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Reflecting On Finance and HR Software Stocks’ Q4 Earnings: Bill.com (NYSE:BILL)


Petr Huřťák /
2023/04/13 6:18 am EDT

As finance and HR software stocks’ Q4 earnings season wraps, let's dig into this quarter's best and worst performers, including Bill.com (NYSE:BILL) 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 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 stocks have been hit the hardest as investors start to value profits over growth, but finance and HR software stocks held their ground better than others, with share prices down 2.74% since the previous earnings results, on average.

Bill.com (NYSE:BILL)

Started by René Lacerte in 2006 after selling his previous payroll and accounting software company PayCycle to Intuit, Bill.com (NYSE:BILL) is a software as a service platform that aims to make payments and billing processes easier for small and medium-sized businesses.

Bill.com reported revenues of $260 million, up 66.2% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 6.99%. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with exceptional revenue growth but underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter.

“We delivered strong second quarter results and achieved another quarter of non-GAAP profitable growth as we executed on our strategy to be the essential financial operations platform for SMBs,” said René Lacerte, BILL CEO and Founder.

Bill.com Total Revenue

Bill.com scored the fastest revenue growth of the whole group. The company added 10,700 customers to a total of 182,700. The stock is down 42.3% since the results and currently trades at $74.52.

Is now the time to buy Bill.com? 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 Total Revenue

Asure Software achieved the strongest analyst estimates beat among its peers. The stock is up 38.5% since the results and currently trades at $15.55.

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 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 16.3% since the results and currently trades at $60.72.

Read our full analysis of BlackLine's results here.

Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC)

Founded in 1998 as one of the first online payroll companies. Today, Paycom (NYSE:PAYC) provides software for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to manage their payroll and HR needs in one place.

Paycom Software reported revenues of $370.6 million, up 30% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 1.06%. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with strong top line growth but a decline in gross margin.

The stock is down 14.7% since the results and currently trades at $294.

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

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 very optimistic guidance for the next quarter.

The stock is down 16.1% since the results and currently trades at $190.17.

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

The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned