Shares of Guidewire Software dropped after the insurance software company forecast sales for the current quarter fell below Wall Street expectations, overshadowing a strong finish to its fiscal year.
The stock fell about 20%, to $162.10, in late trading Thursday, after closing the regular session at $202.86. The stock is down about 11% over the last 12 months.
The company, in conjunction with fiscal fourth-quarter results, said it expects revenue between $372 million and $378 million for its current quarter. Analysts were looking for $387.1 million.
Its full-year revenue outlook for between $1.71 billion and $1.73 billion, meanwhile, compared to analyst expectations of $1.7 billion.
The outlook came as Guidewire reported a profit of $31.4 million, of 38 cents a share, compared with a profit of nearly $52 million, or 60 cents a share, in the same quarter a year earlier. The company said that profit was affected by a foreign-currency loss of $24 million in the quarter.
Adjusted earnings were 99 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected 93 cents.
Revenue rose 15%, to $411.1 million, ahead of the $402.6 million that analysts expected.
Chief Executive Mike Rosenbaum said that customers are deepening their commitments to its core offerings, and adding artificial-intelligence-focused products as well. "AI is driving our momentum, as more of our insurance customers choose to align their AI transformation with Guidewire," he said.
Guidewire also said that Chief Financial Officer Jeff Cooper would assume the duties of principal accounting offer following the retirement of David Peterson, which is effective Nov. 4.