NerdWallet (NASDAQ:NRDS) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

NerdWallet (NASDAQ:NRDS) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.02, FiscalAI reports. NerdWallet had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 9.27%. The firm had revenue of $225.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.37 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Here are the key takeaways from NerdWallet’s conference call:

• NerdWallet beat guidance with Q4 revenue of $225M (+23% YoY) and non-GAAP operating income of $25M (+47% YoY); full-year revenue was $837M (+22%) with NGOI of $96M (over 100% YoY).
• Management said persistent organic search declines driven by AI/LLMs pressured SMB and credit card revenue, with SMB down 12% and credit cards down 24% in Q4.
• Performance marketing, direct and non-search referral growth more than offset organic losses, highlighted by lending revenue up 141% YoY and personal loans up 264% YoY.
• Q1 guidance is $224M–$232M revenue (?+9% YoY midpoint) and NGOI $28M–$32M, with full-year NGOI expected $95M–$110M while management cautions banking momentum may cool if rates decline.
• Capital allocation progress includes $51M of Q4 share repurchases, $118M trailing twelve-month adjusted free cash flow and a $98M year-end cash balance, with continued focus on opportunistic buybacks and bolt-on M&A.

NerdWallet Stock Performance

Shares of NRDS opened at $10.32 on Thursday. NerdWallet has a fifty-two week low of $7.55 and a fifty-two week high of $16.24. The firm has a market cap of $750.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $12.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.07.

NerdWallet announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 16th that allows the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NerdWallet news, insider Samuel Yount sold 15,945 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.04, for a total value of $255,757.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 358,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,744,180.64. The trade was a 4.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 46.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of NerdWallet by 37.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054 shares during the last quarter. Polymer Capital Management US LLC bought a new stake in NerdWallet in the third quarter valued at approximately $111,000. Prelude Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NerdWallet during the third quarter valued at approximately $119,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NerdWallet in the second quarter worth approximately $129,000. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of NerdWallet in the third quarter worth $131,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on NRDS shares. Zacks Research cut shares of NerdWallet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Barclays raised their price target on NerdWallet from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on NerdWallet from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of NerdWallet from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of NerdWallet from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NerdWallet currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.40.

NerdWallet Company Profile

NerdWallet (NASDAQ: NRDS) is a personal finance company that offers independent guidance and comparison tools to help consumers make informed financial decisions. Through its website and mobile application, NerdWallet provides a wide range of content, including articles, calculators and reviews covering credit cards, mortgages, personal loans, banking products, investing, insurance and taxes. The platform aggregates partner offers to enable side-by-side comparisons, while editorially maintaining objectivity to support users in identifying the products that best suit their individual needs.

Founded in 2009 by Tim Chen and Jacob Gibson, NerdWallet is headquartered in San Francisco and serves consumers primarily in the United States, with additional localized offerings in Canada and the United Kingdom.