Why Five9 Stock Was Flailing on Friday

Key Points

• The company notched a double beat in its second quarter, but that wasn't good enough for the market.

• Investors seemed more concerned about a coming change in top management.

• 10 stocks we like better than Five9 ›

Contact center software solutions provider Five9 (NASDAQ: FIVN) has been having a forgettable Friday on the stock exchange.

After the company published its latest set of quarterly results and announced a top-level managerial change, investors sold out of its stock to the point where it was down nearly 4% in late-session trading. That slide was notably more pronounced than the 1.7% decrease of the S&P 500 index.

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Double-digit improvements

For its second quarter, Five9 posted a record-high revenue figure of over $283 million, which was 12% higher year over year. Artificial intelligence (AI) played a significant role in this, as the company's enterprise AI revenue advanced by 42% during the period.

Image source: Getty Images.

As for profitability, it also rose at a double-digit rate. Non-GAAP (adjusted) net income came in at over $58 million ($0.76 per share), well up from the nearly $39 million in the year-ago period.

Analysts tracking the stock were expecting an adjusted net income figure of $0.62, on revenue of slightly more than $275.

Five9 also proffered guidance for both its current (third) quarter and the entirety of 2025. For the latter period, it's modeling slightly over $1.14 billion to almost $1.15 billion for revenue, and adjusted net income ranging from $2.86 to $2.90 per share. The consensus analyst projections for the two metrics are a bit more than $1.14 billion and $0.70, respectively.

Successful CEO is stepping down

That double beat was good news, but this was obscured by the company's announcement that CEO Mike Burkland is retiring. He will stay in the job until a replacement is found. Burkland served as Five9's leader from 2008 to 2017, until he was diagnosed with cancer. He returned to the position in 2022.

In its announcement of his departure, Five9 said that Buckland was at the helm of the company as it achieved notable milestones, and it credited him for growing it from $10 million to more than $1 billion in annual revenue. It's little wonder investors were displeased to hear of his looming departure.

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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Five9. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.