GI
GoDaddy Inc. (GDDY)·Q3 2025 Earnings Summary
Executive Summary
- Q3 2025 revenue was $1.27B (+10% YoY), normalized EBITDA $408.6M (32.3% margin), and free cash flow $440.5M; management raised FY revenue guidance to $4.93–$4.95B (~8% YoY) and guided Q4 NEBITDA margin to ~33% .
- Street consensus: revenue $1.233B* and Primary EPS $1.465*; GoDaddy delivered a revenue beat (+$32M) and a substantial EPS beat (+$0.53 on normalized EPS basis). GAAP diluted EPS was $1.51 (vs. Street’s normalized EPS framework) .
- Strength was broad-based: A&C revenue +13.7% YoY to $481.0M; Core Platform revenue +8.3% YoY to $784.3M, aided by a return of high-value aftermarket transactions and solid primary domain growth .
- Catalysts: guidance raise, momentum in AI/agentic initiatives (Airo.ai, Agent Name Service), ARPU up 10% to $237 on high-intent customer attach, and ongoing buybacks (9.0M shares repurchased YTD for $1.4B) .
What Went Well and What Went Wrong
What Went Well
- “We delivered ANC revenue growth of 14% and grew free cash flow 21% to an impressive $440 million” .
- “Our $500+ customer cohort now represents ~10% of our base… boosting ARPU up 10% to $237” .
- “We launched five new Airo agents… and GoDaddy’s Agent Name Service (ANS), an identity protocol for AI agents built on DNS infrastructure” .
What Went Wrong
- Segment margin mixed: A&C EBITDA margin was 45.7%, down 30bps YoY (product mix and AI investment), partially offset by AI-driven efficiencies across the P&L .
- Customers declined YoY (-1.5% to 20,413) though sequentially stabilized; retention at ~85% suggests cohort quality over quantity focus .
- Management flagged Q4 headwinds from the exit of the .CO registry contract (~50bps to bookings and revenue) and exclusion of high-value aftermarket transactions from guidance .
Financial Results
Segment Breakdown
KPIs
Balance Sheet (Quarter-End)
- Cash and Equivalents: $923.7M; Total Debt: $3.84B; Net Debt: $2.91B .
- Shares repurchased YTD: 9.0M for $1.4B (through Oct 28) .
Guidance Changes
Earnings Call Themes & Trends
Management Commentary
- “We delivered ANC revenue growth of 14% and grew free cash flow 21% to an impressive $440 million… We are raising our full year revenue guide to 8% at the midpoint” .
- “Our $500+ customer cohort now represents approximately 10% of our base… near-perfect retention, boosting our ARPU up 10% to $237” .
- “We launched five new Airo agents… and ANS, an identity protocol for AI agents built on DNS infrastructure and proposed as an open standard” .
- “In the new products, 90% of the code ultimately is being written by AI… smaller teams are able to release much faster” .
- “We saw a return to high-value transactions this quarter [in aftermarket]… very strong at the higher-end level” .
Q&A Highlights
- Agentic AI rollout and monetization: Aero.ai is built on GoDaddy’s platform; AiroPlus will be the monetization vehicle with paywalls and rapid agent iteration cycles .
- Cohort dynamics: High-intent customers attaching to a second product at much higher rates; near-perfect retention; ARPU up 10% to $237 .
- Aftermarket: Return of high-value transactions drove Core strength; lumpy nature acknowledged; lower price tiers also healthy .
- ANS rationale: DNS-based identity and PKI-backed verification for agents; discovery and trust across domains; supports MCP/A2A protocols .
- AI costs/margins: Close monitoring of token/model costs; internal-hosted models and model selection to balance experience and cost; Q4 NEBITDA ~33% .
Estimates Context
Notes: Values retrieved from S&P Global. Company-reported GAAP diluted EPS was $1.51 . Company-reported normalized EBITDA (NEBITDA) was $408.6M .
Key Takeaways for Investors
- Revenue and normalized EPS beat Street; NEBITDA margin expanded to 32.3% and Q4 margin guided to ~33%—supports near-term multiple resilience and potential estimate revisions upward on EPS/FCF* .
- Strength across domains and aftermarket, plus A&C attach, lifted Core growth to 8% and A&C to 13.7%—trend suggests durable double-digit ARPU expansion and continued cohort quality .
- Guidance raise to $4.93–$4.95B and FY FCF ~$1.6B, coupled with buybacks ($1.4B YTD), is constructive for per-share value accretion .
- Near-term watch: Q4 .CO registry exit headwind (~50bps) and exclusion of high-value aftermarket transactions in guidance; monitor agentic AI monetization ramp (AiroPlus paywalls) .
- Medium-term thesis: Agentic AI (Airo.ai) and ANS can deepen product attach and ecosystem value; internal AI efficiency should fund innovation while sustaining margin targets .
- KPI momentum (ARPU +10%, ARR +8%, international +14%) indicates expanding monetization per customer and global reach .
- Focus for updates: aftermarket mix/margin implications, cohort retention levels, AI cost discipline vs. gross margin, and trajectory of Core segment growth .
Citations: All company results, guidance, KPIs, and quotes are from Q3 2025 8-K/press release and earnings call . Q2/Q1 prior-period comps from 8-Ks . Estimates marked with asterisks are from S&P Global via GetEstimates (Values retrieved from S&P Global).