Asana Stock News: CEO Dustin Moskovitz to buy 30 million shares, sending ASAN up 24%

Asana (ASAN) stock exploded 24% late Wednesday after founder and CEO Dustin Moskovitz said he will purchase as much as 30 million shares of the embattled project management platform during the company's fourth quarter earnings call. ASAN stock is now up 20.5% in Thursday's premarket at $21.44.

Asana stock news: Q4 earnings see Asana seeking to stem losses

Asana reported an adjusted loss of $-0.15 per share, which was nearly half of the $-0.27 expected by Wall Street. Asana reached sales of $150 million and beat analyst consensus by $5 million for the quarter.

"Q4 revenues grew 34% year-over-year and fiscal year revenue grew 45% year-over-year," boasted Moskovitz on the earnings call. "During the fiscal year, we closed deals with three of the world's largest automotive manufacturers, four of the largest telecommunications and internet service providers, several large professional services companies, five of the largest media conglomerates, a top five shipping and logistics company and six financial services firms. Overall, eight of the top 10 tech companies are Asana customers, and 80% of the Fortune 100 use Asana."

Moskovitz and other Asana executives pushed the narrative that profits are right around the corrner, but it is less believable when you realize the full-year guidance still expects $125 million in adjusted losses. While Wall Street had pinned full-year adjusted EPS at $-0.80, management is guiding for a midpoint of $-0.57. Adjusted losses may be moving in the right direction, but future profits still appear nebulous at best

Executives made hay of Asana's $37 million adjusted loss for Q4 coming in below the year ago quarter's $44 million adjusted loss. On a GAAP basis though, Asana lost $95 million in net income in the most recent quarter compared with a $90 million loss one year ago.

Moskivitz plans to use a 10b5-1 trading plan to invest a large chunk of his net worth in another 30 million shares of Asana stock. Calling the stock "undervalued" on the earnings call, Moskovitz said the low share price was a major opportunity. At the current share price, Moskovitz would have to spend upwards of $600 million to buy 30 million shares. Back in September of this past year, Moskovitz purchased 19.3 million ASAN shares for $350 million to push his ownership from 23% to 35%. With 30 million more shares, Moskovitz's ownership stake would surpass 58%.

Asana stock forecast

The Asana stock price has broken above the $20.80 resistance level that pushed prices down in October and November of 2022. The 9-day moving average has crossed above the 21-day average, which should convince more traders to take a bet on ASAN stock. Now bulls will have their sights set on the supply zone extending from $27 to $29.50. This area saw many bagholders sell their stashes last fall. Expect the same to happen again once Moskovitz's buying pushes the share price higher. Longer-term support remains at $18.  

ASAN daily chart