Chewy Inc.’s stock rose 4.9% early Tuesday after the online pet-product retailer blew past earnings estimates for the fourth quarter, buoyed by strong customer growth.

Key Takeaways Chewy's quarterly earnings and revenue exceeded forecasts as the online pet supplies retailer grew its customer base.The company noted that sales to customers who had Chewy products shipped automatically was up 21%.

Active customers grew 2% year over year to 20.5 million after falling in the previous quarter. Chewy has had success getting those customers to increase their spending on the platform over time: Net sales per active customer grew by 4% to $578 over the past 12 months, and planned Autoship sales grew to 80.6% of total revenue.