Tableau Software stock is down Thursday after the company fell short of Wall Street expectations for profits and revenue.
The Seattle data visualization company reported earnings 8 cents per share on $214.9 million in revenue, versus expected profits of 9 cents per share on $219.4 million in revenue. While Tableau’s revenue is up only 4 percent over this time last year, annual recurring revenue from subscriptions totaled $139.2 million, a 204 percent increase over last year as Tableau shifts to a subscription license model.
“Customers are embracing our subscription offerings even faster than expected,” Adam Selipsky, president and CEO of Tableau said in a statement. “Forty-five percent of our license bookings were sold on a subscription basis this quarter, nearly triple the percentage a year ago, as more and more customers turn to subscription to better address their analytics needs with lower upfront cost and reduced risk.”
Tableau stock fell approximately 10 percent following its latest financial report.
Under Selipsky, who became the company’s second-ever CEO last year, the company has focused on the subscription-based version of its data visualization technology, Tableau Online, which expanded to AWS in November. Selling subscriptions, rather than perpetual licenses, lets Tableau make its products more available to a variety of organizations and easier to use for thousands of employees at large businesses.
In April, Tableau released monthly subscription prices for all of its data visualization products, another indication of its commitment to the changing model.
Tableau’s headcount is up to 3,418 people worldwide, after Tableau added 113 people this quarter. Total employment stayed flat or dropped for much of 2016 into 2017, but hiring has picked up the last two quarters.
Tableau’s stock price has followed a similar pattern. Shares tumbled from an all-time of $127 in mid 2015 to a low of $41 in early 2016. Throughout 2016 the stock failed to regain value, but that has changed this year. Even with today’s dip, Tableau stock is up 84 percent since the beginning of the year.
Tableau last month held its annual customer conference in Las Vegas, and the data visualization company showed off a slate of products and upgrades centered around speed, simplicity and easy integration with other applications and operating systems.
In August, the company acquired ClearGraph, a Palo Alto, Calif. startup that helps people find and discover data with voice searching and commands.
