Shares of Evolv Technologies Holdings, Inc. (EVLV) dipped slightly in after-hours trading Tuesday. The security screening company delivered what you might call a classic mixed bag of an earnings report: a miss on the bottom line but a beat on the top, with some underlying financials looking pretty healthy.

Here's the breakdown. For the fourth quarter, Evolv reported a loss of three cents per share. That was a penny worse than what analysts were expecting, which was a loss of two cents. So, not great on that front.

But the revenue story was much brighter. The company brought in $38.5 million, which comfortably beat the Street's estimate of $36.44 million. More importantly, it's a solid jump from the $29.1 million it reported in the same quarter last year. So, the business is definitely growing.

Digging into the details they highlighted, a few things stand out. The company's Ending Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) hit $120.5 million, up 21% year-over-year. That's a good sign for predictable future income. They also reported a net income of $10.9 million for the quarter, though that figure likely includes some one-time items.

Perhaps most notably for a growth company, the cash pile got bigger. Evolv ended the quarter with $69.0 million in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities. That's up $12.8 million from the end of the previous quarter, suggesting the company is managing its burn rate effectively.

"We are pleased to be reporting solid fourth quarter results, which capped a year of significant improvement across the Company," said CEO John Kedzierski.

Investors seemed to focus on the earnings miss initially, with the stock ticking down 0.20% to $5.24 in extended trading. It's one of those quarters where you have to decide what matters more: the headline per-share number or the underlying growth and strengthening balance sheet.