- UiPath’s Q4 revenue rose 14% to $481 million, beating estimates of $464.81 million.
- However, PATH shares fell after-hours as its operating income forecast of about $80 million came in just shy of expectations.
- PATH trended at number one on Stocktwits with an ‘extremely bullish’ retail sentiment late Wednesday.
UiPath Inc. said Wednesday it is in talks with the U.S. Department of War over potential orders, triggering a wave of upbeat reactions among retail traders about the automation software company’s prospects.
“We are seeing an increased appetite for more long-term projects, strategic projects, especially in the Department of War,” CEO Daniel Dines said on the company’s earnings call.
As the war in Iran intensifies, several companies tied to the defense sector or supplying military technology have seen their stocks climb sharply in recent weeks.
Retail’s View On PATH
At least one retail trader on Stocktwits drew a comparison with Palantir Technologies, whose AI-powered Maven system has reportedly been used by the U.S. military to analyze intelligence and help identify targets during operations in Iran.
“I listened to the full conference call and heard some extremely exciting things. They're having high-level conversations with the Department of War. Remember what happened with PLTR?” this person said. “PATH is the number one safety rating for agentic AI.”
Palantir is one of the key technology vendors for the military and clocked nearly $2 billion in sales from its government business last year. More recently, the Pentagon has struck deals with leading AI companies, including OpenAI and Google, to secure access to their LLMs for defence-related purposes.
Although UiPath has yet to announce a deal, traders say the potential could be huge. “Dines just said there have been high-level conversations with the Department of War! Potential big contracts ahead!” one of them said.
PATH was the number one trending ticker on Stocktwits late Wednesday, with retail sentiment climbing sharply higher in the ‘extremely bullish’ zone after the company issued its fourth-quarter results.
PATH Earnings Recap
UiPath beat revenue and profit expectations in the last quarter and issued a strong sales forecast for the current quarter.
The company’s operating income guidance was a whisker shy of expectations, and coupled with UiPath’s comments about market volatility ahead, dragged PATH shares in the aftermarket session.
UiPath’s fourth-quarter revenue rose 14% to $481 million, beating estimates of $464.81 million; adjusted profit of $0.30 per share also came in higher than the expected $0.25.
For the first quarter, the company guided revenue in the range of $395 million to $400 million, above the $393.36 million expectation. The operating income forecast of about $80 million came in just shy of the $80.5 million expectation.
We have accounted for the “variability in macroeconomic environment,” Dines said. “There's obviously the Middle East conflict… so there's (that) uncertainty there. I think we do see pockets of strength and we see pockets of pressure or fluctuations that happen from a macroeconomic standpoint.”
PATH shares fell about 7% in after-market trading, dragged by the softer-than-expected outlook, but recouped some of those losses in overnight trading. As of the last close, the stock is down 24.5% year-to-date.
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