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Paylocity (PCTY) Tops Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates

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Paylocity Holding (PCTY - Free Report) recorded second-quarter fiscal 2021 non-GAAP earnings of 39 cents per share, outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 26 cents. Moreover, the bottom-line figure comes in 3 cents higher than the year-ago quarter’s earnings of 36 cents per share.

Paylocity’s revenues of $146.3 million improved 11% year over year and also trumped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $143.5 million. The top line was driven by a 14% rise in recurring revenues (99% of total revenues), which totaled $145.4 million. However, interest income on funds held for clients slumped 78.7% to $936 million.

The company is benefiting from the growing adoption of its solutions among clients with less than 50 employees. Further, healthy momentum in the firm’s core and upper end of the market is a tailwind. However, lower interest rates have been negatively impacting the company’s interest income on funds held for clients.

Quarter in Detail

The company’s non-GAAP gross profit came in at $100.7 million, up 8.1% year on year. Nonetheless, non-GAAP gross margin contracted 150 basis points (bps) year over year to 68.8%.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 15.5% from the year-ago quarter to $35 million. Moreover, adjusted EBITDA margin of 23.9% expanded 100 bps.

Non-GAAP operating income grew to $25.1 million from the $21.1 million reported in the year-ago quarter. Also, non-GAAP operating margin expanded 130 bps to 17.2%.

Paylocity exited the reported quarter with cash, cash equivalents and corporate investments of $285 million compared with the $240 million witnessed in the prior quarter. Additionally, as of Dec 31, 2020, the company had a long-term debt of $100 million.

During the first half of fiscal 2021, the company used $19.7 million of cash for operational activities.

Guidance

For third-quarter fiscal 2021, Paylocity expects revenues of $182.5-$186.5 million, indicating 6-9% growth from the year-ago period. Adjusted EBITDA is projected in the band of $59-$62 million.

For fiscal 2021, Paylocity expects revenues of $623.5-$628.5 million, indicating 11-12% growth from fiscal 2020. Adjusted EBITDA is projected in the band of $152-$156 million.

Zacks Rank and Other Key Picks

Paylocity currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Other top-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector include Shopify (SHOP - Free Report) , Zoom Video Communications (ZM - Free Report) and Apple (AAPL - Free Report) , all flaunting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The long-term earnings growth rate for Shopify, Zoom and Apple is currently pegged at 32.5%, 25% and 11.5%, respectively.

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