New Relic's Q3: Despite loss, revenue and outlook remain strong

In its first quarterly earnings report as a public company, New Relic turned out better-than-expected third quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday.

The enterprise analytics software maker reported a net loss of $15.9 million, or 70 cents per share (statement).

On a non-GAAP basis, the loss was 28 cents per share on top of revenue of $29 million, up 69 percent year-over-year.

Wall Street was bracing for a loss at 37 cents per share with revenue of $26.11 million.

"Today, we believe every business is becoming a software business," wrote New Relic CEO Lew Cirne in prepared remarks. "And, that's why companies of all sizes are rapidly turning to New Relic's highly-differentiated software analytics platform to get lightning-fast answers to their important business questions."

The San Francisco-based analytics company picked up a number of new high-profile customers during the quarter, including Walgreens, Hootsuite, and Capital One, among others.

For the current quarter, Wall Street expects another loss at 27 cents per share with $28.20 million in revenue.

New Relic followed up with a Q4 revenue guidance range of $30.0 million to $30.5 million with a loss between 23 and 25 cents per share.

For the full year, New Relic is projecting revenue to fall between $107.0 million and $107.5 million with a non-GAAP loss per share between 90 and 92 cents.

New Relic made good on its initial public offering plans in December, debuting on the New York Stock Exchange with five million shares of common stock at an opening share price of $23 a pop.

Within the first hour of trading, New Relic's stock was already up nearly 31 percent.

On Thursday, New Relic shares inched a bit higher after the release of the Q3 report.