Why Shares of Interactive Intelligence Group Inc. Surged 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's Happening: Shares of Interactive Intelligence surged on Tuesday after the company beat analyst estimates for both revenue and earnings when it reported first-quarter results. The stock was up as much as 15% soon after the market opened on Tuesday, settling down for a roughly 8% gain by 12:20 p.m.

Why It's Happening: Interactive Intelligence reported revenue of $89.5 million for the first quarter, a year-over-year increase of 13% and slightly higher than what analysts were expecting. Sixty-one percent of the company's revenue was recurring, including cloud subscriptions, which accounted for $21 million of revenue. Recurring revenue increased by 25% year-over-year, while cloud subscription revenue rose 61%.

Interactive Intelligence acquired 61 new customers during the first quarter, higher than the 54 new customers it added during the first quarter of 2014. Large contract signings, valued at over $250,000, rose to 40 during the quarter, up from 34 during the first quarter of 2014.

The company reported a non-GAAP loss of $0.04 per share, doubling the loss of $0.02 per share reported during the first quarter of 2014. However, this handily beat analyst estimates, which called for the company to lose $0.14 per share during the quarter. On a GAAP basis, Interactive Intelligence lost $0.16 per share, higher than the $0.12 loss posted during the first quarter of 2014.

Going forward, Interactive Intelligence expects strong growth to continue. The company expects cloud revenue to grow by 60% in 2015, with contracted annual recurring revenue expected to grow by 40%. Interactive Intelligence also raised its guidance for 2015 revenue to $385 million, representing 13% revenue growth. The company guided for a non-GAAP loss of $0.15 for the full year.

The article Why Shares of Interactive Intelligence Group Inc. Surged Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

Timothy Green has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Apple and Interactive Intelligence. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple. 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.