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Shares of Remitly Global (NASDAQ: RELY) were popping today after the digital-first remittance specialist delivered an impressive fourth-quarter earnings report, with better-than-expected revenue growth and strong guidance for 2024.

As of 2:28 p.m. ET, the stock was up 18.3%.

Remitly shines in Q4

Remitly has been growing rapidly as its money-transfer technology wins over consumers and takes market share from incumbents like Western Union and Moneygram, and that pattern was on display in the fourth quarter.

Active customers increased 41% to 5.9 million, and send volume was up 38% to $11.1 billion. As a result, revenue jumped 39% to $264.8 million, which topped analysts' consensus for $261.3 million.

On the bottom line, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) improved from $7.5 million to $8.2 million even as Remitly stepped up spending in areas like marketing. On a per-share basis, its generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) loss widened from $0.11 to $0.19, which matched analysts' consensus estimate.

CEO Matt Oppenheimer said, "Our strong fourth quarter and full-year 2023 performance is the direct result of delighting our customers with a reliable and fast cross-border payments experience. We see significant opportunities ahead to continue driving strong customer growth and sustainably improving our profitability."

What's next for Remitly?

Looking ahead, Remitly also offered solid guidance for 2024, calling for revenue of $1.225 billion-$1.25 billion, which would equal growth of 30%-32%. That forecast was slightly ahead of the consensus revenue estimate of $1.21 billion.

Management also guided for adjusted EBITDA of $75 million-$90 million for the full year, up from $44.4 million, though it expects another GAAP loss.

Overall, the report showed that Remitly achieved strong growth in every key metric, and that it plans for another solid year of expansion in 2024. After the stock plunged following its last earnings release in November, today's update shows that Remitly is still on the right track.

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Jeremy Bowman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.