Shares in ASX technology company Bigtincan Holdings Ltd (ASX: BTH) enjoyed a stellar run over the latter half of 2020. In fact, by late October, the Bigtincan share price had reached a record high of $1.60. But since then, the company's shares have well and truly come off the boil, retreating by almost 44% to just 88.5 cents at the time of writing.
Currently, the Bigtincan share price is trading at its lowest level since August of last year, reversing more than 6 months worth of gains.
Company background
Bigtincan develops sales and marketing software for business clients. It services a range of different industries from healthcare and life sciences to manufacturing and financial services. Bigtincan's software is designed to automate manual processes, improving customer and stakeholder engagement. Additionally, the software helps boost productivity, and drive better sales and marketing outcomes.
Bigtincan's flagship Sales Enablement Automation Platform is a centralised, integrated software solution. The platform is designed to support businesses throughout their entire sales and marketing lifecycle. This starts from onboarding, training and coaching new staff, and assists in engaging with customers and providing accurate, dynamic reporting.
What drove the Bigtincan share price gains in 2020?
Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, FY20 was an exciting year for the company. Bigtincan made three key strategic acquisitions during FY20. The most in its history. It also delivered some strong results in tough market conditions.
Revenues surged 56% higher in FY20 to $31 million, with a great deal of that uplift coming from subscription revenue. Consequently, subscription revenue increased by 57% to $29.5 million. Customer retention rates also increased by 2% to 89%, indicating significant brand loyalty among Bigtincan's client base.
More recent news
Bigtincan released its first-half FY21 results to the market last month. It was another strong result, with revenues increasing by 33% versus the first half of FY20 to $18.4 million. It also delivered annualised recurring revenues that were up 50% on the prior corresponding period to $48.4 million.
The company also kept up its rate of M&A activity, making two additional acquisitions during the half. Its most significant acquisition was of sales enablement software developer Clearslide. Clearslide is an international industry leader with over 500 customers on multiple continents.
Outlook for Bigtincan
The company also reaffirmed its FY21 guidance. Annualised recurring revenue is expected to come in at the upper end of the $49 million to $53 million band. Statutory revenue is anticipated to be in the range of $41 million to $44 million. This would imply year-on-year growth of at least 32%.
However, this news did little to buoy the Bigtincan share price. Shares fell almost 9% the day of the company's first-half results announcement, and they have only increased marginally since then. With all signs pointing to another year of solid growth, it will be interesting to watch Bigtincan shares perform over the remainder of FY21.
