Why Flywire Stock Got Grounded Today
The market wasn't willing to take flight with financial software company Flywire (NASDAQ: FLYW) on Wednesday. After the company published its latest set of quarterly results after market hours the previous day, investors assertively traded out of the stock. It ended up closing down by more than 16% in price on a day when the bellwether S&P 500 index moved sideways.
Revenue rose, but net loss deepened
On the back of total payment volume that rose 23% year over year to $7 billion, Flywire booked just over $114 million in revenue in its first quarter. This represented a 21% improvement on the year-ago quarter's figure. It also topped the average analyst estimate of slightly under $108 million.
The specialty-tech company's bottom line, however, was a different story. It not only deepened to $6.2 million ($0.05) per share, but also missed the consensus pundit projection. Collectively, analysts tracking the stock were anticipating a deficit of only $0.02 per share, but a rise in selling and marketing costs, plus payment processing services fees, led to a nearly 20% increase in total operating expenses.
Management put a very positive spin on its results. In the earnings release, Flywire quoted CEO Mike Massaro as saying, "This solid start to our year reflects the strength and resilience of our global and diversified business and underscores the penetration opportunity we have in the end markets we serve."
2024 revenue guidance in line with analyst projections
Nevertheless, Flywire stuck to its previous guidance for the entirety of 2024. It believes it will earn $491 million to $519 million in revenue. This should filter down into a positive non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) figure of $64 million to $75 million. The consensus analyst estimate for annual revenue is just under $499 million.
Flywire didn't proffer any guidance for net income.
Should you invest $1,000 in Flywire right now?
Before you buy stock in Flywire, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Flywire wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $554,830!*
Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.
*Stock Advisor returns as of May 6, 2024
Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Why Flywire Stock Got Grounded Today was originally published by The Motley Fool