The Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) share price was a strong performer once again in 2019.
Over the 12 months the printed circuit board (PCB) design software provider's shares climbed 60% higher.
This compares to a solid 20% gain by the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index.
Why did the Altium share price shoot higher in 2019?
Investors were fighting to get hold of Altium's shares last year following the release of its full year results and the unveiling of its aspirational targets.
In FY 2019 Altium posted full year revenue of US$171.8 million and an EBITDA margin of 36.5%. This was a 22.6% increase on the prior corresponding period and leaves it within a whisker of its FY 2020 target of US$200 million revenue.
Growing even quicker were its EBITDA and net profit after tax. Altium delivered a 39.8% increase in EBITDA to US$62.7 million and a 41.1% lift in net profit after tax to US$52.9 million.
The main driver of its growth was the key Altium Designer product which reported a 22% lift in software license revenue to US$62.4 million and a 13% increase in subscriptions revenue to US$58.5 million.
This was the result of a 27% jump in Altium Designer seats and record growth in its subscription base to more than 43,600 subscribers.
Supporting its growth was Octopart search engine business which recorded a 50% increase in search advertising revenue to US$17.9 million and its TASKING software licence revenue which grew 44% to US$12.3 million.
The future looks bright.
Whilst the strong result impressed investors, management's confidence in the future was arguably what got investors most excited.
CEO, Aram Mirkazemi, said: "What makes this performance most outstanding is that it has been achieved while Altium has been focused intensely on investing to accelerate future growth. We are increasing the efficiency and reach of our transactional sales model and rolling out our new cloud platform Altium 365."
"These initiatives will power Altium's drive to market dominance and the achievement of our 2025 targets of 100,000 subscribers and US$500 million in revenue," he added.
And given how the proliferation of the Internet of Things is driving strong demand for its award-winning software, I wouldn't bet against the company achieving its targets. This could mean its shares continue to beat the market in 2020 and beyond.
In light of this, I would be a buyer of Altium's shares along with fellow tech shares Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) and Xero Limited (ASX: XRO).
