Looking back on finance and HR software stocks' Q1 earnings, we examine this quarter's best and worst performers, including Zuora (NYSE:ZUO) and its peers.
Organizations are constantly looking to improve organizational efficiencies, whether it is financial planning, tax management or payroll. Finance and HR software benefit from the SaaS-ification of businesses, large and small, who much prefer the flexibility of cloud-based, web-browser delivered software paid for on a subscription basis than the hassle and expense of purchasing and managing on-premise enterprise software.
The 15 finance and HR software stocks we track reported a mixed Q1; on average, revenues beat analyst consensus estimates by 1.4%. while next quarter's revenue guidance was in line with consensus. Stocks, especially growth stocks where cash flows further in the future are more important to the story, had a good end of 2023. But the beginning of 2024 has seen more volatile stock performance due to mixed inflation data, and finance and hr software stocks have had a rough stretch, with share prices down 6.2% on average since the previous earnings results.
Zuora (NYSE:ZUO) Founded in 2007, Zuora (NYSE:ZUO) offers software as a service platform that allows companies to bill and accept payments for recurring subscription products.
Zuora reported revenues of $109.8 million, up 6.5% year on year, in line with analysts' expectations. Overall, it was a slower quarter for the company with a decline in its gross margin and a miss of analysts' billings estimates.
“Our first quarter speaks to the quality of our install base and ability to drive strong expansion with innovations including the recent acquisition of Togai,” said Tien Tzuo, Founder and CEO at Zuora.
The stock is down 3.9% since reporting and currently trades at $9.48.
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Best Q1: Bill.com (NYSE:BILL) Started by René Lacerte in 2006 after selling his previous payroll and accounting software company PayCycle to Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU), Bill.com (NYSE:BILL) is a software as a service platform that aims to make payments and billing processes easier for small and medium-sized businesses.
Bill.com reported revenues of $323 million, up 18.5% year on year, outperforming analysts' expectations by 5.6%. It was a very strong quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts' billings estimates and optimistic revenue guidance for the next quarter.
Although it had a great quarter compared its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 17.4% since reporting. It currently trades at $52.30.
Weakest Q1: Global Business Travel (NYSE:GBTG) Holding close ties to American Express (NYSE:AXP), Global Business Travel (NYSE:GBTG) is a comprehensive travel and expense management services provider to corporations worldwide.
Global Business Travel reported revenues of $610 million, up 5.5% year on year, falling short of analysts' expectations by 2.3%. It was a weak quarter for the company with full-year revenue guidance missing analysts' expectations.
Global Business Travel posted the weakest performance against analyst estimates and weakest full-year guidance update in the group. Interestingly, the stock is up 8.1% since the results and currently trades at $6.73.
Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) Founded by CEO Jason Gardner in 2009, Marqeta (NASDAQ: MQ) is an innovative card issuer that provides companies with the ability to issue and process virtual, physical, and tokenized credit and debit cards.
Marqeta reported revenues of $118 million, down 45.7% year on year, in line with analysts' expectations. Zooming out, it was a very strong quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts' total payment volume estimates and a meaningful improvement in its gross margin.
Marqeta had the slowest revenue growth among its peers. The stock is down 6.7% since reporting and currently trades at $5.44.
BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) Started in 2001 by software engineer Therese Tucker, one of the very few women founders who took their companies public, BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) provides software for organizations to automate accounting and finance tasks.
BlackLine reported revenues of $157.5 million, up 13.3% year on year, surpassing analysts' expectations by 1.5%. Zooming out, it was a weak quarter for the company with decelerating customer growth and a miss of analysts' billings estimates.
The company added 13 customers to reach a total of 4,411. The stock is down 20.9% since reporting and currently trades at $47.82.
This content was originally published on Stock Story
