As the craze of earnings season draws to a close, here's a look back at some of the most exciting (and some less so) results from Q4. Today we are looking at the finance and HR software stocks, starting with Flywire (NASDAQ:FLYW).
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 14 finance and HR software stocks we track reported a decent Q4; on average, revenues beat analyst consensus estimates by 5.01%, while on average next quarter revenue guidance was 3.19% above consensus. Tech multiples have reverted to the historical mean after reaching all time levels in early 2021, but finance and HR software stocks held their ground better than others, with share prices down 1.23% since the previous earnings results, on average.
Flywire (NASDAQ:FLYW)
Originally created to process international tuition payments for universities, Flywire (NASDAQ:FLYW) is a cross border payments processor and software platform focusing on complex, high-value transactions like education, healthcare and B2B payments.
Flywire reported revenues of $73.1 million, up 42.1% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 11.5%. It was a strong quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analyst estimates and very optimistic guidance for the next quarter.
“Our excellent results in the fourth quarter capped off a tremendous year for Flywire. We continued to execute against our growth strategies, combined with increased demand for our solutions across our education, healthcare, travel and B2B verticals,” said Mike Massaro, CEO of Flywire.
Flywire achieved the highest full year guidance raise of the whole group. The stock is up 17.1% since the results and currently trades at $28.95.
Is now the time to buy Flywire? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.
Best Q4: Asure Software (NASDAQ:ASUR)
Created from the merger of two small workforce management companies in 2007, Asure (NASDAQ:ASUR) provides cloud based payroll and HR software for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
Asure Software reported revenues of $29.3 million, up 38.7% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 23.3%. It was a very strong quarter for the company, with a significant improvement in gross margin and an impressive beat of analyst estimates.
Asure Software pulled off the strongest analyst estimates beat among its peers. The stock is up 42.9% since the results and currently trades at $16.05.
Is now the time to buy Asure Software? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.
Slowest Q4: 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 $140 million, up 21.4% year on year, in line with analyst expectations. It was a weaker quarter for the company, with revenue guidance for the next quarter and the full year missing analysts' expectations.
BlackLine had the weakest performance against analyst estimates and weakest full year guidance update in the group. The company added 128 customers to a total of 4,188. The stock is down 13.5% since the results and currently trades at $62.75.
Read our full analysis of BlackLine'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 $273 million, up 39.3% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 5.13%. It was a very strong quarter for the company, with an increase in gross margins and a very optimistic guidance for the next quarter.
The stock is down 14.7% since the results and currently trades at $193.23.
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 $132.9 million, up 28.9% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 4.34%. It was a very strong quarter for the company, with very optimistic guidance for the next quarter.
The stock is up 1.18% since the results and currently trades at $24.84.
Read our full, actionable report on Paycor here, it's free.
The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned