One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$106.08 our estimate vs market $32.17
Wall Street consensus: $41.45 (-60.9% lower than our fair-value estimate)
70% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
BlackLine, Inc.
BL · NMS · Technology · Software - Application
Current price
$32.17
52-week range
$24.70 - $59.57
Market cap
$1.89B
Balance sheet
Stretched
3.96x Stretched
Net debt $162.25M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
1 Risk
3 rewards · 1 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 2.3% last year.
- Reward Returns 6.5% on equity, ahead of 50% of its peers.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 9/10 years.
- Risk Insider ownership is only 9.4% (peer median: 10.7%).
What this company does
BlackLine, Inc.
BlackLine sells specialized accounting software that helps companies automate complex tasks, like making sure all their financial records match up at the end of the month. The company generates most of its money from subscriptions to this software, which creates recurring revenue (income that is predictable and comes in at regular intervals, like a Netflix subscription). This matters because it helps large businesses manage their finances more efficiently and with fewer errors, which is a critical need for any complex organization.
How the company got here
BlackLine was started in 2001 by Therese Tucker, who wanted to help companies move beyond using spreadsheets for their complex accounting work. For over a decade, the company grew without any outside investment, showing that there was strong demand for its software. In 2013, a major investment from a private equity firm (a company that invests in other companies) helped BlackLine expand. The company went public on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 2016, and has since grown by acquiring other software companies to enhance its offerings.
What it actually does
Imagine a very large company with thousands of financial transactions every day; at the end of each month, accountants have to make sure everything adds up and is recorded correctly, a process called the 'financial close'. BlackLine creates cloud-based software (software accessed over the internet) that automates many of these repetitive and error-prone accounting tasks. Instead of using countless spreadsheets and emails, finance teams use BlackLine's platform to manage tasks, match transactions, and prepare financial reports in a more organized and efficient way. This helps large companies close their books faster, with fewer errors, and provides a clear trail for auditors (people who check the accuracy of financial records).
Financial Close and Accounting Automation
This is the core of BlackLine's business, where it makes money by selling subscriptions to its main software platform. Companies pay recurring fees based on the number of users and the specific tools they need to automate their accounting processes. This includes tools for account reconciliations (matching balances in different accounts), managing journal entries (records of financial transactions), and tracking tasks for the finance team. This single, unified business is what BlackLine is known for and represents the vast majority of its business, serving thousands of customers from mid-sized companies to very large global corporations.
What management is betting on now
BlackLine is heavily focused on integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into its platform to make financial processes even more automated and intelligent. The company recently acquired an AI company to enhance these capabilities and is launching an "AI Innovation Hub" to develop new features. They are also focused on expanding their customer base, particularly with large global companies that have the most complex accounting needs. A key part of their strategy includes a strong partnership with SAP, a major provider of business software, which helps BlackLine reach more large enterprises.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q2
$40.02M
FY2024 Q3
$55.52M
FY2024 Q4
$43.04M
FY2025 Q1
$40.79M
FY2025 Q2
$31.38M
FY2025 Q3
$63.27M
FY2025 Q4
$26.06M
FY2026 Q1
$44.18M
Revenue
$183.16M
Net income
$8.13M
Diluted EPS
0.13
Operating cash flow
$46.30M
Free cash flow
$44.18M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$183.18M
Net income
$4.89M
Diluted EPS
0.07
Operating cash flow
$26.68M
Free cash flow
$26.06M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$178.29M
Net income
$5.29M
Diluted EPS
0.09
Operating cash flow
$63.80M
Free cash flow
$63.27M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$172.03M
Net income
$8.29M
Diluted EPS
0.13
Operating cash flow
$32.34M
Free cash flow
$31.38M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$166.93M
Net income
$6.05M
Diluted EPS
0.10
Operating cash flow
$46.74M
Free cash flow
$40.79M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$169.46M
Net income
$56.42M
Diluted EPS
0.79
Operating cash flow
$43.79M
Free cash flow
$43.04M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$165.91M
Net income
$17.24M
Diluted EPS
0.27
Operating cash flow
$55.92M
Free cash flow
$55.52M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$160.51M
Net income
$76.69M
Diluted EPS
0.22
Operating cash flow
$40.70M
Free cash flow
$40.02M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $106.08 vs current price $32.17
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $41.45 (-60.9% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $106.08 a share — about 229.8% above today's price of $32.17, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Stretched
Net debt $162.3M. Interest coverage 4.0x.
Net debt
$162.25M
Interest coverage
3.96x
BlackLine, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 4.0 times over. which is stronger than every peer shown here and 3 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Stretched
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
BL
BASELINE
BlackLine, Inc.
Total debt $687.32M Interest coverage 3.96x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $793.47M Interest coverage -3.32x -100% vs BL This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with BL.
Total debt $1.89B Interest coverage -5.83x -100% vs BL This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with BL.
Total debt $350.14M Interest coverage -3.52x -100% vs BL This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with BL.
What you should know
The case for and against BL
3 Rewards
1 Risk
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 2.3% last year.
-
Returns 6.5% on equity, ahead of 50% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 9/10 years.
Risks
-
Insider ownership is only 9.4% (peer median: 10.7%).
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
76.60x
Forward P/E
11.60x
P/B
6.22x
P/S
2.63x
EV/EBITDA
33.38x
PEG ratio
4.53x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
75.4%
Operating margin
4.3%
Net margin
3.7%
ROE
6.5%
ROA
1.5%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
2.04x
Current ratio
1.70x
Quick ratio
1.63x
Total debt
$687.32M
Total cash
$525.07M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$716.65M
Revenue 5Y CAGR
13.3%
EPS TTM
0.42
EPS 5Y CAGR
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Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$169.12M
Free CF TTM
$161.49M
FCF margin
22.5%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
—
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
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