Analyst Sees Splunk Inc. Posting In-Line Q4

has landed lots of new business in the fourth quarter and is likely to meet expectations, an analyst said Monday. The so-called "big data" software company is slated to post results Thursday and changed hands recently at $68.68, down $0.26.

shares are up about 2.6 percent in the past three months, versus about 5.2 percent for the Nasdaq Composite Index.

's director and senior research analyst Gregory McDowell said the company, which has yet to post a net profit, had "another strong quarter," especially in the federal sector, including a $1.7 million deal with the State Department inked January 30. Counting a $2.8 million contract McDowell believes got signed February 12 in the current first quarter, the analyst said Splunk's federal business is up by a factor of $6 million to $6.7 million, compared with the same period a year earlier.

Analysts, on average, expect Splunk to post adjusted fourth-quarter profit of $0.04 cents a share, on revenue of $137.1 million.

In the third quarter ended October 31, revenue increased more than 47 percent to $116 million, while the cost of revenue grew 67 percent to 17.58 million. McDowell maintained an Outperform rating and $78 target Monday, saying that deferred revenue offers "good visibility" for the company's future growth rate.