As finance and HR software stocks’ Q3 earnings season wraps, let's dig into this quarter's best and worst performers, including Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) 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 Q3; on average, revenues beat analyst consensus estimates by 3.13%, while on average next quarter revenue guidance was 1.54% above consensus. Investors abandoned cash burning companies since high interest rates will make it harder to raise capital, but finance and HR software stocks held their ground better than others, with the share prices up 6.84% since the previous earnings results, on average.
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 $2.59 billion, up 29.3% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 3.88%. It was a slower quarter for the company, with a full year guidance missing analysts' expectations and a decline in gross margin.
“We had a strong first quarter as we innovated and delivered on our strategy to be the global AI-driven expert platform powering prosperity for consumers and small businesses,” said Sasan Goodarzi, Intuit's chief executive officer.
Intuit delivered the weakest full year guidance update of the whole group. The stock is down 1.34% since the results and currently trades at $376.00.
Is now the time to buy Intuit? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.
Best Q3: 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 $95.2 million, up 40.4% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 8.39%. It was a stunning quarter for the company, with a significant improvement in gross margin and very optimistic guidance for the next quarter.
Flywire delivered the highest full year guidance raise among its peers. The stock is up 38.1% since the results and currently trades at $23.79.
Is now the time to buy Flywire? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.
Slowest Q3: Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY)
Founded by industry veterans Aneel Bushri and Dave Duffield after their former company PeopleSoft was acquired by Oracle in a hostile takeover, Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) provides cloud-based software for organizations to manage and plan finance and human resources.
Workday reported revenues of $1.59 billion, up 16.2% year on year, missing analyst expectations by 2.95%. It was a decent quarter for the company, with topline results in line with analyst expectations.
Workday had the weakest performance against analyst estimates in the group. The stock is up 19.1% since the results and currently trades at $160.19.
Read our full analysis of Workday's results here.
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 $101 million, up 13.2% year on year, in line with analyst expectations. It was a weaker quarter for the company, with underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter and slow revenue growth.
The company added 25 enterprise customers paying more than $100,000 annually to a total of 770. The stock is down 8.34% since the results and currently trades at $6.59.
Read our full, actionable report on Zuora here, it's free.
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 $21.9 million, up 21.8% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 3.25%. It was a solid quarter for the company, with a significant improvement in gross margin.
The stock is up 47% since the results and currently trades at $9.63.
Read our full, actionable report on Asure Software here, it's free.
The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned