Employee unease and C-suite exits as Freshworks’ great results come at a cost

The announcement of Freshworks’ results for the quarter ended June 2023 was a rare bright spot in a tough few years for the company. The Chennai-headquartered company—which follows a January-December financial year—saw its revenue for the quarter surge by 19% year-on-year, touching $145.1 million. 

Compared to the same quarter in 2022, Freshworks’ net loss nearly halved—dropping from $69.75 million to $35.66 million. This saw the company post an adjusted operating profit of $11.7 million for the quarter, having posted an adjusted operating loss in the year-ago period.

These results, which outperformed Freshworks’ own forecasts, led to the company revising its revenue projections for 2023 from $580-592.5 million to $587-595 million. It now expects to earn an adjusted operating profit of $24-32 million for the year as well—up from earlier estimates of just $2-8 million.

The news was enough to help the company’s stock price end August 3—two days after it announced its results—at $21.38, an 18-month high. This respite comes on the back of Freshworks’ share price sliding for the better part of the past 18 months. Ever since its bumper listing on the NASDAQ in September 2021—becoming the first Indian software-as-a-service (SaaS) firm to go public on the New York-based exchange—Freshworks has seen its stock price fall victim to the worsening global economic climate.