Monday.com’s earnings are a vibe check for unicorns

For SaaS companies, growth may no longer be enough.

Venture capitalist and SaaS sage Jason Lemkin shared notes yesterday on Monday.com’s recent earnings report. Highlighting the positives he saw from the team productivity service’s Q1 results, Lemkin noted that the company announced strong growth and 125% net revenue retention in its most recent quarter.

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Monday.com’s quick growth, per Lemkin, is an indication that in business terms, “times are still very, very good in SaaS,” regardless of whether the stock market agrees. The point about the market is a good one. The change in the value of public technology companies has taken six months to reach its current point, and the ripples are still working their way through the startup market in the wake of last year’s private-capital bonanza.

Lemkin considers SaaS fundamentals still strong, despite the sector finding itself as far outside of investor favor this year as it was in their hearts back in 2021. It’s not hard to see why. Monday.com’s first quarter had a lot to like in it, and yet the company’s value is down from an all-time high of $450 per share to a few bucks over $100 this morning.

Monday.com is a therefore good example of how companies in the SaaS market are being graded along a much steeper curve than they once were. So let’s unpack its actual results against Q1 expectations, the company’s guidance against analyst forecasts, and how to read the market’s view on its current health.

The resulting picture is one that unicorns should pay close attention to. After all, how many unicorns wouldn’t love to post the following results?

Monday’s Q1 results, 2022 guidance

In the first quarter of the company’s fiscal 2022, Monday.com reported revenue of $108.5 million, up 84% compared to the year-ago period. Per the company’s release, its aggregate net dollar retention was 125%, a figure that rose to 135% “for customers with more than 10 users” and to 150% for “customers [worth] more than $50,000 in annual recurring revenue.”

In growth terms, then, Monday.com had a whip-ass first quarter.