Lightspeed Focuses on Software Revenue and Stays Mum on Sale Rumors

With revenues climbing, Lightspeed Commerce says it is focusing on its software offerings.

The point of sale and digital commerce firm announced earnings Thursday showing total revenues of $277 million, a 20% increase year over year.

Of that, $183.3 million came from transaction-based revenue — up 33% — while subscription revenue climbed 6% to $85.5 million. On a trailing 12-month basis, Lightspeed has now surpassed $1 billion in revenue.

Now, CEO Dax Dasilva said during an earnings call, the company is focused on three key objectives designed to help Lightspeed reach profitable growth, among them the acceleration of its software revenue growth. He said the company began seeing positive signs in that area during its previous quarter.

“But overall, the inflection in software that we’re already seeing comes from several areas as we discussed in in the prepared remarks,” Dasilva said, “including the account managers that used to be inundated with payments have now come back to selling software, full time, or upselling our base on software.”

Management also said it would not address questions about the company’s ongoing strategic review, announced in September following reports that it might be exploring a sale, and also noted Lightspeed was postponing its capital markets day, initially scheduled for Nov. 20.

“In light of the company’s ongoing strategic review, Lightspeed will postpone its capital markets day previously scheduled for November 20,” the company said in a news release Thursday.

“The company notes that there can be no assurances given, at this time, as to the outcome of its strategic review and that no further announcements or comments in respect of this matter will be made except as required under our regulatory obligations.”

A report in September by Reuters said the company was working with a financial adviser to explore options, including a potential sale, with potential buyers including private equity firms.

Since Lightspeed went public around five years ago, its stock value has dropped by more than a third, that report noted, attributing the decline to weak consumer spending and a drop in the investor enthusiasm for FinTech stocks seen during the pandemic. Dasilva has reportedly mused if going public was the right option for his company.

Speaking with PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster in May, he said: “We’ve got profitability as an absolute priority. We’ve cut costs across the company and captured operational efficiencies.”