As the fourth-quarter earnings season for finance and HR software stocks winds down, let’s take a look at the best and worst performers this quarter, including Workday ( NASDAQ:WDAY ) and its competitors.
Organizations are constantly looking to improve organizational efficiency, whether it’s financial planning, tax management or payroll. Finance and HR software benefits from the SaaS-ification of businesses large and small, who much prefer the flexibility of cloud-based browser-delivered, subscription-based software to the hassle and expense of purchasing and managing on-premises location business software.
The 14 finance and HR software stocks we track reported a slower Q4; on average, revenue beat analyst consensus estimates by 2.5%, while revenue guidance for the next quarter was 1% below consensus. Growth stock valuation multiples have returned to historic values after hitting highs in early 2021, and while some finance and HR software stocks fared slightly better than others, they weren’t spared, with share prices falling on average for 7.9% of 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 financial and human resources management and planning to organizations.
Workday reported revenue of $1.92 billion, up 16.7% year over year, in line with analyst expectations. It was a decent quarter for the company, with revenue and earnings per share exceeding analysts’ estimates. The company also reiterated its full-year subscription revenue guidance.
“Workday’s results this quarter are a testament to the strength of our value proposition and the durability of our business,” said Carl Eschenbach, CEO of Workday.
The stock is down 12% since the results and is currently trading at $270.6.
Is now the time to buy Workday? Access our full earnings performance analysis here, it’s free.
Top Q4: Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ)
Founded by CEO Jason Gardner in 2009, Marqeta (NASDAQ: MQ ) is an innovative card issuer that provides businesses with the ability to issue and process virtual, physical and tokenized credit and debit cards.
Marqeta reported revenue of $118.8 million, down 41.7% year-over-year, beating analysts’ expectations by 7.7%. It was an impressive quarter for the company, with a significant improvement in its gross margin and solidly beating analysts’ revenue estimates.
Marqeta had the slowest revenue growth among its competitors. The stock is down 18% since the results and is currently trading at $6.03.
Is now the time to buy Marqeta? Access our full earnings performance analysis here, it’s free.
Weakest Q4: Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY)
Founded in 1997 by veteran payroll software Steve Sarowitz, Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) is a provider of payroll and HR software for small and medium-sized businesses.
Paylocity reported revenue of $326.4 million, up 19.5% year over year, in line with analyst expectations. It was a weak quarter for the company, and full-year revenue guidance fell short of analysts’ expectations.
The stock is down 2.6% since the results and is currently trading at $167.88.
Read our full analysis of Paylocity’s results here.
Workiva (NYSE:WK)
Founded in 2010, Workiva (NYSE:WK) offers a software-as-a-service product that facilitates financial and compliance reporting, particularly for publicly traded corporations.
Workiva reported revenue of $166.7 million, up 15.9% year-over-year, beating analysts’ expectations by 1.5%. It was a weak quarter for the company, with full-year revenue guidance falling short of analysts’ expectations as the net income retention rate eased.
The company added 70 enterprise customers paying more than $100,000 per year to reach a total of 1,631. The stock is down 13% since the results and is currently trading at $81.88.
Read our full, actionable report on Workiva here, it’s free.
Paycor (NASDAQ:PYCR)
Founded in 1990 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Paycor (NASDAQ: PYCR) provides software to small businesses to manage their payroll and HR needs in one place.
Paycor reported revenue of $159.5 million, up 20.1% year-over-year, beating analysts’ expectations by 2.4%. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with analysts’ earnings estimates beating well but revenue guidance for the next quarter lacking.
The stock is down 3.7% since the results and is currently trading at $18.86.
Read our full, actionable Paycor report here, it’s free.
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