Since marketing software platform Semrush (SEMR +0.17%) went public in early 2021, shares are in the green, but it has been a volatile ride. The stock is down more than 54% from its all-time high.
This decline, however, looks like a great time to scoop up a few shares on the cheap. Semrush is a leader in the marketing technology industry, and it is gaining more traction by the quarter. If you have some cash to invest, Semrush has the potential to dominate this space.
Semrush's Russian headwinds
Semrush's marketing technology tools have attracted over 91,000 paying customers as it helps businesses reach their target audience. It has dozens of services ranging from short-term promotion tools to ones that help create long-term brand visibility and awareness. What makes Semrush unique is its wide-reaching dominance. While most rivals in this space focus on one or two product categories like search engine optimization, Semrush claims to have leading products in 19 different marketing technology categories.
One of the primary concerns for Semrush recently was its presence in Russia. The company had the majority of its employees living there earlier this year, which posed a significant risk due to the growing political tension between the U.S. and Russia. When Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February, this risk became a crisis.
As a result, Semrush management announced that it planned to relocate all of its Russian employees to other parts of Europe in the first quarter. While this was an expensive decision, it would alleviate the geopolitical risk for the company and put its employees in safer conditions. Almost all of its Russian employees have relocated since then, and the company no longer operates in the country.
This did significantly impact profitability, however. Semrush amassed a second-quarter net loss of $8.3 million, a big jump from the $279,000 loss it reported in the year-ago period. Additionally, the company expects these higher expenses to continue throughout the rest of the year as it anticipates a full-year net loss of $28 million to $32 million -- about $10.5 million of which comes from relocation costs.
NYSE: SEMR
Key Data Points
Making progress
Aside from its progress exiting Russia, Semrush's second quarter was highlighted by stable demand despite the challenging macroeconomic environment. It is seeing business softening slightly in Europe, but other major geographies are still performing well. That helped second-quarter revenue jump 39% year over year to $62.6 million. Management expects year-over-year revenue growth of 30% in the third quarter, a bullish signal in this period of uncertainty.
A big driver of the successful quarter was Semrush's large customers. The number of customers spending over $10,000 annually jumped 80% higher year over year, and the number of customers purchasing the company's higher-priced software subscriptions increased 25% over the same period. This shows that Semrush is still seeing robust adoption, a testament to the utility of its services.
This is also apparent in the company's dollar-based net revenue retention rate of 125%, which remained relatively stable versus the first quarter's 127%.
Now looks like a good time to buy
Despite the challenges it is facing right now, Semrush is executing and expanding at a solid pace. The stock is getting dragged down by its wide losses, but the bottom line should improve as the company winds down its one-time relocation spending.
Add the company's economic resiliency this quarter (which should continue through the rest of the year with top-line growth of 34% to 35%), and investors have a dominant business leading a space that could be worth $20 billion in the future, according to the company's estimates. The cherry on top is the current valuation. Trading at 8.9 times trailing-12-month sales, that multiple is trending upwards but still far below peak levels from last year.
The recent market sell-off has created many appealing deals in the tech space, and Semrush is one of them.
