Wix.com (WIX 0.64%), a leading cloud-based platform for building websites, reported its fourth-quarter and full-year results on Wednesday morning. The quarterly update highlighted more strong momentum, building on robust monetization metrics in its third quarter.
The quarter capped off an impressive year for Wix, its fifth consecutive year since its initial public offering in 2013 of a year-over-year revenue growth rate above 40%. As investors review the company's fourth-quarter performance, here's a look at some of the key takeaways.
Image source: Wix.com.
Wix's fourth-quarter results: The raw numbers
|
Metric |
Q4 2018 |
Q4 2017 |
Year-Over-Year Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Revenue |
$164 million |
$119 million |
39% |
|
Free cash flow |
$33 million |
$20 million |
67% |
|
Loss per share |
($0.12) |
($0.14) |
N/A |
Data source: Wix.com fourth-quarter earnings release.
What happened with Wix this quarter?
- Revenue jumped 39% year over year to $164 million. This was a slight deceleration from the 40% growth seen in Q3.
- Revenue for the full year was up 42% versus last year, hitting $604 million.
- Free cash flow in Wix's fourth quarter was about $32.7 million, up from $23.7 million in Q3 and $19.6 million in the year-ago quarter.
- Wix's loss per share narrowed to a $0.12, compared with a loss of $0.14 in the year-ago quarter.
- On a non-GAAP basis, it earned $0.42 per share, up from $0.16 in the year-ago period.
- Wix added 147,000 subscriptions during the quarter.
- Total subscriptions were 4 million, up 24% year over year.
- Wix added 5.9 million registered users during the quarter.
- Total registered users at the end of the quarter were 142 million, up 19% year over year.
- Collections, or the total cash that Wix collects from customers, increased 33% year over year.
What management had to say
Management was particularly pleased with the company's improved monetization during the quarter, pointing to how its average revenue per subscription increased 12% year over year during the quarter. This is up from 11% growth for the metric in Q3.
Wix's business model continues to demonstrate scalability as free cash flow rises. A jump in free cash flow during the quarter was driven primarily by a record $36 million in cash from operations, management said. "This combination of growth and profitability highlights our ability to generate positive returns on investments in our business," said CFO Lior Shemesh in the company's fourth-quarter earnings release.
Check out the latest Wix earnings call transcript.
Looking forward
Management is optimistic about 2019, noting in its earnings release that "Elevated momentum of product development in 2018 paves the way for multiple opportunities to monetize beyond website building in 2019."
For the first quarter of 2019, management expects revenue between $172 million and $173 million, implying 25% to 26% year-over-year growth. For the company's full year of 2019, Wix guided for revenue between $755 million and $761 million -- also translating to 25% to 26% growth.
