Let’s dig into the relative performance of Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) and its peers as we unravel the now-completed Q1 finance and hr software earnings season.
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 slower Q1; on average, revenues beat analyst consensus estimates by 1.3%. while next quarter’s revenue guidance was in line with consensus. Inflation progressed towards the Fed’s 2% goal at the end of 2023, leading to strong stock market performance. The start of 2024 has been a bumpier ride, as the market switches between optimism and pessimism around rate cuts due to mixed inflation data, and finance and hr software stocks have had a rough stretch, with share prices down 14.4% on average since the previous earnings results.
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 $1.99 billion, up 18.1% year on year, in line with analysts’ expectations. It was a weak quarter for the company, with a miss of analysts’ billings estimates.
“Q1 was another solid quarter of revenue growth and non-GAAP operating margin expansion for Workday, as we drive toward long-term, durable growth,” said Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach.
The stock is down 20.5% since the results and currently trades at $207.7.
Is now the time to buy Workday? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.
Best Q1: 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 $323 million, up 18.5% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 5.6%. It was a very strong quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analysts’ billings estimates and optimistic revenue guidance for the next quarter.
The stock is down 25.8% since the results and currently trades at $46.95.
Is now the time to buy Bill.com? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.
Weakest Q1: Global Business Travel (NYSE:GBTG)
Holding close ties to American Express, Global Business Travel (NYSE:GBTG) is a comprehensive travel and expense management services provider to corporations worldwide.
Global Business Travel reported revenues of $610 million, up 5.5% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 2.3%. It was a weak quarter for the company: Its revenue unfortunately missed analysts’ expectations and its full-year revenue guidance slightly missed Wall Street’s estimates.
Global Business Travel had the weakest performance against analyst estimates and weakest full-year guidance update in the group. The stock is up 4.6% since the results and currently trades at $6.51.
Read our full analysis of Global Business Travel’s results here.
Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ)
Founded by CEO Jason Gardner in 2009, Marqeta (NASDAQ: MQ) is an innovative card issuer that provides companies with the ability to issue and process virtual, physical, and tokenized credit and debit cards.
Marqeta reported revenues of $118 million, down 45.7% year on year, in line with analysts’ expectations. It was a very strong quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analysts’ total payment volume estimates and a meaningful improvement in its gross margin.
Marqeta had the slowest revenue growth among its peers. The stock is down 12.7% since the results and currently trades at $5.09.
Read our full, actionable report on Marqeta here, it’s free.
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 $109.8 million, up 6.5% year on year, in line with analysts’ expectations. It was a slower quarter for the company, with a decline in its gross margin and a miss of analysts’ billings estimates.
The stock is down 5.2% since the results and currently trades at $9.35.
Read our full, actionable report on Zuora here, it’s free.
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