GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) saw its stock lose around 3.5% in Tuesday’s after hours dealing as its fourth quarter results arrived shy of expectations.
Management described revenue and cash flow growth as “strong despite macroeconomic headwinds” for the quarter, nonetheless, earnings per share came in at 60 cents vs market consensus expectations for 62 cents.
Changing hands at US$78.15 per share GoDaddy was down US$2.89 or 3.57% following the release.
The internet domains and services group, in fourth quarter results released after Tuesday’s close, reported total revenues for 2022 at US$4.1bn, up 7.2% year-on-year, and total bookings of US$4.4bn marking a 4.3% improvement.
Net income jumped 45.3% to US$352.9mln, whilst normalized earnings (EBITDA) was reported at US$1bn which represented a 16% improvement and equated to a margin of 25%. It generated some US$979.7mln of cash from operating activities, up 18.1% on last year.
"GoDaddy achieved strong revenue and cash flow growth in 2022, despite macroeconomic headwinds," chief executive Aman Bhutani said in a statement.
"During the year we delivered on an innovative product roadmap, including enabling commerce on every surface.
“As we enter 2023, we are excited about the full launch of our commerce offerings empowering customers to transact everywhere seamlessly. We are proud of the track record we are building to participate in our customers' success and drive long term value for shareholders.”
Mark McCaffrey, GoDaddy chief financial officer, added: "GoDaddy delivered solid 2022 financial results demonstrating the resiliency of our business.
"We have taken actions to align our priorities and cost structure to continue to deliver strong financial results with continued operating leverage while at the same time investing in key long-term initiatives that will fuel future top-line growth."
In terms of outlook, GoDaddy told investors it is expecting to report first quarter 2023 revenues between US$1.03 and US$1.05bn, whilst it pitches full year 2023 revenue guidance at US$4.25bn to US$4.32bn. It added that it anticipates normalized EBITDA margin between 24% and 25% for the first quarter, and, around 26% for the full year.
Cash generation of US$1.2bn is target for the year, which would be an improvement of around 9% on 2022.