Box's Shares Fall on Billings

Box Inc. reported better-than-expected profit and sales for its latest quarter, but shares slid after hours Wednesday as billings landed shy of Wall Street's projections.

Billings for the first quarter were $75.9 million, under analysts' forecasts of $84.1 million, according to FactSet. The Redwood City, Calif., company said billings were affected by "increasing seasonality in the business and the focus on annual payment durations from multiyear prepayment."

Shares of the company fell 6.8% to $11.94 after hours. They had risen 11% in the past three months through Wednesday's close.

For the current quarter, the company expects sales to be between $94 million and $95 million with an adjusted per-share loss of 19 cents to 20 cents. Analysts expected sales of $95 million and an adjusted loss of 22 cents a share.

For the fiscal year, the company improved its forecasts. It said revenue is now expected at $391 million to $395 million, with an adjusted loss of 75 cents to 78 cents a share. In March, the company had forecast sales of $390 million to $394 million and an adjusted loss of 83 cents to 85 cents a share.

Box is in a tight race to dominate the market for cloud storage and collaboration for businesses, according to industry research firm International Data Group. In 2014, the last full year for which IDC data is available, Box and Microsoft Corp. each held 21% of the $892 million market. Dropbox Inc was in the lead by a small margin with 23%. The market grew by 76% between 2013 and 2014, according to IDC.

Box in the past year has forged partnerships with such companies as International Business Machines Corp., Microsoft and Salesforce.com Inc. to increase the range of uses for its services.

For the quarter ended April 30, Box posted a loss of $38.6 million, or 31 cents a share, compared with a loss of $47.3 million, or 40 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding certain items, its adjusted loss was 18 cents a share, compared with a loss of 28 cents a share a year earlier.

Revenue rose 37% to $90.2 million.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of 24 cents on revenue of $89 million.