Earnings results often indicate what direction a company will take in the months ahead. With Q4 now behind us, let’s have a look at DigitalOcean (NYSE:DOCN) and its peers.

Data is the lifeblood of the internet and software in general, and the amount of data created is accelerating. As a result, the importance of storing the data in scalable and efficient formats continues to rise, especially as its diversity and associated use cases expand from analyzing simple, structured datasets to high-scale processing of unstructured data such as images, audio, and video.

The 5 data storage stocks we track reported a decent Q4; on average, revenues beat analyst consensus estimates by 4.1%. while next quarter's revenue guidance was 0.5% above consensus. Stocks, especially growth stocks where cash flows further in the future are more important to the story, had a good end of 2023. The beginning of 2024 saw mixed inflation data, however, leading to more volatile stock performance, and data storage stocks have had a rough stretch, with share prices down 8.9% on average since the previous earnings results.

DigitalOcean (NYSE:DOCN)

Started by brothers Ben and Moisey Uretsky, DigitalOcean (NYSE: DOCN) provides a simple, low-cost platform that allows developers and small and medium-sized businesses to host applications and data in the cloud.

DigitalOcean reported revenues of $180.9 million, up 11% year on year, topping analyst expectations by 1.6%. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with very solid free cash flow. Its revenue narrowly outperformed Wall Street's estimates during the quarter. On the other hand, gross margin decreased.

“I’m excited to have joined DigitalOcean and to advance our position as a preferred platform for developers at startups and growing digital businesses, enabling them to rapidly build, deploy and scale applications that can change the world,” said Paddy Srinivasan, CEO of DigitalOcean.

DigitalOcean delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates and slowest revenue growth of the whole group. The stock is down 3.7% since the results and currently trades at $34.51.

Is now the time to buy DigitalOcean? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.

Best Q4: Commvault Systems (NASDAQ:CVLT)

Originally formed in 1988 as part of Bell Labs, Commvault (NASDAQ: CVLT) provides enterprise software used for data backup and recovery, cloud and infrastructure management, retention, and compliance.

Commvault Systems reported revenues of $216.8 million, up 11.1% year on year, outperforming analyst expectations by 4.1%. It was a very strong quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analysts' billings estimates.

Commvault Systems delivered the highest full-year guidance raise among its peers. The stock is up 17% since the results and currently trades at $95.4.

Is now the time to buy Commvault Systems? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.

Weakest Q4: MongoDB (NASDAQ:MDB)

Started in 2007 by the team behind Google’s ad platform, DoubleClick, MongoDB offers database-as-a-service that helps companies store large volumes of semi-structured data.

MongoDB reported revenues of $458 million, up 26.8% year on year, exceeding analyst expectations by 5.2%. It was a weaker quarter for the company, with full-year revenue guidance missing analysts' expectations and management forecasting growth to slow.

MongoDB had the weakest full-year guidance update in the group. The company added 80 enterprise customers paying more than $100,000 annually to reach a total of 2,052. The stock is down 15% since the results and currently trades at $350.25.

Read our full analysis of MongoDB's results here.

Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW)

Founded in 2013 by three French engineers who spent decades working for Oracle, Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) provides a data warehouse-as-a-service in the cloud that allows companies to store large amounts of data and analyze it in real time.

Snowflake reported revenues of $774.7 million, up 31.5% year on year, surpassing analyst expectations by 2%. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with strong free cash flow, while still growing revenue at 30%+, which is certainly an impressive feat. On the other hand, its net revenue retention declined again and product guidance for Q1 missed analysts' estimates.

Snowflake achieved the fastest revenue growth among its peers. The company added 25 enterprise customers paying more than $1m annually to reach a total of 461. The stock is down 33.1% since the results and currently trades at $153.8.

Read our full, actionable report on Snowflake here, it's free.

Couchbase (NASDAQ:BASE)

Formed in 2011 with the merger of Membase and CouchOne, Couchbase (NASDAQ:BASE) is a database-as-a-service platform that allows enterprises to store large volumes of semi-structured data.

Couchbase reported revenues of $50.09 million, up 20.3% year on year, surpassing analyst expectations by 7.6%. It was a solid quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analysts' revenue, ARR (annual recurring revenue), and EPS estimates. Looking ahead, next quarter's revenue guidance was higher than Wall Street's estimates, though its full-year outlook was in line.

Couchbase scored the biggest analyst estimates beat among its peers. The stock is down 9.8% since the results and currently trades at $24.24.

Read our full, actionable report on Couchbase here, it's free.

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