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Shares of Backblaze (NASDAQ: BLZE) roared 45.2% higher on Friday after the cloud storage platform announced stronger-than-expected quarterly results.

Backblaze ends 2023 on a high note, led by B2 Cloud Storage growth

For its fourth-quarter 2023, Backblaze's revenue grew 25% year over year to $28.7 million, including a 47% increase to $14 million in B2 Cloud Storage revenue and a 10% bump to $14.7 million in Computer Backup segment sales. On the bottom line, that translated to an adjusted (non-GAAP) net loss of $5.6 million, or $0.15 per share, narrowed from a loss of $0.27 per share in last year's fourth quarter. Analysts, on average, were modeling a wider net loss of $0.18 per share on revenue of $28.2 million.

Backblaze also drove a healthy 28% increase in annual recurring revenue (ARR) to $117.6 million at year-end, and its net revenue retention rate stood at a solid 109%. Backblaze CEO Gleb Budman called it a "strong finish to the year," noting the company also achieved its first-ever quarter of positive adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) at $1.6 million (or 6% of revenue).

What's next for Backblaze investors?

For full-year 2024, Backblaze issued guidance for revenue to be between $126 million and $128 million -- well above consensus estimates for $123.8 million -- with a positive adjusted EBITDA margin of between 8% and 10%.

In the end, this was a straightforward quarterly beat punctuated by an inflection toward adjusted EBITDA profitability and better-than-expected guidance for the coming year. Shares of Backblaze are simply responding in kind today.

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Steve Symington has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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