Summary
GoDaddy ended fiscal 2021 with its first $1 billion revenue quarter. Total revenue for the fourth quarter was $1.02 billion, up 16.6% from the prior-year quarter. Full-year revenue reached $3.82 billion, up 15.0% from the prior year. Operating income for the quarter was $124.8 million, up 34.9%, and full-year operating income was $382.1 million, up 40.4%. Net income attributable to GoDaddy for the quarter was $87.2 million, up 23.7%. Full-year net income was $242.3 million, a swing to a profit from the prior-year loss. Operating margin for the quarter was 12.2%, up 1.7 percentage points, and full-year operating margin was 10.0%, up 1.8 percentage points.
The quarter's growth came with healthy cash generation and a larger backlog. Operating cash flow was $172.2 million in the fourth quarter, up 3.8%, and $829.3 million for the full year, up 8.5%. Capital expenditures were $17.4 million in the quarter, down 36.5%, and $51.1 million for the full year, down 23.2%. Deferred revenue was $1.89 billion at December 31, 2021, up 10.4% from a year earlier. Remaining performance obligations were $2.63 billion, up 8.1%. Unlevered free cash flow, a non-GAAP measure, was $203.2 million in the quarter, up 12.2%, and $960.0 million for the full year, up 16.3%. Total bookings were $1,050.1 million in the quarter, up 11.3%, and $4,231.7 million for the full year, up 12.1%. Total customers at period end were 21,233, up 2.8%.
Operational momentum centered on commerce and WordPress. GoDaddy said its OmniCommerce launch showed strong early adoption. It sold over a thousand point-of-sale devices and received tens of thousands of GoDaddy Payments applications. About 60% of customers with the commerce tier of Websites + Marketing and nearly a quarter of Managed WordPress customers with commerce enabled adopted GoDaddy Payments over well-known competitors. Annualized recurring revenue from the Create and Grow group, which includes Websites + Marketing, Managed WordPress, Sellbrite, and GoDaddy Studios, surpassed $410 million, growing 19% year over year in the fourth quarter. Websites + Marketing ARR grew more than 20% year over year, and the commerce tier of Websites + Marketing ARR grew 24% year over year. Gross merchandise volume was $26 billion, up 21% year over year on a proforma basis. GoDaddy also acquired Pagely, a Managed WordPress provider, and named Roger Chen as Chief Operating Officer in January.
Guidance points to slower growth in 2022. For the first quarter ending March 31, 2022, GoDaddy expects total revenue growth of 10% at the midpoint versus last year. For the full year ending December 31, 2022, the company expects total revenue growth of 9% at the midpoint versus the $3.82 billion generated in 2021. It expects unlevered free cash flow of approximately $1.1 billion, representing 15% growth versus the $960 million generated in 2021. The company also announced a multi-year $3 billion share repurchase plan, starting with an intent to launch a $750 million accelerated share repurchase in the first quarter of 2022. GoDaddy will host a virtual investor day on February 11, 2022, where it expects to provide more detailed outlook for the first quarter of 2022, full-year 2022, and three-year growth targets for revenue, normalized EBITDA, and unlevered free cash flow.
Risks remain familiar. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to create uncertainty, and remote work arrangements have increased cybersecurity risk. GoDaddy faces competition, integration risk from acquisitions such as Poynt and Pagely, and regulatory and legal exposure, including indirect taxes and loss contingencies. The company has significant long-term debt and covenants that restrict its ability to incur debt, make restricted payments, and pursue other actions. Interest expense rose in 2021, and foreign currency movements can affect bookings and revenue. Management said it was in compliance with all debt covenants and had no amounts drawn on its revolver as of December 31, 2021. The company also flagged risks tied to its rapid evolution, including interruptions or delays in service, breaches of security measures, and the ability to manage growth and retain employees.
Forecast
Reported figures
GAAP, from SEC filings| Metric | Q4 FY2021 | Q3 FY2021 | QoQ | Q4 FY2020 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1.02B | $964.0M | +5.7% | $873.9M | +16.6% |
| General & administrative | $84.9M | $81.2M | +4.6% | $79.7M | +6.5% |
| Total operating expenses | $894.5M | $832.7M | +7.4% | $781.4M | +14.5% |
| Operating income (loss) | $124.8M | $131.3M | -5.0% | $92.5M | +34.9% |
| Operating margin | 12.2% | 13.6% | -1.4 pp | 10.6% | +1.7 pp |
| Net income (loss) | $87.4M | $97.7M | -10.5% | $70.8M | +23.4% |
| Net margin | 8.6% | 10.1% | -1.6 pp | 8.1% | +0.5 pp |
Risks
GoDaddy disclosed multiple security incidents, including a November 2021 Managed WordPress breach that impacted up to 1.2 million active and inactive customers, a September 2021 Confluence data exfiltration, and FTC Civil Investigative Demands issued in July 2020 and October 2021. The company also reported increased social engineering attempts and several successful efforts in 2020 and 2021, and past incidents may increase future sanctions or re-invigorate investigations.
The filing states gross customer adds for 2021 declined relative to 2020 and there is uncertainty regarding levels of customer demand and growth going forward. Slower growth rates reflect the larger size and scale and maturity of the business, and a reduction in renewals would reduce operating margins in the near term.
The market is highly fragmented and competitive, with competitors including United Internet, Newfold Digital, Namecheap, Automattic, WP Engine, Donuts, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, TikTok, Yelp, Toast, Square, BigCommerce, Stripe, PayPal, Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, Tencent and Cloudflare. Some competitors have greater resources or offer low or no-cost services, and Verisign could become a registrar for gTLDs other than .com.
GoDaddy has substantial long-term debt, with interest expense up 38.0% in 2021, estimated future interest payments of $554.8 million as of December 31, 2021, and $108.2 million payable within 12 months. Debt covenants restrict indebtedness, liens, mergers, asset sales, dividends and other payments, limiting flexibility.
Risk factors cite emerging technological trends such as artificial intelligence and competition from Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, TikTok, Wix, Squarespace, Shopify and Cloudflare, some of which offer domains or security certificates at low or no cost. Failure to anticipate AI-driven or alternative web presence trends could impair product demand and market share.
Bookings outside the U.S. represented approximately 32% of total bookings for 2021, and expansion subjects GoDaddy to foreign regulatory, tax, currency, Brexit, and geopolitical risks, including operations in higher-risk regions such as China, India, Russia and Ukraine. Recruiting and retaining international personnel and maintaining corporate culture may be difficult.
GoDaddy completed acquisitions including Poynt (now GoDaddy Payments), Neustar's registry business, SkyVerge, Uniregistry and GoDaddy Studio, and may pursue more. Integration may fail to achieve synergies, expose unknown liabilities, dilute stockholders, or require significant management attention.
General macro-economic conditions, including rising interest rates, inflation in goods and services including labor, recession, and COVID-19, could reduce demand from small businesses and independent ventures, which make up a substantial portion of the customer base. Higher-priced services and aftermarket offerings have been and may continue to be negatively impacted as customers become more price-conscious.
Competition for highly skilled personnel, particularly technical and engineering talent in U.S. tech hubs, is intense, and U.S. immigration laws including H-1B visa limits constrain global recruiting. Remote and hybrid work arrangements may make it harder to onboard, manage and maintain company culture.
GoDaddy Payments is subject to payment card network rules and money transmission, foreign exchange, payment services and consumer protection laws; violations could lead to fines, holdbacks, suspension of processing or forced cessation of services. Privacy and data protection laws and FTC inquiries also increase compliance and liability risk.
Although retention exceeded 85% in each of the five years ended December 31, 2021, and was more than 93% for customers with over three years tenure in 2021, a reduction in renewals would reduce operating margins in the near term because renewal costs are substantially lower than acquisition costs.
SaaS KPIs
All quarters →Total bookings
Domains under management
Unlevered free cash flow
Average revenue per user (ARPU)
Total customers at period end
Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV)
Summary, forecast, risks and KPIs are extracted from GoDaddy Inc.'s SEC filings for Q4 FY2021 (10-Q / 10-K and the 8-K earnings release); GAAP figures in the summary are checked against the reported XBRL data. They can contain errors; the filings are authoritative. Processed Oct 1, 2026.