GAMB - Gambling.com tops Q4 revenue expectations eyes continued customer growth

2023-03-23 14:32:38 ET

Gambling.com Group ( NASDAQ: GAMB ) posted a mixed earnings result on Thursday, but noted continued top-line growth that is only due to accelerate amid increased gambling interest on both sides of the pond.

The Jersey-based company posted $0.02 in earnings per share for the fourth quarter, falling short of analyst expectations . However, an over 100% jump in revenue year over year to $21.35M came in above estimates. Additionally, management highlighted over 130% growth in depositing customers.

In an interview with Seeking Alpha following the results, CEO Charles Gillespie indicated that depositing customer dynamics continue to trend positively. While official guidance was not offered, he said that 2023 should continue the rapid pace of growth that has moved new depositing customers from 70K in 2020 to 273K by the close of 2022.

Revenue is also anticipated to continue growing to a range of $93M to $97M in 2023 representing around 30% year over year growth and upside to the analyst consensus of $94.1. That range is also offered without the assumption of any additional North American markets going live in 2023, according to Gillespie.

“We are very careful about adding in any new state launches to our guidance until we have virtual certainty not only that a state has legislated but that it has confirmed a specific moment to launch the regulated market,” he explained. “We do in fact expect some states to regulate during this legislative season, but we cannot predict now when those states would launch. Therefore, we have little choice to keep it out of our guidance and we will be delighted to reset that guidance as and when we get clarity on new states launching.”

However, Gillespie highlighted opportunities in the company’s UK home base as well as Ireland that may be overlooked by US-based investors.

“The clearest possible evidence we can share to objectively demonstrate this is the 54% growth we delivered in the U.K. and Ireland in Q4 – regarded as some of the most mature online gambling markets in the world”  he told Seeking Alpha. “This is us taking market share as we continue to execute well and increase the visibility and efficacy of our websites in those markets.”

Gillespie added that Gambling.com holds a particular appeal for more sophisticated consumers who have specific demands and therefore find great utility in a comparison website.

“The dynamic becomes more about seasoned players switching between operators versus people signing up for the first time,” he noted. “This is great for us as we can monetize the same individual multiple times as they open accounts at various operators.”

Shares of Gambling.com ( GAMB ) wavered on Thursday, swinging between a modest gain to $10.06and a sharp decline to $9.27.

Read the earnings call transcript .

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