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Box Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates: Can Positive Guidance Lift Shares?

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Box, Inc. (BOX - Free Report) reported second-quarter fiscal 2025 non-GAAP earnings per share of 44 cents, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10%. The figure jumped 22.3% year over year.

Total revenues of $270.04 million surpassed the consensus mark by 0.3%. The top line increased 3% year over year (6% growth on a constant-currency basis).

Solid momentum in the Content Cloud platform and the growing adoption of Enterprise Plus due to strength in Box AI drove top-line growth.

The BOX stock has returned 27.7% year to date, outperforming the industry’s rally of 13.6%.

Box provided better-than-expected guidance for revenues and earnings for the third quarter and fiscal 2025. The upward revision in the fiscal 2025 guidance is another positive.

Following the release of second-quarter fiscal 2025 results, Box’s shares have gained 10.8%.

Against this backdrop, we expect the company’s positive guidance to keep the momentum running.

Box, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

Box, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Box, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Box, Inc. Quote

BOX’s Q2 Metrics in Detail

Billings were $256.4 million for the reported quarter, increasing 10% year over year (9% growth on a constant-currency basis).

Deferred revenues were $502 million in the fiscal second quarter, increasing 5% from the prior-year quarter (7% growth on a constant-currency basis).

BOX saw an 87% attach rate for its Suites, significantly up from 78% in the year-ago quarter. The company generated 57% of its revenues from Enterprise Plus Suites in the reported quarter.

Box’s net retention rate was 102% at the end of the fiscal second quarter, down 100 bps year over year due to macroeconomic challenges.

The remaining performance obligations as of Apr 30, 2024, were $1.272 billion, up 12% on a year-over-year basis (14% growth on a constant-currency basis).

BOX’s Operating Results

The non-GAAP gross margin was 81.6%, expanding 470 bps from the prior-year quarter.

Box’s operating expenses of $194.2 million increased 5.2% year over year. As a percentage of revenues, the figure expanded 130 bps from the year-ago quarter to 71.9%.

On a non-GAAP basis, the company recorded an operating margin of 28.4%, which expanded 360 bps from the prior-year quarter.

BOX’s Balance Sheet & Cash Flow

As of Jul 31, 2024, cash and cash equivalents were $406.6 million, down from $449.5 million as of Apr 30, 2024.

BOX’s short-term investments amounted to $75.6 million, down from $116.6 million in the previous fiscal quarter.

Accounts receivables amounted to $177.5 million at the end of the fiscal second quarter, which increased from $143.05 million at the end of the prior quarter.

Non-current debt was pegged at $371.8 million at the reported quarter’s end compared with $371.3 million at the previous quarter’s end.

Box generated $36.3 million in cash from operations in the fiscal second quarter, down from $131.2 million in the previous quarter.

The company generated a free cash flow of $32.7 million in the reported quarter.

BOX offers Strong Guidance

For third-quarter fiscal 2025, Box expects revenues between $274 million and $276 million, suggesting a 5% rise from the prior year’s reported figure. The constant-currency growth rate is pegged at 6%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is pinned at $271.09 million.

On a non-GAAP basis, BOX projects earnings per share of 41-42 cents. The guidance includes an expected foreign exchange headwind of 2 cents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is pegged at 39 cents.

Box expects the fiscal third-quarter billings growth rate to be in the mid-single-digit range.

The non-GAAP operating margin for the fiscal third quarter is expected to be 28%.

For fiscal 2025, the company revised its revenue guidance upward from $1.075-$1.08 billion to $1.086-$1.09 billion, indicating an increase of 5% from the prior year’s actual. The constant-currency growth rate is pegged at 7%. This guidance includes 170 bps of foreign exchange headwind, which is 80 bps lower than the previous expectation. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is pinned at $1.08 billion.

BOX raised its guidance for non-GAAP earnings per share from $1.54-$1.58 to $1.64-$1.66. The guidance includes an expected foreign exchange headwind of 12 cents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is pegged at $1.57 per share.

Box expects the fiscal 2025 billings growth rate to be in the mid-single-digit range.

The non-GAAP operating margin for the fiscal year is expected to be 27.5%.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Currently, Box carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector are Arista Networks (ANET - Free Report) , Badger Meter (BMI - Free Report) and Audioeye (AEYE - Free Report) , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Arista Networks’ shares have rallied 46.8% in the year-to-date period. The long-term earnings growth rate for ANET is anticipated to be 17.2%.

Badger Meter’s shares have gained 32.5% in the year-to-date period. The long-term earnings growth rate for BMI is projected at 17.91%.

Shares of Audioeye have surged 342.6% in the year-to-date period. The long-term earnings growth rate for AEYE is expected to be 25%.


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