Etsy, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Results

BROOKLYN, N.Y., Feb. 21, 2024

BROOKLYN, N.Y., Feb. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Etsy, Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY), which operates two-sided online marketplaces that connect millions of passionate and creative buyers and sellers around the world, today announced financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2023.

"Etsy delivered over $13 billion in consolidated GMS and our highest-ever annual revenue," said Josh Silverman, Etsy's Chief Executive Officer. "We've built an ambitious plan to invest in a portfolio of growth initiatives in 2024, starting with efforts to make Etsy an indispensable partner for Gifting. We recently launched Gift Mode^TM, an interactive hub for gifting that combines AI and human curation to help shoppers find the perfect present — just the beginning of our bold plans to drive buyer consideration and frequency. We start the year energized - with the right team, a highly relevant and differentiated Right to Win strategy, a disciplined investment approach, and a resilient business model."

Fourth quarter 2023 performance highlights include:

• Consolidated GMS was $4.0 billion, down 0.7% year-over-year and down 1.6% on a currency neutral basis. Headwinds to consolidated GMS included a dynamic macroeconomic environment that impacted consumer discretionary product spending, Etsy marketplace category mix, and a highly promotional and competitive retail environment, as well as a small headwind from the divestiture of Elo7.
• Etsy marketplace GMS was $3.6 billion, down 1.4% year-over-year and up 142% on a four-year basis.
  • The Etsy marketplace's GMS accelerated during the holiday season, with GMS during Cyber 5 (Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday) up 4% on a year-over-year basis. We delivered record levels of GMS on Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday.
  • Active buyers reached a new all-time high of 92 million, increasing 3% year-over-year. United States active buyer trends continued to improve, with modestly positive year-over-year growth again this quarter, and international buyer growth remained strong. 
  • We reactivated a record nearly 10 million lapsed buyers, up 13% from the prior year, and we acquired over 8 million new buyers. On a trailing twelve month basis, our retention of active buyers improved from the prior year and remained above pre-pandemic levels.
  • While GMS per active buyer on a trailing twelve month basis was down 4% year-over-year to $126 in the fourth quarter, this metric declined only 1% from the prior quarter as trends continued to show signs of stabilization. Our number of habitual buyers remained stable on a sequential basis at just over 7 million.
  • GMS ex-U.S. domestic for the Etsy marketplace was 47% of overall GMS, with GMS ex-U.S. domestic up 4% year-over-year.
• Consolidated revenue reached a record $842.3 million, up 4.3% versus the fourth quarter of 2022, with take rate (i.e., consolidated revenue divided by consolidated GMS) of 21%. Solid revenue growth was primarily driven by growth in Etsy Ads and payments revenue.
• Consolidated net income was $83.3 million, down 24.0% year-over-year, largely due to restructuring and other exit costs of $27 million recognized in the fourth quarter. Consolidated net income margin (i.e., net income divided by revenue) was approximately 10%, down approximately 400 basis points year-over-year, and diluted earnings per share was $0.62, reflecting the impact of restructuring and exit costs.
• Consolidated non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA was a record $235.5 million, with consolidated non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA margin (i.e., consolidated non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA divided by consolidated revenue) of approximately 28%, relatively flat year-over-year.
• We ended the year with $1.2 billion in cash and cash equivalents, short- and long-term investments. Under Etsy's stock repurchase program, during the fourth quarter of 2023, Etsy repurchased an aggregate of approximately $93 million, or 1,347,993 shares, of its common stock.

"We delivered our highest-ever quarterly consolidated revenue of $842 million in the fourth quarter due to healthy GMS flow through, strong growth in Etsy Ads and good contribution from payments," said Rachel Glaser, Etsy's Chief Financial Officer. "We made significant product and marketing investments to support the important holiday period, and our fourth quarter consolidated Adjusted EBITDA grew to an all-time high of $236 million. For the full year, our operational rigor and capital light business model have allowed us to deliver about $754 million in consolidated Adjusted EBITDA, at 27.4% margin, converting nearly 90% of that Adjusted EBITDA to free cash flow. In 2023, capital return accounted for nearly 90% of our Free Cash Flow, demonstrating a shift in our capital return strategy to more intentionally return a higher percentage of free cash flow, especially during times of volatility in our stock, and when valuations are meaningfully below our view of fair value."

Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Financial Summary
(in thousands, except percentages; unaudited)

The financial results of Elo7 have been included in our consolidated financial results until August 10, 2023 (the date of sale). The GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures and key operating metrics we use are: