Wrapping up Q3 earnings, we look at the numbers and key takeaways for the finance and HR software stocks, 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 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. There has been a stampede out of high valuation technology stocks as raising interest rates encourage investors to value profits over growth again, but finance and HR software stocks held their ground better than others, with the share prices up 10.2% 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 $229.9 million, up 94.2% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 9.02%. It was a very strong quarter for the company, with exceptional revenue growth and an impressive beat of analyst estimates.
Bill.com scored the strongest analyst estimates beat and fastest revenue growth of the whole group. The company added 14,200 customers to a total of 172,000. The stock is down 12% since the results and currently trades at $102.07.
We think Bill.com is a good business, but is it a buy today? Read our full report 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 pulled off the highest full year guidance raise among its peers. The stock is up 36.9% since the results and currently trades at $24.77.
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, beating analyst expectations by 0.85%. It was a weak quarter for the company, with slow revenue growth.
Workday had the weakest performance against analyst estimates in the group. The stock is up 11.7% since the results and currently trades at $160.30.
Read our full analysis of Workday's results here.
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 $134.2 million, up 22.7% year on year, in line with analyst expectations. It was a weak quarter for the company, with underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter and decelerating customer growth.
The company added 57 customers to a total of 4,060. The stock is up 43.8% since the results and currently trades at $70.50.
Read our full, actionable report on BlackLine 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 54.5% since the results and currently trades at $10.12.
Read our full, actionable report on Asure Software here, it's free.
The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned