GoDaddy delivers strong Q1 sales, ups Q2 outlook amid e-commerce, Web site, marketing demand
GoDaddy reported better-than-expected first quarter sales as bookings passed the $1 billion mark for the first time. The company also named new chief financial and chief legal officers.
The company reported first quarter revenue of $901.1 million, up 13.8% from a year ago with net inocme of $10.8 million, or 6 cents a share. GoDaddy didn't provide a non-GAAP figure for earnings per share.
Wall Street analysts were modeling GoDaddy's first quarter revenue to come in at $885.2 million with non-GAAP earnings of 32 cents a share.
GoDaddy also said that Mark McCaffrey will become CFO and Michelle Lau as chief legal officer. Lau most recently was at McKesson Corp. and McCaffrey was a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The company's focus on "everyday entrepreneurs" has been paying off as total bookings came in at $1.09 billion, up 14.5% from a year ago. ZDNet reviews of GoDaddy services include:
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In prepared remarks, GoDaddy CEO Aman Bhutani said bookings growth has accelerated in its three core areas of commerce, domains and pros. GoDaddy recently acquired Poynt to build out its payments services.
Domains revenue in the first quarter was $422.7 million, up 18.8% from a year ago; hosting and presence revenue was $310.3 million, up 4.4%; and business applications sales were $168.1 million, up 21%.
Bhutani said:
GoDaddy had a strong quarter – powered by a good acceleration in bookings. And yes, our strong business model showed up, and yes, we flexed our organic and inorganic muscles for growth, and yes, we invested in our products and marketing while delivering healthy unlevered free cash flow but the key to long term growth and value creation remains that we are a customer-led software company focused on innovation for our customers and, our customers continue to want to do more with us.
As for the outlook, GoDaddy said second quarter revenue will be about $920 million, or up 14% from a year ago. GoDaddy raised its 2021 revenue view by $45 million to $3.745 billion, up 13% from a year ago.
GoDaddy's first quarter delivered strong growth in Websites + Marketing with a beta test of GoDaddy Payments on tap. Facebook Boosted Posts and Instragram integration are also boosting Websites + Marketing features. GoDaddy also launched a limited release of its next-generation WordPress offering.
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