The end of an earnings season can be a great time to assess how companies are handling the current business environment and discover new stocks. Let’s have a look at how Workiva (NYSE:WK) and the rest of the finance and HR software stocks fared in Q4.
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 3.81% since the previous earnings results, on average.
Workiva (NYSE:WK)
Founded in 2010, Workiva (NYSE:WK) offers software as a service product that makes financial and compliance reporting easier, especially for publicly traded corporations.
Workiva reported revenues of $143.8 million, up 19.1% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 3.17%. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with a decent beat of analyst estimates but decelerating customer growth.
"The Workiva team once again delivered strong financial results and outperformed against our key operating metrics. Our strong performance resulted in a 2022 revenue growth rate of 23% in Subscription & Support and 21% in total revenue," said Marty Vanderploeg, Chief Executive Officer.
The stock is up 12.7% since the results and currently trades at $96.38.
Read our full report on Workiva 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 an impressive quarter for the company, with a significant improvement in gross margin and a solid beat of analyst estimates.
Asure Software pulled off the strongest analyst estimates beat among its peers. The stock is up 24.4% since the results and currently trades at $13.97.
Is now the time to buy Asure Software? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.
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 below 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 15.2% since the results and currently trades at $61.5.
Read our full analysis of BlackLine's results here.
Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX)
One of the oldest payroll service providers, Paychex provides payroll and human resource (HR) solutions.
Paychex reported revenues of $1.38 billion, up 8.23% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 2.4%. It was a solid quarter for the company, with a significant improvement in gross margin.
Paychex had the slowest revenue growth among the peers. The stock is up 0.29% since the results and currently trades at $109.26.
Read our full, actionable report on Paychex here, it's free.
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.
Flywire pulled off the highest full year guidance raise among the peers. The stock is up 11.2% since the results and currently trades at $27.5.
Read our full, actionable report on Flywire here, it's free.
The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned