Q4 Earnings Review: Finance and HR Software Stocks Led by Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY)

Wrapping up Q4 earnings, we look at the numbers and key takeaways for the finance and hr software stocks, including 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 14 finance and HR software stocks we track reported a mixed Q4. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.1% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 1.4% below.

Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 15.1% since the latest earnings results.

Best Q4: 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 $2.21 billion, up 15% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 1.3%. Overall, it was a very strong quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and a solid beat of analysts’ billings estimates.

"Our fourth quarter performance is a testament to Workday's value proposition as organizations seek to boost productivity, run more efficiently, and deliver incredible employee experiences," said Carl Eschenbach, CEO, Workday.Workday Total Revenue

The stock is down 13.4% since reporting and currently trades at $221.03.

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

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 $135.8 million, up 14.3% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 3%. The business had a very strong quarter with an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and a solid beat of analysts’ total payment volume estimates.Marqeta Total Revenue

The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 9.6% since reporting. It currently trades at $3.82.

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

Story Continues

Weakest Q4: 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 $117.6 million, up 22.4% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 4.9%. It was a softer quarter as it posted revenue guidance for next quarter slightly missing analysts’ expectations.

Flywire delivered the fastest revenue growth but had the weakest performance against analyst estimates in the group. As expected, the stock is down 48.2% since the results and currently trades at $9.14.

Read our full analysis of Flywire’s results here.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY)

Founded by payroll software veteran Steve Sarowitz in 1997, Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) is a provider of payroll and HR software for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Paylocity reported revenues of $377 million, up 15.5% year on year. This print beat analysts’ expectations by 2.7%. Overall, it was a strong quarter as it also logged a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

The stock is down 13.1% since reporting and currently trades at $183.98.

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

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 $362.6 million, up 13.9% year on year. This result was in line with analysts’ expectations. It was a very strong quarter as it also produced EPS guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations and an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

The stock is down 57.5% since reporting and currently trades at $40.94.

Read our full, actionable report on Bill.com here, it’s free.

Market Update

Thanks to the Fed’s series of rate hikes in 2022 and 2023, inflation has cooled significantly from its post-pandemic highs, drawing closer to the 2% goal. This disinflation has occurred without severely impacting economic growth, suggesting the success of a soft landing. The stock market thrived in 2024, spurred by recent rate cuts (0.5% in September and 0.25% in November), and a notable surge followed Donald Trump’s presidential election win in November, propelling indices to historic highs. Nonetheless, the outlook for 2025 remains clouded by potential trade policy changes and corporate tax discussions, which could impact business confidence and growth. The path forward holds both optimism and caution as new policies take shape.

Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Top 5 Quality Compounder Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate.

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