Hubspot soars 20% as earnings surge past expectations and revenue outlook strengthens

• Customer service software maker Hubspot reported fourth quarter revenue of $252.1 million, beating Wall Street's forecast of $236.4 million.
• Adjusted earnings were $0.40 per share, blowing past expectations of $0.23 per share.
• Revenue for 2021 is projected to exceed Wall Street's target of $1.07 billion.

Hubspot stock surged 20% early Friday, fueled by better-than-anticipated fourth-quarter results from the marketing and sales software developer and revenue outlooks that surpassed Wall Street's targets.

The cloud-based software platform posted fourth-quarter total revenue of $252.1 million, better than the consensus of $236.4 million, according to an estimate from Zacks. It also marked an improvement from $186.2 million a year ago.

Adjusted earnings were $0.40 per share, zipping past expectations of $0.23 per share. A year ago, adjusted earnings were $0.38 per share.

Subscription revenue climbed by 36% to $244.3 million during the quarter ended December 31.

In noting milestones for the company, CEO Brian Halligan said Hubspot surpassed 100,000 total customers during the quarter and crossed $1 billion in annual recurring revenue in December.

For the first quarter of 2021, the company forecast total revenue of $260 million to $265 million versus expectations of $247.6 million. It also foresees adjusted earnings of $0.28 to $0.30. Analysts were looking for $0.29 per share.

Hubspot's full-year 2021 revenue forecast came in at $1.16 billion to $1.17 billion, higher than Wall Street's projection of $1.07 billion.

Hubspot stock jumped 20% to trade above $525. It has gained about 9% during the year and has more than doubled over the past 12 months.