Press release

NICE Reports Accelerated Growth with Double-Digit Increases in Total Revenue and Earnings Per Share for the First Quarter 2019

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NICE (NASDAQ: NICE) today announced results for the first quarter
ended March 31, 2019.

First Quarter 2019 Financial Highlights

GAAP   Non-GAAP
Revenue of $377 million, growth of 12% year-over-year   Revenue of $378 million, growth of 12% year-over-year
Cloud revenue of $136 million, growth of 31% year-over-year   Cloud revenue of $137 million, growth of 30% year-over-year
Gross margin of 65.2% compared to 64.7% last year   Gross margin of 70.5% compared to 70.4% last year
Operating income of $52 million compared to $34 million last
year, an increase of 52% 		  Operating income of $97 million compared to $79 million last
year, an increase of 23%
Operating margin of 13.8% compared to 10.2% last year   Operating margin of 25.7% compared to 23.4% last year
Diluted EPS of $0.58 versus $0.37 last year, 57% growth
year-over-year 		  Diluted EPS of $1.18 versus $0.97 last year, 22% growth
year-over-year
Record cash flow from operations of $182 million, 33% growth
year-over-year 		   

“The first quarter marked a very strong start to the year as we reported
accelerated growth with double-digit increases in all key metrics,
including total revenues, cloud revenues, operating income and earnings
per share. Moreover, we continued to benefit from the leverage in our
operating model as reflected in the significant expansion in our
operating margin,” said Barak Eilam, CEO, NICE.

Mr. Eilam continued, “The strong start to the year was driven by the
more than 30% increase in cloud revenue with our CXone platform as the
underpinning of that growth. We are now taking the next step in the
evolution of CXone by ushering in a new era in CX with the introduction
of smart digital conversations. This builds on our CXone platform
strategy with an additional market leading innovation that enables our
customers to accelerate their transition in managing digital
experiences. This innovation is augmented by the acquisition of Brand
Embassy, announced earlier today.”

GAAP Financial Highlights for the First Quarter and Full Year
Ended March 31:

Revenues: First quarter 2019 total revenues increased 12.4% to
$377.0 million compared to $335.4 million for the first quarter of 2018.

Gross Profit: First quarter 2019 gross profit and gross margin
increased to $246.0 million and 65.2%, respectively, from $216.9 million
and 64.7%, respectively, for the first quarter of 2018.

Operating Income: First quarter 2019 operating income and
operating margin increased to $51.9 million and 13.8%, respectively,
compared to $34.2 million and 10.2%, respectively, for the first quarter
of 2018.

Net Income: First quarter 2019 net income and net income margin
were $37.1 million and 9.8%, respectively, compared to $23.5 million and
7.0%, respectively, for the first quarter of 2018.

Fully Diluted Earnings Per Share: Fully diluted earnings per
share for the first quarter of 2019 increased 56.8% to $0.58, compared
to $0.37 in the first quarter of 2018.

Operating Cash Flow and Cash Balance: First quarter 2019
operating cash flow was $182.4 million. In the first quarter $10.1
million was used for share repurchases. As of March 31, 2019, total cash
and cash equivalents, short term investments and marketable securities
were $890.9 million, and total debt was $458.2 million.

Non-GAAP Financial Highlights for the First Quarter and Full Year
Ended March 31:

Revenues: First quarter 2019 non-GAAP total revenues increased to
$377.9 million, up 11.9% from $337.6 million for the first quarter of
2018.

Gross Profit: First quarter 2019 non-GAAP gross profit and
non-GAAP gross margin increased to $266.5 million and 70.5%,
respectively, from $237.7 million and 70.4%, respectively, for the first
quarter of 2018.

Operating Income: First quarter 2019 non-GAAP operating income
and non-GAAP operating margin increased to $97.0 million and 25.7%,
respectively, from $78.9 million and 23.4%, respectively, for the first
quarter of 2018.

Net Income: First quarter 2019 non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP
net income margin increased to $75.5 million and 20.0%, respectively,
from $60.7 million and 18.0%, respectively, for the first quarter of
2018.

Fully Diluted Earnings Per Share: First quarter 2019 non-GAAP
fully diluted earnings per share increased 21.6% to $1.18, compared to
$0.97 for the first quarter of 2018.

Second Quarter and Full Year 2019 Guidance:

Second Quarter 2019: Second quarter 2019 non-GAAP total revenues
are expected to be in a range of $373 million to $383 million (2018
non-GAAP: $343.7 million). Second quarter 2019 non-GAAP fully diluted
earnings per share are expected to be in a range of $1.16 to $1.26 (2018
non-GAAP: $1.10).

Full Year 2019: Full year 2019 non-GAAP total revenues are
expected to be in a range of $1,558 million to $1,582 million (2018
non-GAAP: $1,453.4 million). The Company increased full year 2019
non-GAAP fully diluted earnings per share to be in an expected range of
$5.11 to $5.31 (2018 non-GAAP: $4.75).

Quarterly Results Conference Call

NICE management will host its earnings conference call today, May 16th,
2019 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 in to the
following numbers: United States 1-866-804-8688 or +1-718-354-1175,
International +44(0)1296-480-100, United Kingdom 0-800-783-0906, Israel
1-809-344-364. The Passcode is 635 296 09. Additional access numbers can
be found at http://www.btconferencing.com/globalaccess/?bid=54_attended.
The call will be webcast live on the Company’s website at http://www.nice.com/news-and-events/ir-events.
An online replay will also be available approximately two hours
following the call. A telephone replay of the call will be available for
7 days after the live broadcast and may be accessed by dialing: United
States 1-877-482-6144, International +44(0)20-7136-9233, United Kingdom
0-800-032-9687. The Passcode for the replay is 667 515 36.

Non-GAAP financial measures consist of GAAP financial measures adjusted
to exclude: amortization of acquired intangible assets, share-based
compensation, certain business combination accounting entries,
amortization of discount on long term debt, tax adjustment re non-GAAP
adjustments and tax reform. The purpose of such adjustments is to give
an indication of our performance exclusive of non-cash charges and other
items that are considered by management to be outside of our core
operating results. 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. Our management regularly
uses our supplemental non-GAAP financial measures internally to
understand, manage and evaluate our business and make operating
decisions. These non-GAAP measures are among the primary factors
management uses in planning for and forecasting future periods. Business
combination accounting rules requires us to recognize a legal
performance obligation related to a revenue arrangement of an acquired
entity. The amount assigned to that liability should be based on its
fair value at the date of acquisition. The non-GAAP adjustment is
intended to reflect the full amount of such revenue. We believe this
adjustment is useful to investors as a measure of the ongoing
performance of our business. We believe these non-GAAP financial
measures provide consistent and comparable measures to help investors
understand our current and future operating cash flow performance. 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.

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.

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 competition, success and growth of the
Company’s cloud Software-as-a-Service business, cyber security attacks
or other security breaches against the Company, privacy concerns and
legislation impacting the Company’s business, the Company’s dependency
on first-party cloud computing platform providers, hosting facilities
and service partners, changes in general economic and business
conditions, rapidly changing technology, changes in currency exchange
rates and interest rates, difficulties in making additional acquisitions
or effectively integrating acquired operations, products, technologies
and personnel, successful execution of the Company’s growth strategy,
the effects of tax reforms and of newly enacted or modified laws,
regulation or standards on the Company and its products, and 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.

###

 
NICE LTD. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
U.S. dollars in thousands (except per share amounts)
     
 
Quarter ended

March 31,

2019 2018
Unaudited Unaudited
 
Revenue:
Product $ 70,031 $ 61,370
Services 170,918 170,217
Cloud   136,078   103,855
Total revenue   377,027   335,442
 
Cost of revenue:
Product 5,881 8,137
Services 55,123 58,385
Cloud   70,046   51,993
Total cost of revenue   131,050   118,515
 
Gross profit 245,977 216,927
 
Operating expenses:
Research and development, net 46,566 45,867
Selling and marketing 102,067 89,926
General and administrative 34,714 36,372
Amortization of acquired intangible assets   10,701   10,585
Total operating expenses   194,048   182,750
 
Operating income 51,929 34,177
 
Finance and other expense, net   3,418   3,968
 
Income before tax 48,511 30,209
Taxes on income   11,447   6,683
Net income $ 37,064 $ 23,526
 
Earnings per share:
Basic $ 0.60 $ 0.39
Diluted $ 0.58 $ 0.37

 

Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic 61,842 61,054
Diluted 63,759 62,776
 
 
NICE LTD. AND SUBSIDIARIES
RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP RESULTS
U.S. dollars in thousands (except per share amounts)
   
Quarter ended
March 31,
  2019     2018  
GAAP revenues $ 377,027 $ 335,442
Valuation adjustment on acquired deferred product revenue 15 15
Valuation adjustment on acquired deferred services revenue 2 306
Valuation adjustment on acquired deferred cloud revenue   872     1,886  
Non-GAAP revenues $ 377,916   $ 337,649  
 
 
GAAP cost of revenue $ 131,050 $ 118,515
Amortization of acquired intangible assets on cost of product (870 ) (2,589 )
Amortization of acquired intangible assets on cost of services (1,535 ) (823 )
Amortization of acquired intangible assets on cost of cloud (14,805 ) (12,755 )
Valuation adjustment on acquired deferred cost of cloud 686 336
Cost of product revenue adjustment (1) (105 ) (188 )
Cost of services revenue adjustment (1) (2,144 ) (1,753 )
Cost of cloud revenue adjustment (1)   (907 )   (769 )
Non-GAAP cost of revenue $ 111,370   $ 99,974  
 
 
GAAP gross profit $ 245,977 $ 216,927
Gross profit adjustments   20,569     20,748  
Non-GAAP gross profit $ 266,546   $ 237,675  
 
 
GAAP operating expenses $ 194,048 $ 182,750
Research and development (1) (1,562 ) (2,344 )
Sales and marketing (1) (5,676 ) (6,303 )
General and administrative (1) (6,610 ) (4,782 )
Amortization of acquired intangible assets (10,702 ) (10,585 )
Valuation adjustment on acquired deferred commission   93     –  
Non-GAAP operating expenses $ 169,591   $ 158,736  
 
 
GAAP finance & other expense (income), net $ 3,418 $ 3,968
Amortization of discount on long-term debt   (2,308 )   (2,163 )
Non-GAAP finance & other expense (income), net $ 1,110   $ 1,805  
 
 
GAAP taxes on income (tax benefits) $ 11,447 $ 6,683
Tax adjustments re non-GAAP adjustments   8,882     9,775  
Non-GAAP taxes on income $ 20,329   $ 16,458  
 
 
GAAP net income $ 37,064 $ 23,526
Valuation adjustment on acquired deferred revenue 889 2,207
Valuation adjustment on acquired deferred cost of cloud revenue (686 ) (336 )
Amortization of acquired intangible assets 27,912 26,752
Valuation adjustment on acquired deferred commission (93 ) –
Share-based compensation (1) 17,004 16,139
Amortization of discount on long term debt 2,308 2,163
Tax adjustments re non-GAAP adjustments and tax reform   (8,882 )   (9,775 )
Non-GAAP net income $ 75,516   $ 60,676  
 
 
GAAP diluted earnings per share $ 0.58   $ 0.37  
 
Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share $ 1.18   $ 0.97  
 
Shares used in computing GAAP diluted earnings per share 63,759 62,776
 
Shares used in computing non-GAAP diluted earnings per share 63,759 62,776
 
NICE LTD. AND SUBSIDIARIES
RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP RESULTS (continued)
U.S. dollars in thousands
 
 
 
 
(1)

Share-based Compensation

Quarter ended
March 31,
  2019     2018  
 
Cost of product revenue $ (105 ) $ (188 )
Cost of services revenue (2,144 ) (1,753 )
Cost of cloud revenue (907 ) (769 )
Research and development (1,562 ) (2,344 )
Sales and marketing (5,676 ) (6,303 )
General and administrative   (6,610 )   (4,782 )
$ (17,004 ) $ (16,139 )
 
   
NICE LTD. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENTS
U.S. dollars in thousands
    Quarter ended
March 31,
2019 2018
Unaudited Unaudited
 

Operating Activities

 
Net income $ 37,064 $ 23,526
Depreciation and amortization 41,808 37,937
Stock based compensation 17,004 16,139
Amortization of premium and discount and accrued interest on
marketable securities 		(341) (298)
Deferred taxes, net (7,858) (9,667)
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Trade Receivables 30,723 (16,154)
Prepaid expenses and other assets (20,582) (12,419)
Trade payables (825) (5,501)
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 32,438 (4,420)

Operating lease right-of-use assets, net

4,117 –
Deferred revenue 53,407 106,117
Long term liabilities 123 (383)

Operating lease liabilities

(5,505) –
Amortization of discount on long term debt 2,307 2,163
Other   (1,468)   (183)
Net cash provided by operating activities   182,412   136,857
 

Investing Activities

 
Purchase of property and equipment (8,416) (5,316)
Purchase of Investments (191,308) (135,645)
Proceeds from Investments 76,950 19,017
Capitalization of software development costs   (8,494)   (7,804)
Net cash used in investing activities   (131,268)   (129,748)
 

Financing Activities

 
Proceeds from issuance of shares upon exercise of share options 1,617 3,244
Purchase of treasury shares (10,100) (4,252)
Capital Lease payments   (253)   –
Net cash used in financing activities   (8,736)   (1,008)
 
Effect of exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents   189   58
 
Net change in cash and cash equivalents

 

42,597 6,159
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period $ 242,099 $ 328,302
 
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $ 284,696 $ 334,461
 
   
NICE LTD. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
U.S. dollars in thousands
 
March 31, December 31,
2019 2018
Unaudited Audited
 
ASSETS
 
CURRENT ASSETS:
Cash and cash equivalents $ 284,696 $ 242,099
Short-term investments 286,205 243,729
Trade receivables 258,888 287,963
Prepaid expenses and other current assets   102,157   87,450
 
Total current assets   931,946   861,241
 
LONG-TERM ASSETS:
Long-term investments 319,988 244,998
Property and equipment, net 139,701 140,338
Deferred tax assets 10,511 12,309
Other intangible assets, net 480,286 508,232
Operating lease right-of-use assets 116,656 –
Goodwill 1,368,733 1,366,206
Other long-term assets   81,090   74,042
 
Total long-term assets   2,516,965   2,346,125
 
TOTAL ASSETS $ 3,448,911 $ 3,207,366
 
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
 
CURRENT LIABILITIES:
Trade payables $ 25,901 $ 29,617
Deferred revenues and advances from customers 273,572 221,387
Current maturities of operating leases 17,078 –
Accrued expenses and other liabilities   396,009   373,908
 
Total current liabilities   712,560   624,912
 
LONG-TERM LIABILITIES:
Deferred revenues and advances from customers 38,012 35,112
Operating leases 116,737 –
Deferred tax liabilities 34,759 44,140
Long-term debt 458,211 455,985
Other long-term liabilities   16,114   30,604
 
Total long-term liabilities   663,833   565,841
 
SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY   2,072,518   2,016,613
 
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY $ 3,448,911 $ 3,207,366