First Quarter 2021 Financial Highlights
| GAAP | Non-GAAP |
| Revenue of $455 million, growth of 11% year-over-year | Revenue of $457 million, growth of 11% year-over-year |
| Cloud revenue of $228 million, growth of 32% year-over-year | Cloud revenue of $230 million, growth of 33% year-over-year |
| Gross margin of 67.5% compared to 65.9% last year | Gross margin of 72.7% compared to 70.9% last year |
| Operating income of $66 million compared to $59 million last year, growth of 13% | Operating income of $128.8 million compared to $110.5 million last year, growth of 17% |
| Operating margin of 14.6% compared to 14.3% last year | Operating margin of 28.2% compared to 26.9% last year |
| Diluted EPS of $0.78 versus $0.71 last year, growth of 10% | Diluted EPS of $1.54 versus $1.34 last year, growth of 15% |
“We are pleased to begin 2021 on a high note as we reported very strong first quarter results across the board, including double-digit growth in both total revenue and earnings per share,” said Barak Eilam, CEO, NICE. “Driving this outstanding performance is our continued robust growth in cloud, as we are witnessing further rapid penetration of CXone in all market segments, especially in very large enterprises, a segment of the market in which we are clearly differentiated from a competitive standpoint.”
Mr. Eilam continued, “We also continue to see tremendous growth for CXone in international markets where we witnessed a three times increase in bookings bolstered by our growing international partners program. In addition, we continued to see strong demand by enterprises to digitally transform leading to a two and a half times increase in the volume of digital interactions on our platform. With a record pipeline and robust bookings for CXone, we are in an excellent position to capitalize on a large and fast-growing total addressable market.”
GAAP Financial Highlights for the First Quarter Ended March 31:
Revenues: First quarter 2021 total revenues increased 10.9% to $455.0 million compared to $410.40 million for the first quarter of 2020.
Gross Profit: First quarter 2021 gross profit and gross margin increased to $307.2 million and 67.5%, respectively, compared to $270.3 million and 65.9%, respectively, for the first quarter of 2020.
Operating Income: First quarter 2021 operating income and operating margin increased to $66.5 million and 14.6%, respectively, compared to $58.8 million and 14.3%, respectively, for the first quarter of 2020.
Net Income: First quarter 2021 net income and net income margin increased to $52.2 million and 11.5%, respectively, compared to $46.1 million and 11.2%, respectively, for the first quarter of 2020.
Fully Diluted Earnings Per Share: Fully diluted earnings per share for the First quarter of 2021 increased 9.9% to $0.78, compared to $0.71 in the first quarter of 2020.
Operating Cash Flow and Cash Balance: First quarter 2021 operating cash flow was $164.2 million. In the first quarter, $44 million was used for share repurchases. As of March 31, 2021, total cash and cash equivalents, short and long term investments were $1,561.2 million, and total debt was $685.3 million.
Non-GAAP Financial Highlights for the First Quarter Ended March 31:
Revenues: First quarter 2021 Non-GAAP total revenues increased 11.1% to $457.0 million compared to $411.2 million for the first quarter of 2020.
Gross Profit: First quarter 2021 Non-GAAP gross profit and gross margin increased to $332.1 million and 72.7%, respectively, compared to $291.6 million and 70.9%, respectively, for the first quarter of 2020.
Operating Income: First quarter 2021 Non-GAAP operating income and Non-GAAP operating margin increased to $128.8 million and 28.2%, respectively, compared to $110.5 million and 26.9%, respectively, for the first quarter of 2020.
Net Income: First quarter 2021 Non-GAAP net income and Non-GAAP net income margin increased to $102.8 million and 22.5%, respectively, from $87.9 million and 21.4%, respectively, for the first quarter of 2020.
Fully Diluted Earnings Per Share: First quarter 2021 Non-GAAP fully diluted earnings per share increased 14.9% to $1.54, compared to $1.34 for the first quarter of 2020.
Second Quarter and Full Year 2021Guidance:
Second Quarter 2021:
Second quarter 2021 Non-GAAP total revenues are expected to be in a range of $445 million to $455 million.
Second quarter 2021 Non-GAAP fully diluted earnings per share are expected to be in a range of $1.45 to $1.55.
Raising Full Year 2021 Guidance:
Full year 2021 Non-GAAP total revenues are expected to be in a range of $1,800 million to $1,820 million (higher than the previous guidance range of $1,790 million to $1,810 million).
Full year 2021 Non-GAAP fully diluted earnings per share are expected to be in a range of $6.19 to $6.39 (higher than the previous guidance range of $6.12 to $6.32).
Quarterly Results Conference Call
NICE management will host its earnings conference call today May 13th, 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 long term 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 9 775-3798, 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: http://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 and various other factors and uncertainties discussed in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).
In addition, COVID-19 is contributing to a general slowdown in the global economy. At this time, the extent and duration of the continued impact of the pandemic is unknown, and therefore we cannot predict how it may affect the Company’s future business, results of operations, financial condition and strategic plans. Furthermore, due to our subscription-based business model, the effect of COVID-19 may not be fully reflected in our results of operations until future periods, if at all. 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.
