As we reflect back on the just completed Q4 finance and HR software sector earnings season, we dig into the relative performance of Coupa (NASDAQ:COUP) 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 17 finance and HR software stocks we track reported a solid Q4; on average, revenues beat analyst consensus estimates by 5.66%, while on average next quarter revenue guidance was 2.56% above consensus. Tech stocks have had a rocky start in 2022, but finance and hr software stocks held their ground better than others, with the share price up 6.34% since earnings, on average.
Weakest Q4: Coupa (NASDAQ:COUP)
Founded in 2006 by former Oracle executives, Coupa Software (COUP) is a software as a service platform that helps enterprises manage their spending across procurement, billing and business expenses and get a better visibility into how the money is spent.
Coupa reported revenues of $193.2 million, up 18.1% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 3.82%. It was a weaker quarter for the company, with revenue guidance missing analysts' expectations for both the full year and the next quarter.
"We finished the fiscal year strong, delivering record revenue and free cash flow results in the fourth quarter," said Rob Bernshteyn, chairman and chief executive officer at Coupa.
Coupa delivered the weakest full year guidance update of the whole group. The stock is up 13.3% since the results and currently trades at $101.88.
Read our full report on Coupa here, it's free.
Best Q4: 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 $155.4 million, up 76.2% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 12.7%. It was an incredible quarter for the company, with a significant improvement in gross margin and an impressive beat of analyst estimates.
The stock is up 3.92% since the results and currently trades at $11.13.
Is now the time to buy Marqeta? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.
Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU)
Created in 1983 when founder Scott Cook watched his wife struggle to reconcile the family's checkbook, Intuit provides tax and accounting software for small and medium-sized businesses.
Intuit reported revenues of $2.67 billion, up 69.6% year on year, missing analyst expectations by 1.65%. It was a weaker quarter for the company, with a miss of the top line analyst estimates.
Intuit had the weakest performance against analyst estimates in the group. The stock is down 3.1% since the results and currently trades at $481.06.
Read our full analysis of Intuit's results here.
Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY)
Founded by payroll software veteran Steve Sarowitz in 1997, Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) is a provider of payroll and human resources software for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Paylocity reported revenues of $196 million, up 33.9% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 4.11%. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with a strong top line growth but a quarter-on-quarter decline in gross margin.
The stock is up 6.63% since the results and currently trades at $209.83.
Read our full, actionable report on Paylocity here, it's free.
Paycor (NASDAQ:PYCR)
Found in 1990 in Cincinnati, Ohio Paycor (NASDAQ: PYCR), provides software for small businesses to manage their payroll and HR needs in one place.
Paycor reported revenues of $103 million, up 20% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 3.56%. It was a solid quarter for the company, with a very optimistic guidance for the next quarter.
The stock is up 22.1% since the results and currently trades at $30.62.
Read our full, actionable report on Paycor here, it's free.
The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned