Stock Story -
Call center software provider Five9 (NASDAQ: NASDAQ:FIVN) reported revenue ahead of Wall Street’s expectations in Q3 CY2024, with sales up 14.8% year on year to $264.2 million. Guidance for next quarter’s revenue was optimistic at $267.5 million at the midpoint, 2.4% above analysts’ estimates. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.67 per share was also 15.1% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
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Five9 (FIVN) Q3 CY2024 Highlights:
- Revenue: $264.2 million vs analyst estimates of $255.1 million (3.6% beat)
- Adjusted EPS: $0.67 vs analyst estimates of $0.58 (15.1% beat)
- EBITDA: $52.36 million vs analyst estimates of $46.74 million (12% beat)
- Revenue Guidance for Q4 CY2024 is $267.5 million at the midpoint, above analyst estimates of $261.3 million
- Adjusted EPS guidance for the full year is $2.37 at the midpoint, beating analyst estimates by 4.6%
- Gross Margin (GAAP): 53.8%, up from 51.7% in the same quarter last year
- Operating Margin: -5.8%, up from -11.2% in the same quarter last year
- EBITDA Margin: 19.8%, up from 17.9% in the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow Margin: 7.9%, up from 3.2% in the previous quarter
- Billings: $267.9 million at quarter end, up 15.3% year on year
- Market Capitalization: $2.35 billion
Company OverviewStarted in 2001, Five9 (NASDAQ: FIVN) offers software as a service that makes it easier for companies to set up and efficiently run call centers, and offer more tailored customer support.
Video Conferencing
Work is becoming more distributed, both across geographies and devices. In order for businesses to keep functioning efficiently, they need to be able to communicate as well as they did when the teams were co-located, which drives the demand for integrated communication platforms.Sales Growth
Reviewing a company’s long-term performance can reveal insights into its business quality. Any business can have short-term success, but a top-tier one sustains growth for years. Luckily, Five9’s sales grew at a decent 21.1% compounded annual growth rate over the last three years. This is a useful starting point for our analysis.This quarter, Five9 reported year-on-year revenue growth of 14.8%, and its $264.2 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 3.6%. Management is currently guiding for a 11.9% year-on-year increase next quarter.
Looking further ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 9.4% over the next 12 months, a deceleration versus the last three years. This projection is underwhelming and indicates the market believes its products and services will face some demand challenges.
Billings
In addition to revenue, billings is a non-GAAP metric that sheds additional light on Five9’s business quality. Billings is often called “cash revenue” because it shows how much money the company has collected from customers in a certain period. This is different from revenue, which must be recognized in pieces over the length of a contract.Over the last year, Five9’s billings growth has slightly outpaced the sector, averaging 13.7% year-on-year increases and punching in at $267.9 million in the latest quarter. This performance was in line with its revenue growthand shows the company is successfully converting sales into cash. Its growth also enhances liquidity and provides a solid foundation for future investments.
Customer Acquisition Efficiency
Customer acquisition cost (CAC) payback represents the months required to recover the cost of acquiring a new customer. Essentially, it’s the break-even point for marketing and sales investments. A shorter CAC payback period is ideal, as it implies better returns on investment and business scalability.It’s relatively expensive for Five9 to acquire new customers as its CAC payback period checked in at 56.1 months this quarter. The company’s performance indicates that it operates in a competitive market and must continue investing to maintain its growth trajectory.