Elastic shares are trading sharply lower in late trading Wednesday after the enterprise search software company announced a series of management changes, with founder and CEO Shay Banon shifting to chief technology officer. The company named Ashutosh Kulkarni, who joined the company a year ago as chief product officer, as the new CEO.
Elastic (ticker: ESTC) also said that Chetan Puttagunta, now the company’s lead independent director, will become chairman of the Elastic board.
Kulkarni has previously held management roles at McAfee (MCFE), Akamai Technologies (AKAM), Informatica (INFA), and Sun Microsystems.
Elastic also said that Paul Appleby, president of worldwide field operations, is leaving the company. No explanation was offered for his departure.
Elastic stock has tumbled 7.2%, to $103, in after-hours trading, after dropping 2.7% in regular Wednesday trading. The S&P 500 closed up 0.3%.
“I couldn’t be more excited for Ash to become CEO. I’ve seen him in action for the past year and I know that his focused and empathetic leadership style combined with his executional and operational excellence will enable him to successfully lead Elastic,” Banon said in a statement. “Elastic is my life’s work, and in my role as CTO, I’ll be laser-focused on innovation and product, and people and culture—where my greatest passions lie, while Ash leads Elastic to realize its full potential.”
The company also said it now expects results for its fiscal third quarter ending Jan. 31 to exceed its previous guidance for revenue, non-GAAP operating margin, and non-GAAP net loss. Results will be announced in March. Previously, the company projected revenue for the quarter of $207 million to $209 million, and a non-GAAP loss of 20 to 24 cents a share.
Write to Eric J. Savitz at [email protected]
