What happened
Online freelance services marketplace Fiverr International (FVRR 1.34%) reported third-quarter results early Wednesday morning. Investors were impressed and Fiverr's stock rose as much as 16.3% in the morning's market session. By noon ET, the gains had calmed down to a 9.7% increase compared to Tuesday's closing price.
So what
Your average Wall Street analyst had expected Fiverr's third-quarter sales to rise approximately 9% year over year to roughly $81.1 million. Earnings were expected to fall from $0.19 to $0.14 per diluted share.
Instead, Fiverr reported earnings of $0.21 per share on $82.5 million in top-line revenue. The number of active freelance service buyers rose 3% year over year to 4.2 million clients, and the average buyer's spending on the Fiverr platform increased by 12%. Management bumped up the full-year targets for revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). The expected full-year EBITDA margin increased from 6.1% to 6.7%.
Now what
On the earnings call, Fiverr CEO and co-founder Micha Kaufman said that Fiverr's global business trends pointed to rising inflation and macroeconomic challenges seven months ago. When the market panic started, this company had already executed its cost-cutting preparations and was ready to operate in an environment of lower corporate spending.
The early prep work is paying off now. The gig economy continues to challenge how business gets done. As a leader in that macro trend, Fiverr strikes me as a terrific growth investment in these early days.
I doubled down on my Fiverr investment in June. This report makes me want to grab another handful of shares at an even more affordable price. There's nothing wrong with dollar-cost averaging your way into an exciting growth stock.
