Why Shares of inContact Inc. Soared Today

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of inContact , a provider of cloud-based software, soared on Friday after the company reported strong fourth-quarter earnings, beating analyst estimates on all fronts. The stock was up roughly 15% as of 2:20 Friday afternoon.

So what: Total revenue rose 41% year-over-year during the fourth quarter to $49.4 million, slightly higher than analysts were expecting. The company posted a non-GAAP loss of $0.05 per share, far better than the $0.12 per-share loss predicted by analysts.

Growth was largely driven by the software segment, which grew 56% year-over-year, accounting for 61% of the company's total revenue. The networking connectivity segment made up the rest of inContact's sales, growing by 22% year-over-year.

Operating expenses increased faster than revenue, growing by 48% year-over-year, leading to a larger net loss compared to the fourth quarter of 2013.

Now what: inContact provided better-than-expected guidance for 2015. Total revenue between $205 million to $210 million was in-line with analyst expectations, but the company expects to post a smaller net loss in 2015 compared to analyst estimates. inContact is guiding for a non-GAAP net loss between $0.12 and $0.17 per share, far lower than analyst expectations of a net loss of $0.30 per share.

Losses would have been much worse in 2014 if not for a $9 million tax benefit, so this guidance suggests that profitability could improve significantly in 2015. If inContact can reach the point where its revenue starts growing faster than its costs this year, then profitability may not be too far behind.

The article Why Shares of inContact Inc. Soared Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

Timothy Green has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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