SurveyMonkey Revenue Up in First Public Earnings Report

SVMK, the parent of DIY research software firm SurveyMonkey, has reported an 18% increase in third quarter revenue to $65.2m, according to its first earnings report since going public in September. The profit measure adjusted EBITDA was $17.0m, up from $13.3m a year previously.

SVMK began trading on the Nasdaq stock market two months ago, having filed its IPO at the end of August. On the first day of trading, the share price soared 67% to nearly $20 but most of the gains proved short-lived.

For the third quarter, core revenue (which excludes $0.4m relating to the non-self-serve portion of SurveyMonkey Audience), increased 19%. The firm posted a net loss for the quarter of $102m, far higher than the loss of $13m a year previously - this was entirely due to IPO-related stock-compensation expense of $89.9m now that the firm is public. In addition, the company reported a negative operating margin of 145%, compared with a negative operating margin of 11% a year ago.

During the period, the number of paying users climbed 21,000 to 621,000, with more than 75% of paying users on annual plans; and average annual revenue per user grew to $418 from $364. Revenue is expected to be in the range of $64.8-66.8m for the fourth quarter, and $251.2-253.2m for the fiscal year 2018.

CEO Zander Lurie (pictured) comments: 'We are off to a great start as a public company, resulting from our strong execution and focus. SurveyMonkey was built on the belief that empowering individuals across organizations to engage with their key constituents is paramount to success. The importance of organizations understanding the voices and opinions of their customers and employees is more acute than ever. I'm confident in our strategy, our competitive position and the team we have to execute against our global opportunity'.

Last Sunday, SurveyMonkey rival Qualtrics agreed to be acquired by SAP SE for $8 billion. Lurie said SAP's decision confirms that survey software has become a multi-billion dollar market.

Web site: www.surveymonkey.com .