And speaking of N-Able, they had their earnings call.
N-able’s CEO John Pagliuca reported a seven percent year-over-year revenue growth in the fourth quarter of 2024, reaching one hundred sixteen point five million dollars. The company has successfully transitioned over fifty percent of its revenue to annual contracts. The integration of the Adlumin acquisition is expected to strengthen security and endpoint management services.
The revenue growth is a year-over-year growth of seven point five percent. For the full year, N-able generated a total revenue of four hundred sixty-six point one million dollars, exceeding estimates and reflecting a ten point five percent increase from the previous year. The company also ended the year with an annual recurring revenue of four hundred eighty-two point five million dollars, showcasing an eight point six percent growth. Despite strong revenue growth, N-able reported a net income of three point three million dollars for the quarter, down significantly from nine point four million dollars the previous year.
N-able, Inc. saw its stock price plummet by over twenty-five percent, dropping two dollars and fifty-six cents to trade at seven dollars and forty-three cents, hitting a new 52-week low on Monday. N-able’s shares have fluctuated between seven dollars and eleven cents and fifteen dollars and forty-eight cents over the past year.
In response, several analysts adjusted their price targets for the stock, with Royal Bank of Canada lowering its target from fifteen dollars to twelve. BMO Capital has lowered the price target to eight dollars and fifty cents. N-able has a market capitalization of approximately one point thirty-four billion dollars and a price-to-earnings ratio of thirty-six.
Why do we care?
Disclosure: I’m a N-Able Shareholder. Although I do predict they will go private. Profit’s down.
But here’s why to care. Providers keep talking about MSP software companies targeting an IPO, in particular Kaseya. This is fantasy. The market is rejecting MSP businesses, and has done so even when the market was good… IE, Datto. N-Able isn’t making a strong case for them.
The idea that MSP-focused software companies are IPO material is wishful thinking at best.
N-able’s numbers aren’t bad—they beat revenue expectations and are shifting toward annual contracts for more predictable cash flow. But the market still hammered them, with a 25% stock drop and major analyst downgrades. The real story here is that profitability isn’t where it needs to be for public markets to see value.
If you’re an MSP wondering where the next big wave of innovation will come from, it’s not from public market-driven competition—it’s from private equity consolidation and cost-cutting. The real trend is going private. Private ownership allows these companies to focus on squeezing more revenue out of existing customers rather than chasing new public investors.
The dream of an MSP software IPO resurgence is dead. MSPs should be focusing on resilience, vendor risk management, and strategic alignment with companies that actually prioritize service providers—not just investor returns.