The market wasn't willing to take flight with financial software company Flywire (FLYW -1.07%) 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.
