Hoboken, New Jersey, November 11, 2021 - NICE (NASDAQ: NICE) today announced results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2021.
Third Quarter 2021 Financial Highlights
| GAAP | Non-GAAP |
| Revenue of $490 million, growth of 20% year-over-year | Revenue of $494 million, growth of 20% year-over-year |
| Cloud revenue of $258 million, growth of 28% year-over-year | Cloud revenue of $262 million, growth of 29% year-over-year |
| Gross margin of 67.2% compared to 65.8% last year | Gross margin of 72.3% compared to 71.0% last year |
| Operating income of $64 million compared to $62 million last year, growth of 4% year-over-year | Operating income of $140.0 million compared to $116.8 million last year, growth of 20% |
| Operating margin of 13.1% compared to 15.1% last year | Operating margin of 28.3%, compared to 28.3% last year |
| Diluted EPS of $0.70 versus $0.76 last year | Diluted EPS of $1.68 versus $1.41 last year, growth of 19% |
| Operating cash flow increased 4% year-over-year to $103.5 million |
“We are pleased to report another quarter of accelerated top line growth as total revenue increased 20% in the third quarter compared to the same period last year,” said Barak Eilam, CEO of NICE. “The excellent results across the board in Q3 reflect our leadership and the strategic, central role we play amid four key dynamics that are taking place in our industry – cloud, digital, AI and the shift to platforms.”
Mr. Eilam continued, “We are witnessing continued strong momentum in the cloud with 28% growth in cloud revenue in Q3, as well as clear market leadership with over 725,000 agents globally on CXone. Digital revenues grew 78% in the third quarter, we tripled the number of deals in Enlighten driven by demand for AI and we are continuing to see increasing competitive replacements of legacy incumbent providers as more customers are taking a platform approach to their CX. Much of the platform success is happening at the high end of the market where we witnessed an increase of 46% in large enterprise deals.”
GAAP Financial Highlights for the Third Quarter Ended September 30:
Revenues: Third quarter 2021 total revenues increased 19.7% to $490.4 million compared to $409.8 million for the third quarter of 2020.
Gross Profit: Third quarter 2021 gross profit and gross margin increased to $329.6 million and 67.2%, respectively, compared to $269.7 million and 65.8%, respectively, for the third quarter of 2020.
Operating Income: Third quarter 2021 operating income increased 3.6% to $64.2 million compared to $62.0 million, for the third quarter of 2020. Third quarter operating margin decreased to 13.1% compared to 15.1%, for the third quarter of 2020.
Net Income: Third quarter 2021 net income totaled $47.2 million compared to $50.7 for the third quarter of 2020. Net income margin decreased to 9.6% compared to 12.4% for the third quarter of 2020.
Fully Diluted Earnings Per Share: Fully diluted earnings per share for the Third quarter of 2021 decreased to $0.70, compared to $0.76 in the third quarter of 2020.
Operating Cash Flow and Cash Balance: Third quarter 2021 operating cash flow was $103.5 million. In the third quarter, $4.3 million was used for share repurchases. As of September 30, 2021, total cash and cash equivalents, and short-term investments were $1,455.5 million, and total debt was $607.3 million.
Non-GAAP Financial Highlights for the Third Quarter Ended September 30:
Revenues: Third quarter 2021 Non-GAAP total revenues increased 19.9% to $494.4 million compared to $412.4 million for the third quarter of 2020.
Gross Profit: Third quarter 2021 Non-GAAP gross profit and gross margin increased to $357.5 million and 72.3%, respectively, compared to $292.9 million and 71.0%, respectively, for the third quarter of 2020.
Operating Income: Third quarter 2021 Non-GAAP operating income increased 19.9% to $140.0 million compared to $116.8 million for the third quarter of 2020. Non-GAAP operating margin was 28.3%, compared to 28.3% last year.
Net Income: Third quarter 2021 Non-GAAP net income increased 20.3% to $112.6 million from $93.6 million for the third quarter of 2020. Non-GAAP net income margin was 22.8%, compared to 22.7% last year.
Fully Diluted Earnings Per Share: Third quarter 2021 Non-GAAP fully diluted earnings per share increased 19.1% to $1.68, compared to $1.41 for the third quarter of 2020.
Raising Full Year 2021 Guidance:
Company raised full year 2021 Non-GAAP total revenue guidance, which is now expected to be in a range of $1,899 million to $1,909 million.
Company raised full year 2021 Non-GAAP fully diluted earnings per share guidance, which is now expected to be in a range of $6.43 to $6.53.
Quarterly Results Conference Call
NICE management will host its earnings conference call today November 11th, 2021 at 8:30 AM ET, 13:30 GMT, 15:30 Israel, to discuss the results and the company's outlook. To participate in the call, please dial into the following numbers: United States 1-877-407-4018 or +1-201-689-8471, United Kingdom 0-800-756-3429, Israel 1-809-406-247.
The call will be webcast live on the Company’s website at https://www.nice.com/investor-relations/upcoming-event.
Non-GAAP financial measures are included in this press release. Non-GAAP financial measures consist of GAAP financial measures adjusted to exclude share-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets, acquisition related expenses, amortization of discount on debt and loss from extinguishment of debt and the tax effect of the Non-GAAP adjustments. Business combination accounting rules require the recognition of a legal performance obligation related to a revenue arrangement of an acquired entity as a liability. The amount assigned to such liability should be based on its fair value at the date of acquisition. The Non-GAAP adjustment for a revenue arrangement is intended to reflect the full amount of such revenue. The Company believes that these Non-GAAP financial measures, used in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures, provide investors with useful supplemental information about the financial performance of our business. We believe Non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors as a measure of the ongoing performance of our business. Our management regularly uses our supplemental Non-GAAP financial measures internally to understand, manage and evaluate our business and to make financial, strategic and operating decisions. These Non-GAAP measures are among the primary factors management uses in planning for and forecasting future periods. Our Non-GAAP financial measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP measures and should be read only in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. These Non-GAAP financial measures may differ materially from the Non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. Reconciliation between results on a GAAP and Non-GAAP basis is provided in a table immediately following the Consolidated Statements of Income. The Company provides guidance only on a Non-GAAP basis. A reconciliation of guidance from a GAAP to Non-GAAP basis is not available due to the unpredictability and uncertainty associated with future events that would be reported in GAAP results and would require adjustments between GAAP and Non-GAAP financial measures, including the impact of future possible business acquisitions. Accordingly, a reconciliation of the guidance based on Non-GAAP financial measures to corresponding GAAP financial measures for future periods is not available without unreasonable effort.
About NICE
NICE (Nasdaq: NICE) is the worldwide leading provider of both cloud and on-premises enterprise software solutions that empower organizations to make smarter decisions based on advanced analytics of structured and unstructured data. NICE helps organizations of all sizes deliver better customer service, ensure compliance, combat fraud and safeguard citizens. Over 25,000 organizations in more than 150 countries, including over 85 of the Fortune 100 companies, are using NICE solutions. www.nice.com.
Investors
Marty Cohen, +1 551 256 5354, ir@nice.com, ET
Omri Arens, +972 3 763-0127, ir@nice.com, CET
Media Contact
Chris Irwin-Dudek, +1 (551) 256-5140, Chris.Irwin-Dudek@nice.com
Trademark Note: NICE and the NICE logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of NICE. All other marks are trademarks of their respective owners. For a full list of NICE' marks, please see: https://www.nice.com/nice-trademarks.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as “believe,” “expect,” “seek,” “may,” “will,” “intend,” “should,” “project,” “anticipate,” “plan,” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the Company’s management regarding the future of the Company’s business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Examples of forward-looking statements include guidance regarding the Company’s revenue and earnings and the growth of our cloud, analytics and artificial intelligence business.
Forward looking statements are inherently subject to significant economic, competitive and other uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of management. The Company cautions that these statements are not guarantees of future performance, and investors should not place undue reliance on them. There are or will be important known and unknown factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. These factors, include, but are not limited to, risks associated with changes in economic and business conditions, competition, successful execution of the Company’s growth strategy, success and growth of the Company’s cloud Software-as-a-Service business, difficulties in making additional acquisitions or effectively integrating acquired operations, products, technologies and personnel, the Company’s dependency on third-party cloud computing platform providers, hosting facilities and service partners, rapidly changing technology, cyber security attacks or other security breaches against the Company, privacy concerns and legislation impacting the Company’s business, changes in currency exchange rates and interest rates, the effects of additional tax liabilities resulting from our global operations, uncertainty related to COVID-19 and various other factors and uncertainties discussed in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).
You are encouraged to carefully review the section entitled “Risk Factors” in our latest Annual Report on Form 20-F and our other filings with the SEC for additional information regarding these and other factors and uncertainties that could affect our future performance. The forward-looking statements contained in this presentation speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise them, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.