GoDaddy earnings: guidance and results
MyStockButler's October 2026 analysis: GoDaddy’s September 2026 quarter delivered 6.0% revenue growth to $1.34 billion, a 27.0% operating margin, 24.4% net-income growth and 37.7% diluted EPS growth. Watch Airo’s customer economics, the debt-and-litigation cash burden, and management’s control disclosures.
What has GoDaddy guided for the year?
Applications and Commerce should grow 10.0%, versus 4.0% for Core. Normalized EBITDA margin should exceed 33.0%, and the company’s own free cash flow should reach $1.8 billion. Management has met or exceeded revenue guidance in all eight quarters and exceeded its normalized EBITDA target in all eight. But $2.21 billion of debt matures in 2029, and the Express Mobile patent appeal could require cash.
| Period guided | Low | High | Date given | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | Year to Dec 2026 | 5,215.0 | 5,255.0 | Oct 29, 2026 |
| Year-over-year growth | Year to Dec 2026 | 6.0% | 6.0% | Oct 29, 2026 |
| A&C revenue growth | Year to Dec 2026 | 10.0% | 10.0% | Oct 29, 2026 |
| Core revenue growth | Year to Dec 2026 | 4.0% | 4.0% | Oct 29, 2026 |
| NEBITDA margin | Year to Dec 2026 | 33.0% | Oct 29, 2026 | |
| Free cash flow | Year to Dec 2026 | 1,800.0 | 1,800.0 | Oct 29, 2026 |
What this means. GoDaddy's reported free cash flow uses its own definition, so it may not match the report's free cash flow measure.
Has GoDaddy kept its past promises?
Across the eight quarters checked, revenue met or beat its forecast range and normalized EBITDA margin exceeded its approximate target. That record supports management’s credibility, but it does not remove the need to test whether future promises rely on business growth or financial engineering.
| What management forecast | Checked | Above | Within | Below |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | 8 quarters | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| NEBITDA margin | 8 quarters | 8 | 0 | 0 |
What this means. The company’s margin forecast was a minimum of more than 33 percent, so “above” means it beat that floor, not that it exceeded a specific upper target.
What is GoDaddy’s last eight quarters trend?
GoDaddy’s September 2026 quarter kept the growth pattern. Revenue grew 6.0% year over year to $1.34 billion. Applications and Commerce grew 9.0%, while Core Platform grew 4.2%. Operating margin reached 27.0%. Net income rose 24.4% and diluted EPS rose 37.7%; buybacks made the per-share gain faster than the profit gain. Computed from cash from operations less capital spending, free cash flow was $475.8 million. Airo’s annualized bookings run rate exceeded $100 million and more than doubled from the prior quarter.
Operating cash flow and free cash flow also increased. Revenue has grown in each of the last eight quarters shown, but the next test is whether Airo creates durable demand rather than replacing older products.
| Sep 2026 | Jun 2026 | Mar 2026 | Dec 2025 | Sep 2025 | Jun 2025 | Mar 2025 | Dec 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 1,341.8 | 1,298.0 | 1,266.9 | 1,273.9 | 1,265.3 | 1,217.6 | 1,194.3 | 1,192.6 |
| Gross margin | 62.8% | 63.8% | 63.8% | 64.6% | 63.0% | 63.7% | 63.1% | 64.6% |
| Operating margin | 27.0% | 26.4% | 24.5% | 24.9% | 23.4% | 21.9% | 20.7% | 21.4% |
| EPS, diluted | 2.08 | 1.83 | 1.60 | 1.80 | 1.51 | 1.41 | 1.51 | 1.36 |
| Free cash flow | 475.8 | 437.4 | 466.9 | 363.7 | 434.9 | 375.8 | 401.1 | 326.1 |
What this means. The company’s own free cash flow can be higher because it adds back cash paid for restructuring and other charges, while our count does not.
What should I watch in GoDaddy’s next release?
The next evidence will come from Airo’s customer economics, the debt-and-litigation cash burden, and management’s control disclosures.