Its forecast with Q2 earnings — GoDaddy beats

Firm notes stronger-than-expected growth.

GoDaddy (NYSE: GDDY) released Q2 earnings following the market closed today.

Total revenue was $1.1 billion, up 7% year over year on a constant currency basis.

The Core Platform segment, which includes domain names, grew 3% year over year.

Godaddy raised its revenue guidance for the year, expecting year-over-year revenue growth of 7% at the midpoint.

In prepared remarks for today’s investor call, the firm noted that Aftermarket revenue was up 10% year over year, compared to 12% growth last quarter.

An astute Reglike reader noticed in mid-April that Huge Domains, by far the largest domain name investment firm, pulled its inventory from Afternic.

The firm owns somewhere between 4-5 million domain names, and I believe nearly all of them were listed on Afternic. Afternic’s website states that it has “over 23 million listings,” suggesting that Afternic might have lost over 20% of its inventory.

I believe Huge Domains also reduced its purchases on GoDaddy Auctions. Huge Domains bid up many domain names, especially those in the three-digit range. The firm’s absence or reduction could have a significant impact on expired domain prices at GoDaddy.

It’s not clear why Huge Domains made the change. By removing its domains from Afternic, it can save on commissions, although it no longer has the same reach.

GoDaddy also held another NameFind auction to sell its own inventory during Q2. It did the same thing in Q4 last year but skipped Q1. The recent auction did not have the same quality of inventory as the first one.

All things considered, I’m a bit surprised that Aftermarket revenue was strong in Q2. Granted, GoDaddy has levers it can pull, counting selling more domains from its NameFind portfolio.