Josh James is once again the CEO of Domo.
In March 2022, alongside its fiscal fourth quarter and year 2021 earnings report, the analytics vendor revealed that James, its founder and CEO, was stepping down after 12 years.
John Mellor, who had been Domo’s chief strategy officer since 2019, was hired as James’ replacement.
Now, nearly a year after James stepped down and Mellor took his place — again on the same day as its fiscal fourth quarter/annual quarter earnings call — Domo revealed on March 6 that Mellor stepped down. And James is back in his previous leadership role.
Also, in another shakeup of Domo’s executive suite, David Jolley was named chief financial officer after spending 25 years at Ernst & Young, Jeff Skousen was promoted to chief revenue officer, and Dan Strong and Renée Soto is now part of the board of vendors. of directors.
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Domo did not respond to a request for comment on Mellor’s resignation and James’ reappointment as CEO.
However, in his opening remarks during the earnings call after being re-introduced as CEO, James pointed to growth for the company. According to Doug Henschen, an analyst with Constellation Research, its recent shortfall — combined with the sharp decline in Domo’s share price — may help explain why Mellor decided to step down after just one year and James Tapped to return.
“Mellor took the reins in difficult times,” he said. “The economic outlook and stock prices generally have worsened over the past year and buying cycles have only gotten longer.”
Domo’s fourth quarter 2023 revenue was $79.6 million, up 14% compared to fiscal 2022 fourth quarter, and full year 2023 revenue of $308.6 million representing 20% growth over last year does.
However, with the year-over-year increase, fourth quarter revenue of $79.6 million was essentially the same as third quarter revenue of $79.0 million. And looking ahead, Domo anticipates total revenue of $78.5 million to $79.5 million during the first quarter of fiscal 2024, representing essentially zero revenue growth over the 6-month period.
In addition, fourth quarter 2023 billings were down 3% compared to fourth quarter 2022.
Not surprisingly, Domo’s share price is struggling amid slowing growth. The vendor’s stock opened Wednesday at $13.26 per share, well below its 52-week high of $57.41 and barely above its 52-week low of $11.35.
Domo isn’t alone among tech companies that have seen their stock prices decline over the past year, but other publicly traded data and analytics vendors such as Alteryx and MicroStrategy have declined much less rapidly.
That said, James talked about the immediate development when taking Domo’s earnings call from Mellor.
During James’ final year under his leadership in fiscal 2022, total revenue is expected to increase 23%, including a similar 23% year-over-year increase during the fourth quarter. In addition, subscription revenue — key for the cloud-native vendor — represented 86% of James’ total revenue during last year and was up 21% in fiscal 2021.
In addition, in its most recent years with James as CEO, Domo launched platform improvements including new collaborative development capabilities and a streamlined version of its embedded analytics suite of tools.
“When I look back here at the quarter, I’m looking forward to Domo returning to a high-growth company,” he added.
James may have the right personality to restore Domo’s growth trajectory, said David Meininger, an analyst with Ventana Research.
James’ unique approach helped Domo stand out from peers such as Click, Sisense and Tibco during his first tenure, and his leadership style has benefited the vendor as it moves forward in a competitive market and amid trying economic times for tech companies. Could have
“James’ leadership style is somewhat unorthodox, and it may be a good fit for the DOMO position,” Menninger said. “The company is not trying to be like any other business intelligence and analytics company out there. Having a leader who looks at the market a little differently can help create some unique positioning and differentiation in a crowded marketplace. “
Still, little wonder
According to wallstreetzen.com, although not with Domo, from March 2, 2022 to March 6, 2023, James held 10% of the company’s stock.
As a result of James’ continued involvement as a significant owner of Domo, his return as CEO isn’t entirely shocking.
“I didn’t hear any thunder [about a return]But I’m not surprised James is back,” he said. “He has a huge stake in the company, both personally and financially.”
Henschen said that by leaving DOMO for a year and then coming back, James could bring fresh energy as well as a fresh perspective to the role after spending time away.
“There is no doubt that James brings great passion and experience to the role, and he has a vested stake in the success of the company,” he said. “Sometimes, if you step away for a while, you can come back and look at things with fresh eyes. That’s the whole idea of relaxation, and very few individuals and industries are applying that concept to their career development. build in paths.
Like Henschen, Menninger did not know that James’ return to Domo was imminent.
He said, ‘I haven’t heard any rumours. “It was surprising to me.”
However, he added that while not a common practice, CEOs sometimes leave their companies and then return. A prime example of a founder and CEO who left their company and then came back is Steve Jobs of Apple.
Jobs co-founded the tech giant and helped lead the company from 1976-1985. He then returned in 1997 and remained CEO until his death in 2011.
Meininger said, “Steve Jobs was invited back – not necessarily early – and I think most would agree that his return was quite a success.”
Eric Avidon is a senior news writer for TechTarget Editorial and a journalist with more than 25 years of experience. He covers analytics and data management.