Veeva shares rise as fiscal Q4 results, outlook beat expectations driven by digital engagement
Life sciences CRM provider Veeva Systems this afternoon reported fiscal Q4 revenue and profit that topped analysts' expectations, and an outlook that for this quarter's revenue and profit higher as well.
The report sent Veeva shares up 2% in late trading.
CEO Peter Gassner remarked that 2020 had been "a transformational year for life sciences and for Veeva," noting that the "industry delivered breakthroughs in diagnostics, therapies, and vaccines during a global pandemic."
In a phone call with ZDNet following the report, CFO Brent Bowman said the use of Veeva software had gained greater intensity during the pandemic.
"There's been broader adoption across the board of our commercial add-ons," said Bowman, citing in particular the company's Veeva CRM Engage Meeting software. "There's definitely been an an acceleration across the board," he said.
"We saw massive spikes in digital egagement," in Engage, said Veeva's chief marketing officer, Nitsa Zuppas, in the same call with ZDNet.
Going forward, both Bowman and Zuppas predicted habits of the pandemic such as virtual visits will persist. "We have a vision for more paperless and patient-centric [drug] trials," such as consent forms being filled out on a smartphone app rather than going to a provider site to sign forms.
"It's here to stay and we are firmly planted in the sweet spot," said Bowman.
Revenue in the three months ended in January rose to $397 million, and a net profit of 78 cents a share, excluding some costs.
Analysts had been modeling $380 million and 68 cents per share.
The company said it had record bookings in the quarter, including "outperformance" in its Commercial Cloud suite of offerings, "with particular strength in Veeva CRM Engage Meeting in Q4," it said.
The company's Development Cloud product had record bookings as well.
For the current quarter, the company sees revenue of $408 million million to $410 million, and EPS in a range of 77 cents to 78 cents. That compares to consensus for $401 million and a 74-cent profit per share.
For the full year, the company sees revenue in a range of $1.755 billion to $1.765 billion, and EPS of $3.20, versus consensus of $1.72 billion and $3.12 per share.