Latest news with #YEXT
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Yext Inc (YEXT) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Highlights: Strong Performance Amid Macroeconomic Caution
Release Date: June 03, 2025 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Yext Inc (NYSE:YEXT) exceeded its guidance on all metrics for Q1 fiscal 2026, indicating strong performance. The company is experiencing improved gross and net retention rates, along with higher customer satisfaction and value perception. Yext Inc (NYSE:YEXT) is accelerating its pace of innovation, enhancing profitability and efficiency, which sets the stage for future growth. The company has a strong balance sheet and cash flow, allowing for strategic reinvestment in organic initiatives and potential M&A opportunities. The new product, YE Scout, has generated significant interest with a waitlist of 1,000 customers, indicating strong market demand. Yext Inc (NYSE:YEXT) has not provided a full-year top-line outlook, reflecting caution due to macroeconomic uncertainties. The company is facing challenges from market fragmentation and the need to manage digital visibility effectively. There is uncertainty regarding the sales cycle for the new product, YE Scout, as it is still in the early stages of rollout. Despite strong performance, the company remains conservative in its outlook due to ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties. The competitive landscape includes pressure from smaller competitors offering 'good enough' products at lower prices, impacting Yext Inc (NYSE:YEXT)'s core offerings. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with YEXT. Q: Can you provide insights into the customer interest for the new Scout product and your plans for increasing sales headcount? A: We are seeing a mix of interest from both existing and new customers for the Scout product. As for sales headcount, we believe we have room to grow productivity with our current team. We will continue to assess market demand and add headcount opportunistically to ensure our sales team has ample opportunities without overextending ourselves. - Michael Walrath, CEO Q: What is the expected sales cycle for the Scout product, and when will it be generally available? A: It's early to determine the exact sales cycle, but we anticipate it might be shorter due to easier implementation and the current market need for brand visibility. We are currently in an open beta phase, rolling out to more customers incrementally. We haven't set a date for full general availability yet, but we are confident in our capacity to onboard many customers. - Michael Walrath, CEO Q: Despite strong performance, why is there no full-year top-line outlook? A: The caution is primarily due to macroeconomic factors. While we see a positive environment for our products, the uncertainty in the macroeconomic landscape leads us to maintain a conservative outlook. The fragmentation in the brand discovery landscape is a tailwind for us, but we remain mindful of broader economic uncertainties. - Michael Walrath, CEO Q: Can you elaborate on the drivers behind the revenue outperformance in Q1 and your approach to share buybacks? A: Revenue outperformance was driven by improved FX rates and better retention metrics. We also saw improvements in customer retention and value perception. Regarding buybacks, we see it as a valuable investment given our stock's attractive valuation. We aim to balance buybacks with potential M&A opportunities, supported by our strong cash flow and partnership with BlackRock. - Darrell Bond, CFO Q: What is driving the improvement in net retention rates, and how is the core business performing excluding new products like Scout? A: The improvement in net retention is due to increased customer value perception, especially as managing brand visibility becomes more complex. Our core business remains stable, with better retention and upsell opportunities driving growth. Innovative products like Scout are crucial for upselling and expanding our customer base. - Michael Walrath, CEO For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
3 Unprofitable Stocks with Questionable Fundamentals
Unprofitable companies face headwinds as they struggle to keep operating expenses under control. Some may be investing heavily, but the majority fail to convert spending into sustainable growth. Finding the right unprofitable companies is difficult, which is why we started StockStory - to help you navigate the market. Keeping that in mind, here are three unprofitable companiesto avoid and some better opportunities instead. Trailing 12-Month GAAP Operating Margin: -7.7% Founded in 2006 by Howard Lerman, Yext (NYSE:YEXT) offers software as a service that helps their clients manage and monitor their online listings and customer reviews across all relevant databases, from Google Maps to Alexa or Siri. Why Do We Avoid YEXT? Underwhelming ARR growth of 4% over the last year suggests the company faced challenges in acquiring and retaining long-term customers Customer acquisition costs take a while to recoup, making it difficult to justify sales and marketing investments that could increase revenue Day-to-day expenses have swelled relative to revenue over the last year as its operating margin fell by 6.2 percentage points At $6.46 per share, Yext trades at 1.8x forward price-to-sales. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including YEXT in your portfolio, it's free. Trailing 12-Month GAAP Operating Margin: -6.7% Founded by Noah Glass, who wanted to get a cup of coffee faster on his way to work, Olo (NYSE:OLO) provides restaurants and food retailers with software to manage food orders and delivery. Why Do We Think Twice About OLO? Sky-high servicing costs result in an inferior gross margin of 54.9% that must be offset through increased usage Operating losses show it sacrificed profitability while scaling the business Free cash flow margin is expected to remain in place over the coming year Olo's stock price of $6.28 implies a valuation ratio of 3.1x forward price-to-sales. To fully understand why you should be careful with OLO, check out our full research report (it's free). Trailing 12-Month GAAP Operating Margin: -2.7% Founded in 1990 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Paycor (NASDAQ: PYCR) provides software for small businesses to manage their payroll and HR needs in one place. Why Are We Hesitant About PYCR? High servicing costs result in a relatively inferior gross margin of 66% that must be offset through increased usage Suboptimal cost structure is highlighted by its history of operating losses Forecasted free cash flow margin suggests the company will fail to improve its cash conversion over the next year Paycor is trading at $22.49 per share, or 5.2x forward price-to-sales. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why PYCR doesn't pass our bar. Market indices reached historic highs following Donald Trump's presidential victory in November 2024, but the outlook for 2025 is clouded by new trade policies that could impact business confidence and growth. While this has caused many investors to adopt a "fearful" wait-and-see approach, we're leaning into our best ideas that can grow regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate. Take advantage of Mr. Market by checking out our Top 5 Strong Momentum Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 175% over the last five years. Stocks that made our list in 2019 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+2,183% between December 2019 and December 2024) as well as under-the-radar businesses like Sterling Infrastructure (+1,096% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
3 Reasons to Sell YEXT and 1 Stock to Buy Instead
Yext trades at $6.11 per share and has moved almost in lockstep with the market over the last six months. The stock has lost 13.9% while the S&P 500 is down 8.9%. This might have investors contemplating their next move. Is there a buying opportunity in Yext, or does it present a risk to your portfolio? Get the full breakdown from our expert analysts, it's free. Even with the cheaper entry price, we're swiping left on Yext for now. Here are three reasons why you should be careful with YEXT and a stock we'd rather own. Founded in 2006 by Howard Lerman, Yext (NYSE:YEXT) offers software as a service that helps their clients manage and monitor their online listings and customer reviews across all relevant databases, from Google Maps to Alexa or Siri. While reported revenue for a software company can include low-margin items like implementation fees, annual recurring revenue (ARR) is a sum of the next 12 months of contracted revenue purely from software subscriptions, or the high-margin, predictable revenue streams that make SaaS businesses so valuable. Yext's ARR came in at $435.7 million in Q4, and over the last four quarters, its year-on-year growth averaged 4%. This performance was underwhelming and suggests that increasing competition is causing challenges in securing longer-term commitments. The customer acquisition cost (CAC) payback period represents the months required to recover the cost of acquiring a new customer. Essentially, it's the break-even point for sales and marketing investments. A shorter CAC payback period is ideal, as it implies better returns on investment and business scalability. Yext's recent customer acquisition efforts haven't yielded returns as its CAC payback period was negative this quarter, meaning its incremental sales and marketing investments outpaced its revenue. The company's inefficiency indicates it operates in a highly competitive environment where there is little differentiation between Yext's products and its peers. While many software businesses point investors to their adjusted profits, which exclude stock-based compensation (SBC), we prefer GAAP operating margin because SBC is a legitimate expense used to attract and retain talent. This metric shows how much revenue remains after accounting for all core expenses – everything from the cost of goods sold to sales and R&D. Looking at the trend in its profitability, Yext's operating margin decreased by 6.2 percentage points over the last year. This raises questions about the company's expense base because its revenue growth should have given it leverage on its fixed costs, resulting in better economies of scale and profitability. Yext's performance was poor no matter how you look at it - it shows that costs were rising and it couldn't pass them onto its customers. Its operating margin for the trailing 12 months was negative 7.7%. We see the value of companies addressing major business pain points, but in the case of Yext, we're out. After the recent drawdown, the stock trades at 1.7× forward price-to-sales (or $6.11 per share). While this valuation is reasonable, we don't see a big opportunity at the moment. There are more exciting stocks to buy at the moment. We'd recommend looking at one of Charlie Munger's all-time favorite businesses. Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election sent major indices to all-time highs, but stocks have retraced as investors debate the health of the economy and the potential impact of tariffs. While this leaves much uncertainty around 2025, a few companies are poised for long-term gains regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate, like our Top 9 Market-Beating Stocks. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 175% over the last five years. Stocks that made our list in 2019 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+2,183% between December 2019 and December 2024) as well as under-the-radar businesses like Sterling Infrastructure (+1,096% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
1 of Wall Street's Favorite Stock to Target This Week and 2 to Be Wary Of
Wall Street has set ambitious price targets for the stocks in this article. While this suggests attractive upside potential, it's important to remain skeptical because analysts face institutional pressures that can sometimes lead to overly optimistic forecasts. At StockStory, we look beyond the headlines with our independent analysis to determine whether these bullish calls are justified. Keeping that in mind, here is one stock likely to meet or exceed Wall Street's lofty expectations and two where its enthusiasm might be excessive. Consensus Price Target: $8.50 (41.9% implied return) Founded in 2006 by Howard Lerman, Yext (NYSE:YEXT) offers software as a service that helps their clients manage and monitor their online listings and customer reviews across all relevant databases, from Google Maps to Alexa or Siri. Why Are We Out on YEXT? Customers were hesitant to make long-term commitments to its platform as its 4% average ARR growth over the last year was sluggish Customer acquisition costs take a while to recoup, making it difficult to justify sales and marketing investments that could increase revenue Day-to-day expenses have swelled relative to revenue over the last year as its operating margin fell by 6.2 percentage points At $5.99 per share, Yext trades at 1.7x forward price-to-sales. To fully understand why you should be careful with YEXT, check out our full research report (it's free). Consensus Price Target: $44 (37.5% implied return) Founded in 1932, Universal Logistics (NASDAQ:ULH) is a provider of customized transportation and logistics solutions operating throughout the United States and in Mexico, Canada, and Colombia. Why Do We Steer Clear of ULH? Products and services are facing significant end-market challenges during this cycle as sales have declined by 4.3% annually over the last two years Earnings per share have dipped by 18.5% annually over the past two years, which is concerning because stock prices follow EPS over the long term 11.9 percentage point decline in its free cash flow margin over the last five years reflects the company's increased investments to defend its market position Universal Logistics's stock price of $26.90 implies a valuation ratio of 5.7x forward price-to-earnings. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why ULH doesn't pass our bar. Consensus Price Target: $346.87 (24.7% implied return) A construction engineering services company, Quanta (NYSE:PWR) provides infrastructure solutions to a variety of sectors, including energy and communications. Why Is PWR a Good Business? Demand is greater than supply as the company's 23.8% average backlog growth over the past two years shows it's securing new contracts and accumulating more orders than it can fulfill Sales outlook for the upcoming 12 months implies the business will stay on its desirable two-year growth trajectory Earnings per share grew by 18.6% annually over the last two years, massively outpacing its peers Quanta is trading at $263 per share, or 25.4x forward price-to-earnings. Is now the right time to buy? Find out in our full research report, it's free. Market indices reached historic highs following Donald Trump's presidential victory in November 2024, but the outlook for 2025 is clouded by new trade policies that could impact business confidence and growth. While this has caused many investors to adopt a "fearful" wait-and-see approach, we're leaning into our best ideas that can grow regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate. Take advantage of Mr. Market by checking out our Top 5 Growth Stocks for this month. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 175% over the last five years. Stocks that made our list in 2019 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+2,183% between December 2019 and December 2024) as well as under-the-radar businesses like United Rentals (+322% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free. Sign in to access your portfolio
