Confluent sees strong growth in Q4 2024 cloud revenue

Confluent has announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year ending December 2024, showing substantial growth in subscription and cloud revenue.

In the fourth quarter, Confluent's subscription revenue reached USD $251 million, marking a 24% increase from the previous year. Confluent Cloud revenue for the same period was USD $138 million, a 38% rise compared to the prior year. Over the fiscal year, subscription revenue amounted to USD $922 million, a 26% growth, and cloud revenue surged by 41% to USD $492 million. The number of customers generating over USD $100,000 annually grew by 12% to 1,381.

Jay Kreps, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, commented on the company's achievements, "Confluent closed the year with a strong Q4, highlighted by beating all guided metrics and achieving 38% year-over-year Confluent Cloud revenue growth." He highlighted the increasing relevance of data streaming platforms for powering critical AI applications and noted the impact of strategic partnerships and product developments made throughout the year.

Rohan Sivaram, Chief Financial Officer, remarked on Confluent's growing prominence as a data platform. "Confluent has become a major data platform for the enterprise, with thousands of customers relying on our data streaming platform to win in the era of cloud, data, and AI," he stated. Sivaram also emphasised the financial health of the company, pointing out an expansion in operational and free cash flow margins in 2024.

The Q4 2024 financial highlights report a total revenue of USD $261.2 million, a 23% increase from the same quarter of the previous year. Despite a GAAP operating loss of USD $105.8 million, non-GAAP operating income improved to USD $13.6 million, and free cash flow rose to USD $29.1 million.

For the fiscal year 2024, total revenue reached USD $963.6 million, enhancing by 24% year-over-year. The GAAP operating loss for the year decreased to USD $419.1 million, while non-GAAP operating income improved significantly to USD $27.5 million. Free cash flow turned positive for the year at USD $9.5 million.

Looking ahead to 2025, Confluent projects Q1 subscription revenue to be in the range of USD $253 to USD $254 million, and an annual subscription revenue forecast between USD $1.117 billion and USD $1.121 billion. Non-GAAP operating margins are anticipated to be around 3% for Q1 and approximately 6% for the full year.