Company Overview
Okta, Inc. is a leading identity and access management (IAM) company that provides cloud software enabling organizations to securely connect people to technologies. Its core platform offers single sign-on (SSO), multi-factor authentication (MFA), API access management, and lifecycle management. Okta helps enterprises manage identities across employees, partners, and customers. It operates in over 185 countries and serves thousands of customers, including many Fortune 500 companies. Okta went public in 2017 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Most Recent Earnings
Okta reported Q1 FY2025 earnings with adjusted EPS of $0.65, beating analyst expectations of $0.51. Revenue came in at $617 million, up 16% year-over-year and above the consensus estimate of $604 million. Subscription revenue accounted for $596 million of total revenue, reflecting a strong 17% growth. Okta raised its full-year guidance for FY2025, now expecting revenue between $2.5 billion and $2.52 billion and adjusted EPS between $2.15 and $2.25. For Q2 FY2025, Okta guided revenue between $627 million and $631 million, with EPS between $0.63 and $0.65.
Founding, Products, and Headquarters
Okta was founded in 2009 by Todd McKinnon and Frederic Kerrest, both former Salesforce executives. The company began with a mission to build a secure, scalable identity layer for the internet. Its first major product was single sign-on (SSO), but it expanded quickly into adaptive MFA, lifecycle management, and identity governance. Okta now offers Workforce Identity Cloud and Customer Identity Cloud to serve both internal employee systems and external-facing customer identity use cases.
Okta is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company has raised more than $230 million in funding before its IPO from firms like Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners, and Sequoia Capital. Okta went public on NASDAQ in 2017 under the ticker symbol OKTA.
Key Products and Competitive Landscape
Okta’s flagship offerings include:
- SSO for managing access to applications
- MFA to verify users’ identities
- Lifecycle Management for user provisioning/deprovisioning
- API Access Management to control API access
- Okta Identity Governance for compliance and audit trails
Its key competitors in the identity space include Microsoft (Azure Active Directory), Ping Identity (now part of Thoma Bravo), CyberArk, ForgeRock, and IBM. While Microsoft dominates enterprise accounts bundled with Office 365, Okta differentiates with its vendor-agnostic integration layer.
Market Overview and Growth Projections
Okta operates in the global identity and access management (IAM) market, which is part of the broader cybersecurity industry. The IAM market was valued at approximately $15 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow to over $30 billion by 2030, driven by increased cloud adoption, hybrid work, and rising cyber threats. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the IAM segment is estimated at around 11%–13%.
The customer identity and access management (CIAM) subsegment, which Okta also addresses through Auth0 (acquired in 2021), is growing even faster. As businesses adopt personalized digital experiences, CIAM is expected to exceed $17 billion by 2030 at a CAGR above 14%.
Competitor Landscape
Okta faces competition from:
- Microsoft Azure AD – integrated into Microsoft 365, widely adopted by IT departments.
- Ping Identity – strong in hybrid environments and enterprise legacy systems.
- CyberArk – specializes in privileged access management.
- ForgeRock – now merged with Ping, focuses on CIAM and healthcare/financial use cases.
- IBM Security Verify – deep enterprise consulting and integration services.
Okta stands out by being vendor-neutral, API-friendly, and easy to integrate into multi-cloud, SaaS-first environments.
Differentiation
Okta’s primary differentiation lies in its independent and vendor-neutral identity platform. Unlike Microsoft, which ties identity into its own ecosystem, Okta integrates natively with over 7,000 apps and IT systems. Its developer-first approach via Auth0 and its rapid innovation in governance, lifecycle automation, and Zero Trust architectures further set it apart. Additionally, Okta’s focus on both Workforce Identity and Customer Identity gives it a dual growth engine.
Key Management Team
- Todd McKinnon, CEO & Co-founder: Former SVP of Engineering at Salesforce, McKinnon has led Okta since its inception. He’s a strong voice in cybersecurity and enterprise SaaS leadership.
- Brett Tighe, CFO: Promoted from within, Tighe has helped Okta navigate growth, M&A, and profitability pivots while increasing financial discipline.
- Sagnik Nandy, President & CPO: Previously at Google, Nandy now leads product and engineering, driving innovation across Okta’s platform and integrations.
Financial Performance (Last 5 Years)
Over the past five years, Okta has demonstrated strong top-line growth, with revenue growing from $586 million in FY2020 to over $2.26 billion in FY2024, representing a CAGR of roughly 32%. This growth was driven by expansion in enterprise customers, cross-sell of new modules, and the acquisition of Auth0 in 2021.
Earnings have been volatile as Okta transitioned from growth-at-all-costs to a more disciplined profitability focus. The company turned adjusted operating margin positive in FY2024 and is targeting GAAP profitability by FY2026. EPS has steadily improved due to cost optimization and reduced stock-based comp.
On the balance sheet, Okta had over $2.3 billion in cash and marketable securities as of Q1 FY2025, giving it ample runway. It carries modest debt but has largely avoided heavy leverage. Deferred revenue and RPO (remaining performance obligations) continue to grow, signaling strong future revenue visibility.
Bull Case for OKTA
- Dual-cloud growth engine: Okta benefits from both workforce and customer identity markets, accelerating overall TAM expansion.
- Vendor-agnostic platform advantage: Integrates with any app or cloud stack, unlike Microsoft AD which favors its own ecosystem.
- Profitability inflection point: As Okta moves past integration hurdles from Auth0 and improves margins, earnings could scale rapidly.
Bear Case for OKTA
- Microsoft dominance: Azure AD remains deeply embedded in enterprise environments, making it hard for Okta to displace in bundled deals.
- Security incidents and trust: The 2022 breaches hurt Okta’s brand, and any further lapses could impact growth.
- Competitive pricing pressure: As identity becomes commoditized, pricing could compress and limit Okta’s expansion margin.
The stock is building a base, stage 1 on the monthly and weekly charts. The daily chart is in a stage 2 markup but also showing a slight loss of momentum and consolidating to stage 3. Post earnings (May 27th) we would be interested a position for the longer term.
