Guidewire Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Financial Results

Guidewire (NYSE: GWRE) today announced its financial results for the fiscal quarter and fiscal year ended July 31, 2023.

“This was an exceptional fourth quarter with record demand for Guidewire Cloud Platform, completing an outstanding year for the Guidewire team and the broader community,” said Mike Rosenbaum, chief executive officer, Guidewire. “Sales activity in the quarter exceeded our expectations, adding to our confidence in achieving our mid-term and long-term financial targets.”

“We closed seventeen cloud deals in the fourth quarter, including eleven with Tier-1 insurers, resulting in better-than-expected ARR and Fully Ramped ARR, which grew 15% and 17%, respectively,” said Jeff Cooper, chief financial officer, Guidewire. “We executed on broad-based demand for our cloud offering while simultaneously delivering increased operational efficiency with non-GAAP subscription and support gross margins improving 8 percentage points for the year.”

Fiscal Year 2023 Financial Highlights

Revenue

• Total revenue for fiscal year 2023 was $905.3 million, an increase of 11% from fiscal year 2022. Subscription and support revenue was $429.7 million, an increase of 25%; services revenue was $210.1 million, a decrease of less than 1%; and license revenue was $265.6 million, an increase of 3%.
• As of July 31, 2023, annual recurring revenue, or ARR, was $763 million, or $761 million based on currency exchange rates as of July 31, 2022, compared to $664 million as of July 31, 2022. We measure ARR on a constant currency basis during the fiscal year and revalue ARR at year end to current currency rates. ARR grew in fiscal year 2023 by 15%, or 15% on a constant currency basis.

Profitability

• GAAP loss from operations was $149.5 million for fiscal year 2023, compared with $199.4 million for fiscal year 2022.
• Non-GAAP income from operations was $11.7 million for fiscal year 2023, compared with Non-GAAP loss from operations of $45.3 million for fiscal year 2022.
• GAAP net loss was $111.9 million for fiscal year 2023, compared with $180.4 million for fiscal year 2022. GAAP net loss per share was $1.36, based on diluted weighted average shares outstanding of 82.2 million, compared with $2.16 for fiscal year 2022, based on diluted weighted average shares outstanding of 83.6 million.
• Non-GAAP net income was $29.2 million for fiscal year 2023, compared with non-GAAP net loss of $42.5 million for fiscal year 2022. Non-GAAP net income per share was $0.35 for fiscal year 2023, based on diluted weighted average shares outstanding of 82.6 million, compared with non-GAAP net loss per share of $0.51 for fiscal year 2022, based on diluted weighted average shares outstanding of 83.6 million.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

• The Company generated $38.4 million in cash from operations during fiscal year 2023.
• The Company repurchased 4,041,284 shares of common stock during the fiscal year ended July 31, 2023, at an average price of $64.78 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $261.8 million.

Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year 2023 Financial Highlights

Revenue

• Total revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023 was $270.0 million, an increase of 10% from the same quarter in fiscal year 2022. Subscription and support revenue was $117.3 million, an increase of 25%; services revenue was $51.7 million, a decrease of 8%; and license revenue was $100.9 million, a decrease of 6%.

Profitability

• GAAP income from operations was $6.1 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023, compared with GAAP loss from operations of $32.2 million for the same quarter in fiscal year 2022.
• Non-GAAP income from operations was $44.7 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023, compared with $5.3 million for the same quarter in fiscal year 2022.
• GAAP net income was $12.2 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023, compared with GAAP net loss of $31.0 million for the same quarter in fiscal year 2022. GAAP net income per share was $0.15, based on diluted weighted average shares outstanding of 82.1 million, compared to a GAAP net loss per share of $0.37 for the same quarter in fiscal year 2022, based on diluted weighted average shares outstanding of 84.0 million.
• Non-GAAP net income was $62.8 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023, compared with net income of $2.2 million for the same quarter in fiscal year 2022. Non-GAAP net income per share was $0.74, based on diluted weighted average shares outstanding of 85.7 million, compared to a Non-GAAP net income per share of $0.03 for the same quarter in fiscal year 2022, based on diluted weighted average shares outstanding of 84.1 million.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

• The Company had $927.5 million in cash, cash equivalents, and investments at July 31, 2023, compared to $1.2 billion at July 31, 2022. The Company generated $173.2 million in cash from operations during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023.
• The Company repurchased 604,614 shares at an average price of $75.77 per share during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023. As of July 31, 2023, $138.2 million remains under the September 2022 authorized and approved $400 million share repurchase program.

Business Outlook

Guidewire is issuing the following outlook for the first quarter of fiscal year 2024 based on current expectations:

• ARR between $766 million and $769 million
• Total revenue between $197 million and $202 million
• Operating income (loss) between $(63) million and $(58) million
• Non-GAAP operating income (loss) between $(25) million and $(20) million

Guidewire is issuing the following outlook for fiscal year 2024 based on current expectations:

• ARR between $846 million and $858 million
• Total revenue between $976 million and $986 million
• Operating income (loss) between $(100) million and $(90) million
• Non-GAAP operating income (loss) between $62 million and $72 million
• Operating cash flow between $95 million and $125 million

Conference Call Information

The webcast will be archived on Guidewire’s website (www.guidewire.com) for a period of three months.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Other Metrics

This press release contains the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP income (loss) from operations, non-GAAP net income (loss), non-GAAP tax provision (benefit), non-GAAP net income (loss) per share, and free cash flow. Non-GAAP gross profit and non-GAAP income (loss) from operations exclude stock-based compensation, amortization of intangibles, acquisition consideration holdback, and net impact of assignment of lease agreement. Non-GAAP net income (loss) and non-GAAP tax provision (benefit) also exclude the amortization of debt discount and issuance costs from our convertible notes, changes in fair value of our strategic investments, and the related tax effects of the non-GAAP adjustments. Non-GAAP net income (loss) per share also excludes the interest expense on convertible debt. Free cash flow consists of net cash flow provided by (used in) operating activities less cash used for purchases of property and equipment and capitalized software development costs. These non-GAAP measures enable us to analyze our financial performance without the effects of certain non-cash items such as amortization, stock-based compensation, net impact of assignment of lease agreement, and changes in fair value of strategic investments.

Annual recurring revenue (“ARR”) is used to quantify the annualized recurring value outlined in active customer contracts at the end of a reporting period. ARR includes the annualized recurring value of term licenses, subscription agreements, support contracts, and hosting agreements based on customer contracts, which may not be the same as the timing and amount of revenue recognized. All components of the licensing and other arrangements that are not expected to recur (primarily perpetual licenses and professional services) are excluded. In some arrangements with multiple performance obligations, a portion of recurring license and support or subscription contract value is allocated to services revenue for revenue recognition purposes, but does not get allocated for purposes of calculating ARR. This revenue allocation only impacts the initial term of the contract. This means that as we increase arrangements with multiple performance obligations that include services at discounted rates, more of the total contract value will be recognized as services revenue, but our reported ARR amount will not be impacted. During the fiscal year ended July 31, 2023, the recurring license and support or subscription contract value recognized as services revenue was $29.6 million.

Guidewire believes that these non-GAAP financial measures and other metrics provide useful information to management and investors regarding certain financial and business trends relating to Guidewire’s financial condition and results of operations. The Company’s management uses these non-GAAP measures and other metrics to compare the Company’s performance to that of prior periods for trend analysis, for purposes of determining executive and senior management incentive compensation, and for budgeting and planning purposes. The Company believes that the use of these non-GAAP financial measures and other metrics provides an additional tool for investors to use in evaluating ongoing operating results and trends and in comparing the Company’s financial measures with other software companies, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures and other metrics to investors.

Management of the Company does not consider these non-GAAP measures in isolation or as an alternative to financial measures determined in accordance with GAAP. The principal limitation of these non-GAAP financial measures is that they exclude significant expenses and income that are required by GAAP to be recorded in the Company’s financial statements. In addition, they are subject to inherent limitations as they reflect the exercise of judgment by management about which expenses and income are excluded or included in determining these non-GAAP financial measures. Guidewire urges investors to review the reconciliation of its non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable GAAP financial measures, which it includes in press releases announcing quarterly financial results, including the financial tables at the end of this press release, and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate the Company’s business.

About Guidewire

Guidewire is the platform P&C insurers trust to engage, innovate, and grow efficiently. We combine digital, core, analytics, and machine learning to deliver our platform as a cloud service. More than 540 insurers in 40 countries, from new ventures to the largest and most complex in the world, run on Guidewire.

As a partner to our customers, we continually evolve to enable their success. We are proud of our unparalleled implementation track record, with more than 1,600 successful projects, supported by the largest R&D team and partner ecosystem in the industry. Our marketplace provides hundreds of applications that accelerate integration, localization, and innovation.

For more information, please visit www.guidewire.com and follow us on twitter: @Guidewire_PandC and LinkedIn.

NOTE: For information about Guidewire’s trademarks, visit https://www.guidewire.com/legal-notices.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding our financial outlook and our future business momentum regarding our sales activity, operational scale, financial targets (including, without limitation, ARR and Fully Ramped ARR), gross and operating margins, operational efficiency, and our associated product leadership, vision and strategy. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date they were first issued and were based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections as well as the beliefs and assumptions of management. Words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “should,” “believe,” “hope,” “target,” “project,” “goals,” “estimate,” “potential,” “predict,” “may,” “will,” “might,” “could,” “intend,” variations of these terms or the negative of these terms and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond Guidewire’s control. Guidewire’s actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to, risks detailed in Guidewire’s most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as other documents that may be filed by the Company from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, the following factors, among others, could cause results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements: quarterly and annual operating results may fluctuate more than expected; seasonal and other variations related to our customer agreements and related revenue recognition may cause significant fluctuations in our results of operations, ARR, and cash flows; our reliance on sales to and renewals from a relatively small number of large customers for a substantial portion of our revenue; our ability to successfully manage any changes to our business model, including the transition of our products to cloud offerings and the costs related to cloud operations and security; the timing, success, and number of professional services engagements and the billing rates and utilization of our professional services employees and contractors; recent global events (including, without limitation, global pandemics, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, escalating tensions in the South China Sea, inflation higher than we have seen in decades, bank failures and associated financial instability and crises, and supply chain issues) and their impact on our employees and our business and the businesses of our customers, system integrator (“SI”) partners, and vendors; data security breaches of our cloud-based services or products or unauthorized access to our customers’ data, particularly in connection with our transition to a hybrid in-person and remote workforce; our competitive environment and changes thereto; issues in the development and use of artificial intelligence combined with an uncertain regulatory environment; our services revenue produces lower gross margins than our license, subscription and support revenue; our product development and sales cycles are lengthy and may be affected by factors outside of our control; the impact of new regulations and laws (including, without limitation, security, privacy, artificial intelligence and tax regulations and laws, and accounting standards); assertions by third parties that we violate their intellectual property rights; weakened global economic conditions may adversely affect the P&C insurance industry, including the rate of information technology spending; general political or destabilizing events, including war, conflict or acts of terrorism; our ability to sell our products is highly dependent on the quality of our professional services and SI partners; the risk of losing key employees; the challenges of international operations, including changes in foreign exchange rates; and other risks and uncertainties. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent Guidewire’s views as of the date of this press release. Guidewire anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause its views to change. Guidewire undertakes no intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Guidewire’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

⁽¹⁾Amounts include stock-based compensation expense as follows:

⁽¹⁾ During the third quarter of fiscal year 2023, the Company recorded in general and administrative expenses a net loss of $8.5 million related to the assignment of the lease agreement for the remaining lease term of the Company’s previous headquarters. The loss is comprised of an $18.4 million gain from the de-recognition of the operating lease asset of $56.9 million, the de-recognition of the lease liability of $75.5 million, and other expenses related to the lease assignment of $0.2 million, offset by accelerated depreciation expense related to property and equipment, primarily consisting of leasehold improvements, at the previous headquarters of $26.9 million. Prior to the third quarter of fiscal year 2023, there were no transactions similar to the lease assignment in any periods presented.

⁽²⁾ During the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023, the Company's Convertible Notes were dilutive due to non-GAAP net income. Accordingly, $1.0 million of interest expense related to the Convertible Notes was excluded from non-GAAP net income (loss) per share calculation under the “if-converted” method.

The following table summarizes our free cash flow for the periods indicated below (in thousands):

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230907769216/en/