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Finance and HR Software Stocks Q1 Highlights: Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY)


Adam Hejl /
2022/07/05 4:23 am EDT

Earnings results often give us a good indication of what direction the company will take in the months ahead. With Q1 now behind us, let’s have a look at Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) 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 decent Q1; on average, revenues beat analyst consensus estimates by 3.17%, while on average next quarter revenue guidance was 2.1% above consensus. Tech stocks have had a rocky start in 2022, but finance and HR software stocks held their ground better than others, with share price down 6.01% since earnings, on average.

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 $1.43 billion, up 22% year on year, in line with analyst expectations. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with top-line results in line with analysts' estimates but a miss on the bottom line.

"Workday had a strong first quarter, building on the fiscal 2022 acceleration of our business," said Aneel Bhusri, co-founder, co-CEO, and chairman, Workday.

Workday Total Revenue

The stock is down 15.3% since the results and currently trades at $142.29.

Is now the time to buy Workday? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.

Best Q1: 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 $64.5 million, up 43.4% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 13.5%. It was an exceptional quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analyst estimates and a very optimistic guidance for the next quarter.

Flywire Total Revenue

Flywire achieved the strongest analyst estimates beat and highest full year guidance raise among its peers. The stock is down 12.8% since the results and currently trades at $18.40.

Is now the time to buy Flywire? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.

Slowest Q1: 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 $93.1 million, up 16% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 1.03%. It was a weaker quarter for the company, with an underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter and decelerating growth in large customers.

The stock is down 4.51% since the results and currently trades at $9.10.

Read our full analysis of Zuora's results here.

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 $24.3 million, up 22.8% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 3.26%. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with an underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter.

The stock is down 6.6% since the results and currently trades at $5.66.

Read our full, actionable report on Asure Software 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 $5.63 billion, up 34.9% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 2.16%. It was a very strong quarter for the company, with a significant improvement in gross margin.

The stock is up 6.74% since the results and currently trades at $384.

Read our full, actionable report on Intuit here, it's free.

The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned