BlackLine (BL) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $2.91B
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Average Volume (3M): 786.03K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 20.7
• Beta (1Y): 1.17
• Revenue Growth: 10.74%
• EPS Growth: 200.08%
• Country: US
• Employees: 1,830
• Sector: Technology
• Sector Strength: 40
• Industry: Software - Application
• EPS (TTM): 2.23
• Shares Outstanding: 63,076,640
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 836,086
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 786,035
• PEG Ratio: 0.10
• Price to Book (P/B): N/A
• Price to Sales (P/S): 4.84
• Price to Cash Flow (P/CF): 18.00
• P/FCF Ratio: 16.70
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: N/A
• 1Y Price Target: $63.00
• Price Target Upside: 39.23% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Moderate Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 11

BlackLine scores well in financial performance, showcasing strong growth and profitability. Technical analysis indicates bearish momentum, a key risk. Valuation is reasonable, supported by strategic initiatives and partnerships. Earnings call and corporate events reflect optimism for growth but also highlight challenges such as leadership changes and workforce restructuring.

Positive Factors

Earnings Quality

Earnings quality improving under new leadership.

New Product Strategy

New product strategy doubles down where Blackline has the strongest competitive edge.

Profitability and Margins

Revised profitability forecast indicates higher margins due to lower costs, with potential additional upside from a 'resign and get severance' program.

Negative Factors

Growth Indicators

Forward-looking indicators of growth disappointed with billings and cRPO growth of ~5% y/y, with consensus estimates closer to 11%.

Performance and Guidance

EBIT margin of 18.1% was at the low-end of the guidance range, negatively impacted by ~3pts by FX.

Revenue Growth

The guidance for 2025 total revenue growth was below outlook, with lower visibility on sales improvements beyond FX.

BlackLine Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

BlackLine, Inc. provides cloud-based solutions to automate and streamline accounting and finance operations worldwide. It offers financial close management solutions, such as account reconciliations that provides a centralized workspace for users to collaborate on account reconciliations; transaction matching that analyzes and reconciles high volumes of individual transactions; and task management to create and manage processes and task lists. The company's financial close management solutions also include journal entry that allows users to generate, review, and post manual journal entries; variance analysis that monitors and identifies anomalous fluctuations in balance sheet and income statement account balances; consolidation integrity manager that manages the automated system-to-system tie-out process that occurs during the consolidation phase of the financial close; and compliance, an integrated solution that facilitates compliance-related initiatives, consolidates project management, and provides visibility over control self-assessments and testing. In addition, it offers accounts receivable automation solutions, which include cash application, credit and risk management, collections management, disputes and deductions, team and task management, and AR intelligence solutions. Further, the company provides intercompany workflow that stores permissions by entity and transaction type thereby ensuring both the initiator and the approver of the intercompany transaction are authorized to conduct business; intercompany processing, which records an organization's intercompany transactions; and netting and settlement that generates a real-time settlement matrix, which shows the balance of transactions. The company sells its solutions primarily through direct sales force to multinational corporations, large domestic enterprises, and mid-market companies across various industries. BlackLine, Inc. was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Woodland Hills, California.

How the Company Makes Money

BlackLine makes money primarily through a subscription-based revenue model. The company charges its clients recurring fees for access to its cloud-based financial software solutions. Key revenue streams include subscription and support fees from its software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings. BlackLine also generates revenue through professional services, which include implementation, training, and consulting services to help clients effectively integrate and utilize its solutions. Significant partnerships with technology providers and consulting firms enhance BlackLine's reach and contribute to its earnings, as these collaborations often drive new customer acquisitions and expand its market presence.

BlackLine Financial Statement Overview

Summary

BlackLine's financial statements showcase strong growth and improved profitability. The income statement reflects robust revenue growth and margin expansion, despite a relatively low EBIT margin. The balance sheet indicates effective capital management but highlights potential risks from high leverage. Cash flow is a strong point, showing excellent cash generation capabilities.

Income Statement

BlackLine has demonstrated strong revenue growth, with a significant increase in total revenue from $589.996 million in 2023 to $653.336 million in the TTM (Trailing-Twelve-Months). The gross profit margin improved to 75.2% in the TTM, reflecting efficient cost management. The net profit margin also increased substantially to 24.7%, indicating improved profitability. EBIT and EBITDA margins have shown positive trends, although EBIT margin remains relatively low at 3.0%. Overall, the income statement reflects strong growth and improving profitability.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet shows a high debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, reflecting significant leverage, which could pose a risk. However, the return on equity (ROE) has improved to 36.1% in the TTM, indicating strong profitability relative to shareholders' equity. The equity ratio is 24.5%, suggesting moderate reliance on equity financing. Overall, the balance sheet shows a balance between growth and leverage, with some potential risks from high debt levels.

Cash Flow

Operating cash flow has increased significantly, resulting in a robust operating cash flow to net income ratio of 1.18 in the TTM. The free cash flow to net income ratio is also strong at 1.17, indicating efficient conversion of earnings into cash. Free cash flow growth rate from the previous year was impressive at 90.5%. Overall, the cash flow statement shows excellent cash generation and management, supporting the company's growth initiatives.

Breakdown
Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021	Dec 2020
Income Statement		Total Revenue
653.34M	590.00M	522.94M	425.71M	351.74M
	Gross Profit
491.37M	443.20M	393.55M	327.83M	282.76M
	EBIT
18.54M	14.35M	-37.72M	-38.61M	-15.39M
	EBITDA
183.80M	116.51M	1.25M	-13.29M	5.50M
	Net Income Common Stockholders
161.17M	52.83M	-33.89M	-100.99M	-39.40M
Balance Sheet		Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments
885.91M	1.20B	1.08B	1.20B	542.62M
	Total Assets
1.83B	2.10B	1.94B	1.82B	1.11B
	Total Debt
916.60M	1.41B	1.40B	1.13B	418.54M
	Net Debt
30.69M	1.14B	1.20B	593.88M	51.12M
	Total Liabilities
1.34B	1.81B	1.81B	1.46B	678.91M
	Stockholders Equity
446.67M	260.88M	111.87M	325.04M	422.07M
Cash Flow		Free Cash Flow
188.71M	99.02M	25.83M	56.83M	35.31M
	Operating Cash Flow
190.84M	126.61M	56.01M	80.09M	54.73M
	Investing Cash Flow
924.44M	-62.48M	-395.62M	-506.94M	173.59M
	Financing Cash Flow
-500.14M	6.15M	1.44M	599.24M	18.86M

BlackLine Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Negative
• Last Price: 45.25
• 50DMA: Negative
• 100DMA: Negative
• 200DMA: Negative
• MACD: Negative
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For BL, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 45.25 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 48.26, below the 50-day MA of 51.85, and below the 200-day MA of 54.05, indicating a bearish trend. The MACD of -0.89 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 36.89 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 31.50 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for BL.

BlackLine Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
PAY	76 Outperform	$3.40B	78.77	9.65%	―	41.86%	96.57%
CXM	75 Outperform	$2.02B	17.41	18.83%	―	8.74%	150.66%
SWI	70 Outperform	$3.20B	28.86	7.87%	―	5.03%	―
BL	66 Neutral	$2.91B	20.72	45.56%	―	10.74%	200.08%
ZI	66 Neutral	$2.90B	102.15	1.53%	―	-2.03%	-68.59%
Sector *	57 Neutral	$20.31B	10.03	-14.49%	2.79%	5.15%	-23.76%
NCNO	56 Neutral	$2.84B	―	-3.54%	―	13.45%	12.86%

BlackLine Corporate Events

BlackLine Appoints New Independent Director to Board

On March 9, 2025, BlackLine, Inc. entered into a cooperation agreement with Scalar Gauge Fund to appoint Scott Davidson as a new independent director to its Board, effective March 14, 2025. This move is part of BlackLine’s strategy to refresh its Board with new perspectives, aiming to accelerate growth and enhance shareholder value. Davidson, with over 25 years of experience in software companies, is expected to contribute significantly to BlackLine’s strategic positioning and value creation for stakeholders.

BlackLine Announces Workforce Reduction Amid Strategic Shift

On February 27, 2025, William “Bill” Wagner announced his intention to resign from the board of directors of BlackLine, Inc., effective May 8, 2025, to focus on his new role as CEO at Semrush. On March 4, 2025, BlackLine announced plans to reduce its global workforce by approximately 7%, or 130 positions, as part of its organizational alignment and performance management initiatives. The company will also offer a voluntary departure program with severance packages. These actions are expected to be completed in the first half of fiscal year 2025, with estimated expenses of $5 million, primarily for severance. BlackLine intends to continue hiring for critical roles and does not anticipate these actions to materially impact its financial guidance.

BlackLine Announces Leadership Change and Positive Revenue Outlook

BlackLine announced the retirement of its Chief Revenue Officer, Mark Woodhams, effective June 2, 2025, with Stuart Van Houten stepping in as the new Chief Commercial Officer starting February 17, 2025. Van Houten, bringing extensive experience from SAP, is expected to drive growth and deepen strategic partnerships, particularly with SAP, enhancing BlackLine’s market position. Additionally, BlackLine anticipates its fourth quarter and full-year 2024 revenue to meet or slightly exceed its guidance, reaffirming its non-GAAP operating margin expectations, indicating a strong financial performance.