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Reflecting On Finance and HR Software Stocks’ Q3 Earnings: Global Business Travel (NYSE:GBTG)

By: StockStory

January 16, 2025 at 04:01 AM EST

GBTG Cover Image

Earnings results often indicate what direction a company will take in the months ahead. With Q3 behind us, let’s have a look at Global Business Travel (NYSE: GBTG) 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 Q3. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.4% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 1% below.

Luckily, finance and HR software stocks have performed well with share prices up 10.2% on average since the latest earnings results.

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 $597 million, up 4.6% year on year. This print fell short of analysts’ expectations by 2.7%. Overall, it was a slower quarter for the company with full-year revenue guidance slightly missing analysts’ expectations.

Paul Abbott, Amex GBT’s Chief Executive Officer, stated: "We continue to execute on our strategy and deliver strong results with a focus on share gains, margin expansion and investing for growth. Our recent share buyback and larger scale authorization demonstrate our confidence in our long term strategy. "

Interestingly, the stock is up 17.1% since reporting and currently trades at $8.97.

Read our full report on Global Business Travel here, it’s free.

Best Q3: 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 $358.5 million, up 17.5% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 3.3%. The business had a very strong quarter with EPS guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations and an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 36.2% since reporting. It currently trades at $89.69.

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

Weakest Q3: Asure (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 reported revenues of $29.3 million, flat year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 6.5%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted revenue guidance for next quarter missing analysts’ expectations.

Asure delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates, slowest revenue growth, and weakest full-year guidance update in the group. Interestingly, the stock is up 24.9% since the results and currently trades at $12.40.

Read our full analysis of Asure’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 $165.9 million, up 10.1% year on year. This number surpassed analysts’ expectations by 1.7%. More broadly, it was a mixed quarter as it also recorded a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates but decelerating customer growth.

The company lost 2 customers and ended up with a total of 4,433. The stock is flat since reporting and currently trades at $60.05.

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

Paycom (NYSE: PAYC)

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

Paycom reported revenues of $451.9 million, up 11.2% year on year. This result topped analysts’ expectations by 1.1%. Overall, it was a strong quarter as it also put up a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

The stock is up 19.2% since reporting and currently trades at $205.35.

Read our full, actionable report on Paycom 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 has thrived in 2024, spurred by recent rate cuts (0.5% in September and 0.25% each in November and December), 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 the pace and magnitude of future rate cuts as well as potential changes in trade policy and corporate taxes once the Trump administration takes over. The path forward is marked by uncertainty.

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

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