GoDaddy stock falls on weak Q2 results, CEO resignation

GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE: GDDY) slipped to a loss in the second quarter due to higher costs and expenses as well as a loss on debt extinguishment. The bottom line missed analysts’ expectations. Further, the company appointed Aman Bhutani as its new CEO, effective September 4, 2019, replacing Scott Wagner, who is stepping down for health reasons.

A nine-year veteran of Expedia Group, Bhutani most recently served as the President of Brand Expedia Group. GoDaddy believed that Bhutani would be an exceptional leader after leading Brand Expedia to a healthy double-digit revenue growth.

Net loss was $12.6 million or $0.07 per share compared to a profit of $18.1 million or $0.11 per share a year ago. Revenue grew by 13% to $737.2 million helped by a 12% jump in total bookings. Customers increased by 5.5% and the average revenue per user rose by 7.8%.

Looking ahead into the full year 2019, the company still expects total revenues in the range of $2.97 billion to $3 billion, representing growth of 12-13% versus 2018. For the third quarter, GoDaddy expects total revenue in the range of $755 million to $765 million.

For the full year 2019, GoDaddy still expects unlevered free cash flow in a range of $730 million to $745 million, representing growth of 18-20% versus 2018. GoDaddy now expects full-year cash interest payments of about $80 million to $85 million.

Also read: SurveyMonkey Q2 financials

GoCentral, GoDaddy’s website builder, and Managed WordPress continue to see robust subscription growth, driven by feature expansion and improvements in awareness. Adding to previous integrations with Facebook, Yelp and Google My Business, GoDaddy added Instagram allowing customers to view activity and engagement in GoCentral’s marketing dashboards.

Shares of GoDaddy ended Thursday’s regular session up 1.16% at $74.23 on the NYSE. Following the earnings release, the stock declined over 4% in the after-market session.

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