Stamps.com Inc. Delivers 52% Revenue Growth
Stamps.com (NASDAQ: STMP) reported sharply higher sales and earnings in the fourth quarter, as the shipping solutions company has become the platform of choice for a steadily growing number of online businesses.
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Stamps.com results: The raw numbers
|
Metric |
Q4 2016 |
Q4 2015 |
Change (YOY) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Revenue |
$105.896 million |
$69.876 million |
52% |
|
Net income |
$29.028 million |
($0.071 million) |
N/A |
|
Earnings per share |
$1.61 |
($0.00) |
N/A |
Data source: Stamps.com Q4 2016 earnings release.
What happened with Stamps.com this quarter?
Total revenue leapt 52% year-over-year to $105.9 million, with mailing and shipping revenue jumping 52% to $102.3 million and customized postage revenue rising 34% to $3.6 million.
Helping to drive those results was an 8% year-over-year increase in paid customers to 681,000 and a 42% rise in monthly average revenue per unit to $50.03. Moreover, total postage printed in the fourth quarter was $1.6 billion, a 53% increase from the prior-year period.
The company also continues to improve its profitability metrics, with mailing and shipping gross margin rising to 85.7% versus 84.2% in Q4 2015. And EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) -- adjusted to exclude stock-based compensation expense, acquisition-related charges, and certain other items -- soared 85% to $55.9 million, as the adjusted EBITDA margin increased to 52.8%, up from 43.2% in the year-ago quarter.
All told, non-GAAP net income surged 75% year-over-year to $49.2 million, and non-GAAP earnings per share climbed 74% to $2.73.
What management had to say
In a press release, Chairman and CEO Ken McBride touted the benefits of the company's acquisition strategy:
Looking forward
Stamps.com issued its forecast for 2017, including the following points:
- Total revenue of approximately$400 millionto$425 million, up 13% at the midpoint of the range compared to 2016.
- Adjusted EBITDA of$200 millionto$220 million, up 20%.
- GAAP earnings per share of $4.20 to $5.10, up 13%.
Looking out even further ahead, management believes Stamps.com can grow sales at a 20% annual clip, as CFO Kyle Huebner explained during a conference call with analysts:
"Across all of our products and services, we are realizing synergies in sales and marketing, operations, customer service, and product development, and we believe that we have built a strong platform for pursuing all of our target customers," McBride added. "We are very excited about our opportunities in 2017 and beyond."
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Joe Tenebruso has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Stamps.com. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.