Why Bottomline Tech Shares Took Off

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of cloud-based payment specialist Bottomline Technologies (NAS: EPAY) climbed 10% today after its quarterly results topped Wall Street expectations.

So what: Bottomline's wide first-quarter beat -- core EPS of $0.30 versus Wall Street's view of just $0.22-- reinforces optimism over the cloud-based tailwinds working its favor. Gross margins for the quarter even increased a bit over the year-ago period, giving investors plenty of confidence in management's ability to grow profitably over the long term.

Now what: Don't expect the operating momentum to slow anytime soon. "We are investing in innovation to extend Bottomline's leadership position, confident the investments we are making will drive future predictable and profitable revenue growth for Bottomline," CEO Rob Eberle said. "The first quarter results were a strong start to the fiscal year and we believe we are well positioned to drive continued growth and increased shareholder value through the remainder of the year." However, with the stock flirting with its 52-week high today and trading at a 20-plus forward P/E, much of that optimism might already be baked into the price.

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The article Why Bottomline Tech Shares Took Off originally appeared on Fool.com.

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