer said:

We added more than 10,000 net new direct customers and almost 58,000 self-service customers, bringing our global total of paying customers to nearly 661,000. And our operating margins and cash flow remain strong, even as we made key investments to address this heightened demand. Much of the strong Q1 performance was driven by increased demand for eSignature from organizations that suddenly needed a way to sign and manage agreements from wherever they were. Typically, eSignature is the first step that many customers take on their broader digital transformation journey with us. So from a financial point of view, we believe this surge in eSignature adoption bodes well for future Agreement Cloud expansion.

Springer added that DocuSign saw demand in health care, life sciences and government. Hospitality and travel demand were weaker and real estate remains to be seen.

As for the outlook, DocuSign projected second quarter revenue between $316 million to $320 million.

For the second quarter, Wall Street was expecting second quarter revenue of $303 million with non-GAAP earnings of 9 cents a share.

DocuSign said its fiscal 2021 revenue will be between $1.313 billion and $1.317 billion with