GoDaddy Inc. (GDDY) — Q2 2026 Earnings Preview

Company

GoDaddy Inc.

Ticker

GDDY

Earnings Date

July 30, 2026 (After Market Close)

Reporting Period

Q2 2026 (ending June 30, 2026)

Prepared

July 29, 2026

Last Earnings

April 30, 2026 (Q1 2026)

1. Earnings Preview

Key Takeaway: The setup is modestly constructive — consensus sits at a manageable bar with revenue guided to $1.285–$1.305B and NEBITDA margin ~33%, and the biggest swing factor is whether Airo AI Builder's paid marketing ramp (launched May) and expanded godaddy.com distribution translate into a visible bookings acceleration that closes the gap with revenue growth.

Heading into Q2 2026, GoDaddy's bar is achievable but not low: management guided total revenue of $1.285–$1.305B (6% YoY at midpoint) and NEBITDA margin of ~33%, and consensus sits essentially in line with the midpoint at ~$1.295B. The Q1 print demonstrated the model's durability — revenue came in at the high end of guidance, EPS beat, and free cash flow surged to $473.6M — and management explicitly called Q1 the peak impact of bookings headwinds (from the .CO registry contract expiration and promotional offer mix), guiding bookings growth to reach parity with or exceed revenue growth for the remainder of 2026. The estimate trajectory has been remarkably stable since the Q1 print, with consensus revenue for Q2 barely moving (~$1.2945B on May 8 vs. ~$1.2945B today), suggesting the street is anchored to guidance rather than pricing in upside — which creates room for a beat if Airo AI Builder's paid marketing ramp (begun May) and expanded distribution drive incremental bookings. The stock has recovered sharply from its June lows (~$75) to ~$103 ahead of the print, implying the market has already re-rated toward execution confidence, so the multiple (NTM P/FCF ~7x, NTM EV/EBITDA ~8.9x) leaves less room for error than earlier in the year. The key wildcard is Airo AI Builder monetization velocity — the product exited Q1 at a $10M+ annualized bookings run rate within weeks of beta launch without dedicated marketing; Q2 is the first full quarter with paid marketing and broader distribution, and any meaningful step-up in that run rate would be a material positive surprise.

2. KPIs & Consensus Expectations

Key Takeaway: Consensus is a manageable, guidance-anchored bar — revenue and NEBITDA margin are essentially in line with the midpoint of guidance. The bigger swing factor is Adjusted EPS, where GDDY has beaten by an average of ~$0.10–$0.15 in recent quarters driven by margin outperformance and buybacks.

Table 1 — Current Quarter Snapshot (Q2 2026)

KPI

Q1 2026 Actual

Q2 2025 Actual (Prior Year)

Q2 2026 Consensus Estimate

YoY Change

Q2 2026 Guidance

Consensus vs. Guidance Midpoint

Total Revenue ($B)

$1.267B

$1.218B

$1.295B

+6.3% YoY

$1.285–$1.305B (mid: $1.295B)

~0% (in line)

Adj. EPS (Diluted, Operating)

$2.14

$1.99

$2.22

+11.6% YoY

No explicit EPS guidance

N/A

Normalized EBITDA ($M)

$413.5M

$381.7M

$426.9M

+11.8% YoY

~33% margin (~$427M implied)

~0% (in line)

Free Cash Flow ($M)

$473.6M

$391.5M

$456.5M

+16.6% YoY

FY ~$1.8B (no Q2 specific)

N/A (FY only)

ARPU — Annualized Avg. Rev. per Customer ($)

$246

$230

$268

+16.5% YoY

No explicit guidance

N/A

Source: Visible Alpha Consensus and Actuals Data; GoDaddy Q1 2026 Earnings Release (April 30, 2026). All consensus figures as of July 29, 2026.

Table 2 — Beat / Miss History (Last 8 Quarters, Top 2 KPIs)

Total Revenue ($M)

Quarter

Reported ($M)

Consensus ($M)

Surprise %

Result

Q1 2026

$1,266.9

$1,262.1

+0.4%

Beat

Q4 2025

$1,273.9

$1,269.4

+0.4%

Beat

Q3 2025

$1,265.3

$1,231.8

+2.7%

Beat

Q2 2025

$1,217.6

$1,206.2

+0.9%

Beat

Q1 2025

$1,194.3

$1,187.5

+0.6%

Beat

Q4 2024

$1,192.6

$1,175.8

+1.4%

Beat

Q3 2024

$1,147.6

$1,142.9

+0.4%

Beat

Q2 2024

N/A — pre-window

N/A

N/A

N/A

Adjusted EPS (Diluted, Operating)

Quarter

Reported ($)

Consensus ($)

Surprise %

Result

Q1 2026

$2.14

$2.04

+4.9%

Beat

Q4 2025

$2.31

$2.15

+7.4%

Beat

Q3 2025

$2.08

$2.05

+1.5%

Beat

Q2 2025

$1.99

$1.83

+8.7%

Beat

Q1 2025

$2.07

$1.82

+13.7%

Beat

Q4 2024

$1.91

$1.94

-1.5%

Miss

Q3 2024

$1.84

$1.83

+0.6%

Beat

Q2 2024

N/A — pre-window

N/A

N/A

N/A

Pattern: GDDY has beaten revenue consensus in 7 of the last 7 reported quarters (typically by 0.4–2.7%), and beaten Adj. EPS in 6 of the last 7 quarters with an average upside surprise of ~5–8% — the single miss (Q4 2024) was driven by a one-time tax item, not operational underperformance. The consistent beat pattern on EPS reflects ongoing margin outperformance and buyback accretion.

Source: Visible Alpha Consensus and Actuals Data.

3. Guidance & Commentary Evolution

Key Takeaway: Guidance is unchanged since the Q1 2026 earnings call — no post-earnings 8-K, conference, or investor day has revised the numbers. Management tone remains constructive and confident, with the Q1 call explicitly framing Q1 as the bookings trough and reaffirming all full-year targets.

Metric

Initial Guidance (Q1 2026 Earnings Call, Apr 30)

Revised Guidance

Current Consensus

Note

Q2 2026 Total Revenue

$1.285B – $1.305B (6% YoY at midpoint)

~$1.295B

Unchanged; consensus at midpoint

Q2 2026 NEBITDA Margin

~33%

~32.9% (implied)

Unchanged; consensus in line

Q2 2026 A&C Revenue Growth

Low double-digits YoY

N/A — not tracked separately in VA

Unchanged; key watch item

Q2 2026 Core Platform Revenue Growth

Low single-digits YoY

N/A — not tracked separately in VA

Unchanged

Q2 2026 Bookings Growth

At or above revenue growth (i.e., ≥6%)

N/A — not in VA consensus

Key inflection point; Q1 was the trough

FY 2026 Total Revenue

$5.195B – $5.275B (6% YoY at midpoint)

~$5.245B

Reaffirmed; consensus ~$30M below midpoint

FY 2026 NEBITDA Margin

>33%

~33.4% (implied)

Reaffirmed; consensus above floor

FY 2026 Free Cash Flow

~$1.8B

~$1.812B

Reaffirmed; consensus slightly above target

Source: GoDaddy Q1 2026 Earnings Release and Earnings Call Transcript (April 30, 2026); Visible Alpha Consensus and Actuals Data.

4. Guidance vs. Estimate Revision Tracker

Key Takeaway: Estimates have been remarkably stable since the Q1 print — revenue consensus for Q2 has barely moved (~flat) and FY 2026 consensus is essentially unchanged, suggesting the street is anchored to guidance. The absence of upward revision despite a clean Q1 beat and Airo AI Builder's early traction represents a potential source of upside if Q2 execution confirms the bookings inflection management guided.

KPI (Period)

Estimate ~5 Days Post Q1 Earnings (May 8, 2026)

Current Consensus (Jul 29, 2026)

Estimate Δ (%)

Initial Guidance (Q1 Call)

Current Guidance

Guidance Δ

Consensus vs. Guidance Midpoint

Total Revenue — Q2 2026

$1,294.6M

$1,294.5M

~0.0%

$1,285–$1,305M

Unchanged

~0% (at midpoint)

Total Revenue — FY 2026

$5,245.7M

$5,244.8M

~0.0%

$5,195–$5,275M

Unchanged

-0.6% (below midpoint)

Adj. EPS — Q2 2026

$2.217

$2.217

0.0%

No explicit guidance

N/A

N/A

Adj. EPS — FY 2026

$9.233

$9.233

0.0%

No explicit guidance

N/A

N/A

Normalized EBITDA — Q2 2026

$426.9M

$426.9M

~0.0%

~33% margin (~$427M implied)

Unchanged

~0% (in line)

Free Cash Flow — Q2 2026

$451.2M

$456.5M

+1.2%

FY ~$1.8B (no Q2 specific)

Unchanged

N/A (FY only)

Free Cash Flow — FY 2026

$1,808.4M

$1,811.8M

+0.2%

~$1.8B

Unchanged

+0.7% above target

Estimates have been essentially frozen since the Q1 print, with zero meaningful revision in either direction across all key KPIs. This is consistent with a guidance-anchored street that is waiting for Q2 execution to confirm the bookings inflection before revising higher. The lack of downward revision despite the stock's mid-June selloff (~$75) suggests the fundamental thesis remained intact even as sentiment deteriorated.

Source: Visible Alpha Consensus and Actuals Data (revision history May 8 – July 29, 2026).

5. Stock Performance

Key Takeaway: GDDY's +21% recovery from the Q1 earnings close ($86.79) to $105.10 (July 30 pre-earnings) has been driven almost entirely by multiple re-expansion (NTM EV/EBITDA from ~7.6x to ~8.9x over 1 month), not estimate revisions — the stock significantly underperformed IGV and the S&P 500 through mid-June before sharply reversing, suggesting the recovery is sentiment-driven and may need fundamental confirmation from Q2 to sustain.

Indexed Price Performance: GDDY vs. IGV vs. S&P 500 (Since Q1 Earnings, Apr 30, 2026)

Date

GDDY (Indexed)

IGV (Indexed)

SPY (Indexed)

Apr 30 (Base = 100)

100.0

100.0

100.0

May 8

104.9

108.6

102.6

May 29

98.9

121.1

105.3

Jun 11 (Trough)

86.6

108.1

102.7

Jun 30

97.8

107.9

103.9

Jul 16

110.8

111.6

104.5

Jul 28

118.6

109.4

103.1

Jul 30 (Pre-Earnings)

121.1

110.1

101.5

Sector ETF: IGV (iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF) — appropriate for GDDY given its software/SaaS-oriented revenue mix and AI platform positioning.

Key Events Since Q1 Earnings:

Valuation Context: NTM EV/EBITDA of ~8.9x and NTM P/FCF of ~7.0x remain well below the 12-month ago levels (16.2x and 14.2x respectively), reflecting the stock's -37% 12-month decline. The 1-month re-rating (+17% multiple expansion) has been the primary driver of the recent recovery, not estimate revisions — which means the stock needs Q2 execution to validate the re-rating.

Source: Stock Price Data (Yahoo Finance); Stock Performance Decomposition Data.

6. Material News & Developments

Key Takeaway: The most important development since Q1 earnings is VeriSign's record Q2 domain registration data (12.7M new .com/.net registrations, +22% YoY — the highest in VRSN history), which is a direct positive read-through for GoDaddy's core domain business and validates the demand environment heading into the print.

7. Peer Commentaries & Read-Throughs (Last 60 Days)

Key Takeaway: Peer commentary from the last 60 days is uniformly positive for GoDaddy's Q2 setup — VeriSign's record domain registration data is the most direct and actionable read-through, while Adobe's AI monetization success and Cloudflare's agentic internet data provide supportive but more indirect signals. All commentary below relates to the current reporting period (Q2 2026 calendar) or was made after each peer's most recent earnings.

Note on Methodology: Only commentary that (a) relates to Q2 2026 calendar quarter trends or (b) was made after each peer's most recent earnings call is included below. Historical results commentary from prior quarters is excluded. Read-through quality is rated: Direct (same end-market, same KPI), Indirect (adjacent market or different customer segment), or Thematic (macro/structural trend relevant to GDDY's strategy).

7.1 VeriSign (VRSN) — Q2 2026 Earnings (July 23, 2026)

Read-Through Quality: DIRECT — VRSN is the upstream registry operator for .com and .net; its registration volumes are a direct leading indicator of GoDaddy's domain registrar volumes.

VRSN Commentary (Q2 2026 Earnings, Jul 23)

Read-Through for GDDY

Caveat

Record 12.7M new .com/.net registrations in Q2 2026 (+22% YoY vs. 10.4M in Q2 2025) — the largest quarterly volume in VRSN history. Domain name base grew 5.1% YoY to 179.1M names.

Directly positive for GDDY's domain segment. As the world's largest .com registrar, GDDY captures a significant share of new registrations. A +22% YoY surge in industry volumes strongly supports GDDY's bookings inflection narrative.

VRSN does not disclose registrar-level market share; GDDY's share of the 12.7M could vary. Promotional pricing may have inflated volumes.

VRSN raised and narrowed FY 2026 domain base growth guidance to 5.2–6.0% (from prior range). CEO stated: "The continuing strength in new domain name registrations reflects" the digital economy's reliance on this infrastructure.

Guidance raise signals sustained demand through H2 2026, supporting GDDY's full-year revenue guidance of 6% growth.

VRSN's guidance raise is for its registry business; registrar economics (GDDY) depend on retail pricing and attach rates, not just volume.

AI tools are "definitely enhancing demand for domain names" by making "content and website creation faster and easier." Registrars are "focused on customer acquisition and are successfully engaged with our marketing programs."

Validates GDDY's thesis that AI is a net tailwind for domain demand. Registrar focus on customer acquisition aligns with GDDY's promotional offer strategy in Q1 and Airo AI Builder's go-to-market in Q2.

VRSN's commentary is aggregate across all registrars; GDDY-specific execution may differ.

Q1 2026 .com/.net renewal rate was 76.3% (vs. 75.5% in Q1 2025). Q2 2026 renewal rate expected at 75.2% (vs. 75.5% in Q2 2025) — slight tick down due to mix of first-time renewing names from the high-volume H1 2025 cohort.

Renewal rate improvement in Q1 is a mild positive for GDDY's recurring revenue. The expected Q2 tick-down is a known headwind but is mix-driven (high first-time renewal cohort), not a demand deterioration signal.

GDDY's renewal rates are influenced by its own customer mix and retention programs, not just industry averages.

.web TLD delegated into DNS root zone; VRSN plans to offer .web through registrar channel "later this year." General availability expected "late this year or very early next year." No meaningful revenue expected for VRSN in 2026.

Potential incremental revenue opportunity for GDDY as a .web registrar in H2 2026 / early 2027. VRSN's pricing flexibility on .web (including premium names) could allow higher average revenue per registration.

VRSN does not expect meaningful revenue from .web in 2026; the impact on GDDY in Q2 is negligible. Timing of general availability is uncertain.

November .com wholesale price increase of 7% coming; ~50% of the revenue impact recognized in 2027, remainder in 2028+. VRSN confirmed the price increase is NOT a material factor in current registration strength.

Confirms Q2 registration strength is organic demand, not pull-forward ahead of a price hike. The November price increase will flow through to GDDY's .com renewal pricing, providing a multi-year tailwind to ARPU.

The wholesale price increase impacts GDDY's cost of goods sold before it can be passed through to retail customers; margin impact depends on GDDY's retail pricing decisions.

7.2 Adobe (ADBE) — Q2 FY2026 Earnings (June 11, 2026)

Read-Through Quality: INDIRECT — Adobe serves a broader creative/enterprise customer base, but its Business Professionals & Consumers segment (SMB-adjacent) and AI monetization trajectory are relevant to GDDY's SMB demand environment and Airo AI Builder strategy. Note: Adobe's fiscal Q2 ended May 29, 2026, overlapping with GDDY's calendar Q2.

ADBE Commentary (Q2 FY2026 Earnings, Jun 11)

Read-Through for GDDY

Caveat

"Strong AI-driven demand across our customer groups" — record revenue of $6.62B in Q2. AI-first ARR tripled YoY to >$500M. Business Professionals & Consumers subscription revenue grew 16% YoY to $1.85B.

Confirms robust SMB demand for AI-powered digital tools in the April–May period. Validates GDDY's thesis that AI is accelerating customer adoption of web presence and commerce tools.

Adobe's SMB segment includes creative professionals and larger businesses; GDDY's core customer is the micro-business owner, a narrower and potentially more price-sensitive cohort.

Traffic to adobe.com for Business Professionals & Consumers grew 35% YoY. Adobe is pivoting to freemium models for AI products (Firefly), deferring planned Creative Cloud price increases to prioritize user acquisition.

High traffic growth signals strong top-of-funnel demand for digital tools among SMBs. Adobe's freemium pivot validates the strategy of lowering barriers to entry for AI products — consistent with GDDY's Airo AI Builder free plan + credit model.

Adobe's freemium pivot is a competitive signal — it could attract SMBs who might otherwise use GDDY's website builder. The deferred price increases are specific to Adobe's Creative Cloud and do not directly affect GDDY's pricing.

AI agent usage to be monetized through "credit consumption model" — consistent with GDDY's Airo AI Builder token/credit pricing structure. Adobe sees AI "accelerating customer behavior at an unprecedented speed."

Validates GDDY's credit-based monetization model for Airo AI Builder. If Adobe's credit consumption is driving upsell, GDDY's similar model could see comparable dynamics as Airo AI Builder scales.

Adobe's AI products (Firefly, Acrobat AI) are more mature and have a larger installed base than Airo AI Builder; the monetization ramp timelines may differ significantly.

Q3 FY2026 targets (Jun–Aug 2026): Total revenue $6.67–$6.72B; Business Professionals & Consumers subscription revenue $1.87–$1.89B (continued growth). Full-year FY26 IRR growth target of 10.2%.

Adobe's forward guidance for the period overlapping GDDY's Q3 2026 is constructive, suggesting the SMB demand environment remains healthy into H2 2026.

Adobe's Q3 FY26 overlaps with GDDY's Q3 2026 (Jul–Sep), not Q2; the forward read-through is for the next quarter, not the current reporting period.

7.3 Cloudflare (NET) — Investor Day (June 9, 2026)

Read-Through Quality: THEMATIC / INDIRECT — Cloudflare is both a partner (ANS) and a competitor (SMB web services, hosting) to GoDaddy. Its Investor Day commentary on agentic internet trends and web traffic dynamics is thematically relevant but should be read with the caveat that Cloudflare's perspective is self-promotional and its customer base skews toward developers and enterprises, not micro-businesses.

NET Commentary (Investor Day, Jun 9)

Read-Through for GDDY

Caveat

Internet returning to "exponential" growth rates similar to the mid-2000s. "Every day this year, there are more websites, more new iOS apps being built than the year before."

Positive for GDDY's core domain and web hosting business. More websites being created daily = more potential domain registrations and hosting customers.

Cloudflare's network data reflects its own traffic, which skews toward larger/developer-built sites. The micro-business segment GDDY serves may not be growing at the same rate.

"Bots have already exceeded human traffic online and it's growing exponentially." Agentic traffic on Cloudflare's network grew 700% YoY. Human traffic to retail, software, IT, and finance sites declining ~40% in less than one year.

Validates GDDY's ANS strategy — the agentic internet is real and growing faster than expected. GDDY's positioning as the domain identity layer for AI agents (ANS) is strategically timely.

Declining human traffic to SMB websites is a structural risk to GDDY's customers' businesses and could reduce the perceived value of web presence products. This is a double-edged signal.

Cloudflare partnered with GoDaddy on ANS. "Almost 80% of leading AI companies use Cloudflare." Cloudflare's TCO for agent-generated applications is "60–70% less expensive" than alternatives.

The ANS partnership with Cloudflare is advancing real-world use cases and extending GDDY's role in digital identity into the AI ecosystem. Cloudflare's AI infrastructure leadership could accelerate ANS adoption.

Cloudflare is also a direct competitor to GDDY in SMB web services and hosting. Its cost advantages in AI infrastructure could attract SMBs away from GDDY's hosting products over time.

Cloudflare CFO noted a "dip in the first and second quarter" for revenue from large AI customers due to contract structure, with "stabilization in the second quarter results" for gross margin. Carry-forward pipeline up 40% YoY exiting Q1 2026.

Cloudflare's Q2 revenue dip is specific to its enterprise AI contract structure and is not directly relevant to GDDY's SMB-focused business model.

Cloudflare's financial commentary is specific to its own business and should not be extrapolated to GDDY's Q2 performance.

7.4 Peer Read-Through Summary

Peer

Event Date

Read-Through Quality

Net Signal for GDDY Q2

Key Metric / Quote

VeriSign (VRSN)

Jul 23, 2026

Direct

Strongly Positive

12.7M new registrations (+22% YoY); guidance raised; AI "enhancing demand"

Adobe (ADBE)

Jun 11, 2026

Indirect

Positive

SMB segment +16% YoY; AI-first ARR 3x YoY; credit monetization model validated

Cloudflare (NET)

Jun 9, 2026

Thematic / Mixed

Mixed

Agentic traffic +700% YoY validates ANS; but human traffic decline is a structural risk for SMB web presence

8. Insider Transaction Activity

Key Takeaway: All insider transactions since Q1 earnings are sales, but the vast majority are pre-planned 10b5-1 sales — the only discretionary sale is CFO McCaffrey's June 8 open-market sale of 3,500 shares (~$267K), which is notable but not alarming given its modest size. No open-market buys have been filed. The absence of discretionary buying is unsurprising given the stock's recent recovery, but the CFO's non-10b5-1 sale at ~$76 (near the trough) is worth flagging.

Name

Title

Transaction Type

Shares

Approx. Value

Transaction Date

Note

Sine, Jared F.

Chief Strategy & Legal Officer

10b5-1 Planned Sale

644

~$57K

Jul 2, 2026

Pre-planned; routine 10b5-1 sale

McCaffrey, Mark

Chief Financial Officer

Open Market Sale

3,500

~$267K

Jun 8, 2026

Discretionary sale (NOT 10b5-1); sold near trough (~$76); modest size but notable

Bhutani, Amanpal Singh

CEO & Director

10b5-1 Planned Sale

8,373

~$701K

Jun 2, 2026

Pre-planned; routine 10b5-1 sale

McCaffrey, Mark

Chief Financial Officer

10b5-1 Planned Sale

3,958

~$303K

Jun 2, 2026

Pre-planned; routine 10b5-1 sale

Palitwanon, Phontip

Chief Accounting Officer

10b5-1 Planned Sale

542

~$41K

Jun 2, 2026

Pre-planned; routine 10b5-1 sale

Sine, Jared F.

Chief Strategy & Legal Officer

10b5-1 Planned Sale

1,188

~$91K

Jun 2, 2026

Pre-planned; routine 10b5-1 sale

Zarmi, Sigal

Director

10b5-1 Planned Sale

350

~$27K

Jun 1, 2026

Pre-planned; routine 10b5-1 sale

McCaffrey, Mark

Chief Financial Officer

10b5-1 Planned Sale

16

~$1.5K

May 18, 2026

Pre-planned; de minimis size; likely tax withholding

Palitwanon, Phontip

Chief Accounting Officer

10b5-1 Planned Sale

12

~$1.1K

May 18, 2026

Pre-planned; de minimis size; likely tax withholding

Sine, Jared F.

Chief Strategy & Legal Officer

Open Market Sale

13

~$1.2K

May 18, 2026

De minimis; likely tax withholding despite non-10b5-1 code

Overall Assessment: The insider picture is neutral-to-slightly-cautious. The CFO's June 8 discretionary sale of 3,500 shares at ~$76 (near the stock's trough) is the only notable non-10b5-1 transaction and is modest in dollar terms (~$267K). All other sales are pre-planned 10b5-1 transactions, which are obligation-driven and carry no informational signal. No open-market buys have been filed since Q1 earnings, which is unsurprising given the stock's volatility but means insiders are not adding conviction at current levels.

Source: SEC Form 4 Filings Database (filing date window: April 30 – July 29, 2026). Approximate values estimated using stock price at transaction date.