Lightspeed’s revenue grew in its first fiscal quarter as the company continued to expand functionalities for its unified point-of-sale (POS) system with founder Dax Dasilva back in the CEO chair.
The Montréal-based company reported Thursday that sales increased 27 percent year-over-year to $266.1 million USD for the period ended June 30, 2024. It beat its previous revenue forecast of $255 million to $260 million.
“This was my first full quarter returning as Lightspeed’s CEO and I am thrilled to see the volume of capabilities we are releasing for our customers,” said Dax Dasilva in a statement.
“Lightspeed continues to distinguish itself with advanced inventory management and B2B functionality that we believe no other retail platform can match and in hospitality we are preparing to deliver never-before-seen levels of productivity improvement to streamline restaurant operations,” he added.
In the quarter, net losses were $35 million, or $0.23 per share, compared to a net loss of $48.7 million, or $0.32 per share.
Since the beginning of the year, the unified payments provider has gone through changes in order to bolster its share price, which hasn’t recovered from a crash three years ago during the tech downturn. The board ousted Jean Paul (JP) Chauvet after replacing Dasilva as CEO in early 2022. Dasilva returned in February as interim CEO and the board reinstated him permanently alongside the company’s fourth-quarter earnings in May.
Following Dasilva’s return, the company cut 10 percent of its staff to reduce costs. Lightspeed repurchased 2.7 million shares in the period for approximately $39.9 million USD. With total share count lower than the previous year, the share buyback offset any share dilution due to stock-based compensation over the last 12 months, chief financial officer Asha Bakshani told investors on a call.
Lightspeed added key customers in the quarter, including Google’s GBike in California, Dineen Coffee in Toronto, and Northgate Resorts, which has 20 locations across the United States. It also added marquee suppliers, including Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, and Swiss luxury brand Bally.
The company has been making an effort over the past year to attract companies generating more than $500,000 and $1 million in gross transaction volume (GTV), with both segments growing four percent year over year. Total GTV inched up one percent to $23.5 billion USD, but GTV from the company’s flagship platforms grew 24 percent. Subscription-based revenue grew six percent to $83.3 million, while average revenue per user grew from about $383 to $502.
Payment solutions are seeing more uptake, and that’s contributing to GTV, the company said. Gross payments volume increased 64 percent to $8.4 billion USD from $5.1 billion USD in the same quarter a year ago.
The company launched payment solutions that featured tap-to-pay in the United Kingdom and Canada and launched a tap-to-pay feature for iPhones in France and Australia.
Further product releases include updates to its inventory management system that allows its customers to locate which bins hold a certain products in their warehouses, a loyalty program for Lightspeed merchants to offer their consumers, and a feature that allows merchants to set costs that include shipping and duties.
Lightspeed also announced new artificial intelligence (AI) offerings that enhance product photos by removing a background or adding photorealistic shadows to the image.
“Image quality can have a significant impact on boosting sales for our merchants, and we saw a tremendous uptake of this feature,” Dasilva said.
Gross profit grew 23 percent year-over-year to $108.2 million USD, while gross margins fell from 42 percent to 41 percent in the quarter. For Lightspeed’s capital division, revenue grew 388 percent from a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) grew to $10.2 million, up from a loss of $7 million USD the year before.
Lightspeed forecasts revenue in the second quarter of approximately $270 million USD to $275 million USD, with adjusted EBITDA bringing in $12 million USD. For the fiscal 2025 year, the company forecasts revenue growth of 20 percent and a minimum adjusted EBITDA of $45 million USD.
Feature image courtesy Elevate.
