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Editorial Advisory Board

  • Professor Andrea M. Armani, University of Southern California
  • Ruti Ben-Shlomi, Ph.D., LightSolver
  • James Butler, Ph.D., Hamamatsu
  • Natalie Fardian-Melamed, Ph.D., Columbia University
  • Justin Sigley, Ph.D., AmeriCOM
  • Professor Birgit Stiller, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, and Leibniz University of Hannover
  • Professor Stephen Sweeney, University of Glasgow
  • Mohan Wang, Ph.D., University of Oxford
  • Professor Xuchen Wang, Harbin Engineering University
  • Professor Stefan Witte, Delft University of Technology

Finance and HR Software Stocks Q1 Teardown: Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) Vs The Rest

INTU Cover Image

The end of the earnings season is always a good time to take a step back and see who shined (and who not so much). Let’s take a look at how finance and HR software stocks fared in Q1, starting with Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU).

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 13 finance and HR software stocks we track reported a satisfactory Q1. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.4% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 1.2% below.

In light of this news, share prices of the companies have held steady as they are up 2.9% on average since the latest earnings results.

Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU)

Created in 1983 when founder Scott Cook watched his wife struggle to reconcile the family's checkbook, Intuit provides tax and accounting software for small and medium-sized businesses.

Intuit reported revenues of $7.75 billion, up 15.1% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 2.6%. Overall, it was a very strong quarter for the company with full-year EPS guidance exceeding analysts’ expectations and an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

Intuit Total Revenue

Intuit achieved the highest full-year guidance raise of the whole group. Unsurprisingly, the stock is up 14.4% since reporting and currently trades at $762.

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

Best Q1: 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 $133.5 million, up 17% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 5%. The business had a very strong quarter with a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and revenue guidance for next quarter meeting analysts’ expectations.

Flywire Total Revenue

Flywire achieved the biggest analyst estimates beat among its peers. The market seems content with the results as the stock is up 2.3% since reporting. It currently trades at $10.28.

Is now the time to buy Flywire? 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 $621 million, up 1.8% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 1.9%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted full-year EBITDA guidance missing analysts’ expectations.

Global Business Travel delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates and slowest revenue growth in the group. As expected, the stock is down 10.5% since the results and currently trades at $6.16.

Read our full analysis of Global Business Travel’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 $454.5 million, up 13.3% year on year. This print beat analysts’ expectations by 2.9%. It was a very strong quarter as it also logged a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

The stock is down 7.8% since reporting and currently trades at $179.09.

Read our full, actionable report on Paylocity 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 $166.9 million, up 6% year on year. This number was in line with analysts’ expectations. Overall, it was a very strong quarter as it also recorded EPS guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations and a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

The company added 12 customers to reach a total of 4,455. The stock is up 18.6% since reporting and currently trades at $55.33.

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

Market Update

As a result of the Fed’s rate hikes in 2022 and 2023, inflation has come down from frothy levels post-pandemic. The general rise in the price of goods and services is trending towards the Fed’s 2% goal as of late, which is good news. The higher rates that fought inflation also didn't slow economic activity enough to catalyze a recession. So far, soft landing. This, combined with recent rate cuts (half a percent in September 2024 and a quarter percent in November 2024) have led to strong stock market performance in 2024. The icing on the cake for 2024 returns was Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. Presidential Election in early November, sending major indices to all-time highs in the week following the election. Still, debates around the health of the economy and the impact of potential tariffs and corporate tax cuts remain, leaving much uncertainty around 2025.

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

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