Luxoft Holdings Reported Depressing Fiscal First Quarter 2018 Results; Shares Dropped 28.2%

Are you interested in application software investing? If so, you might want to pay close attention to the following: Right now, shares of Luxoft Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:$LXFT) are tumbling. On Friday, as of 11:15 a.m. EDT, the software engineering company’s shares were down 28.2%. Why? It can all be traced back to the company’s depressing fiscal first quarter 2018 results, which revealed troublesome trends, as well as a softened guidance for the year.

In the report, we see that Luxoft’s quarterly revenue increased 17.5% year over year to $209.2 million, while adjusted net income per share dropped 19.4% to $0.50.

Even though Luxoft doesn’t tend to provide quarterly financial guidance, investors were expecting the company to report higher adjusted earnings of $0.75 per share on revenue of $213.5 million.

What Caused The Unfortunate Fiscal First Quarter 2018 Results?

According to CEO Dmitry Loschinin, the cause of these results is a combination of the following: an expected deceleration from the company’s top two accounts, seasonal weakness, a decline in the financial services segment (revenue fell 6.7% to $113.5 million), and slower growth amongst the reconstruction of two massive M&A-centric clients.

With that said, we do have to give Luxoft some credit. The company did witness revenue from clients outside of its top two increase 55% year over year. Additionally, Luxoft’s top-three client concentration dropped 16% from 2016’s fiscal first quarter.

To top it off, Luxoft drove strong growth in its smaller digital (increased 30% to $25.8 million), automotive (increased 38% to $35.1 million), telecom (increased 157% to $25.5 million) verticals.

Now What’s Going to Happen?

Regardless of the increase in revenue from clients outside its top two, it was not enough to stop Luxoft from cutting its full-year outlook. As of right now, Luxoft forecasts fiscal 2018 revenue to be roughly $920 million, which is down from guidance announced last quarter for roughly $943 million.

In addition, Luxoft expects GAAP earnings per diluted share to come in at $1.53, which is down from $1.90, and adjusted earnings per share of roughly $2.85, which is down from $3.26.

Overall, it’s fair to say that this was a pretty painful quarter for the company despite the sun breaking through for a few minutes on what would have primarily been a cloudy, stormy day. With this, we can’t blame the market for backing away from the company’s stock today.

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About the author: Caroline Harris is a third-year student at Capilano University in North Vancouver, Canada. Having already completed an Associates Degree in Psychology, Caroline is now finishing her Bachelor's degree in Communications. In preparation for working in the advertisement sector, Caroline is writing financial content and analysis. On a daily basis, Caroline works on articles regarding the following topics: finance, cryptocurrency, technology, and politics.