Although Lightspeed Commerce faced what it characterized as “concerning macro-economic conditions,” the commerce company posted gains in its 2023 fiscal first quarter.
Lightspeed announced that first quarter revenue grew by 50 percent year-over-year to $173.9 million USD compared to $115.9 million USD one year ago. The company’s financial results are for the three months ended June 30, 2022.
“Our diversified business model continued to serve us well this quarter.”
– Asha Bakshani, CFO of Lightspeed
“Our two flagship offerings, Lightspeed Retail and Lightspeed Restaurant, continued to see excellent market reception this quarter, which helped drive strong revenue growth,” said JP Chauvet, CEO of Lightspeed.
Chauvet partially attributed the better than expected growth to the fact that consumers are again shopping in-store and dining out, leading to more use of Lightspeed’s solutions at customer locations. For the first quarter of 2023, Lightspeed had forecast revenues of $165-to-$170 million USD.
While its revenues increased, so did Lightspeed’s losses. The company reported a net loss of $100.8 million USD compared to a loss of $49.3 million USD for the same period in 2022.
Lightspeed said after adjusting for items such as acquisition-related costs and share-based compensation, the adjusted loss is $17.6 million USD.
The company posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of $15.6 million USD compared to $6 million USD in the same period last year.
“Our diversified business model continued to serve us well this quarter, with hospitality leading GTV [Gross Transaction Volume] growth ” said Asha Bakshani, CFO of Lightspeed. Bakshani added that the company is in a strong position to realize its goal of an adjusted EBITDA break-even or better in the next fiscal year.
Lightspeed contended the adjusted loss is a better indicator than its net loss figure as it more accurately reflects the company’s operating performance by excluding items such as costs related to an acquisition, for example.
The company maintained that its amortization expense from acquisitions isn’t representative of ongoing expenses involved with running Lightspeed’s day-to-day business. However, Lightspeed also noted that the amount increases with the more acquisitions the company makes. In total, amortization accounted for $92 million USD or 32 percent of Lightspeed’s total net loss in fiscal 2022.
Despite the increased revenues, and its explanation of how it accounted for its losses, the market punished the commerce company, with the stock falling by more than $3 to $27.51 at time of publication. That’s up from a 52-week low of $19.58 but down from a 52-week high of $165.87.
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During the quarter, Lightspeed leveraged its NuOrder acquisition into a B2B network designed to better connect its retail customers with the brands who supply their products. Lightspeed B2B connects the brands and the retailers in three North American verticals: fashion, outdoor and sporting goods.
The company expanded its systems integration partnership with United States restaurant reservation platform provider OpenTable, enabling the two systems to communicate in real-time with a single platform. Users gain insights to better understand diner behaviour and spending, as well as updates on table status.
While Lightspeed said it continues to track the economy, the company said it found the reception of its new flagship offerings, the growing adoption of its payment solutions, and the return to in-person shopping and dining encouraging.
For fiscal 2023, the company is forecasting revenues fo $740 to $760 million USD, which is what Lightspeed also said it was aiming for in 2022 fourth quarter results.
Lightspeed is calling for an adjusted EBITDA loss of approximately $35 to $40 million USD, also the same forecast it gave in its 2022 fourth quarter results.
The company said it is confident that it should reach an adjusted EBITDA break-even for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024. The latter forecast is a bit less buoyant than the declaration last quarter that the company is on the path to profitability.