Connection (CNXN) Reports Record First Quarter 2022 Results

FIRST QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS:

• Net sales: $788.3 million, up 23.8% y/y
• Gross profit: $128.3 million, up 27.6% y/y
• Net income: $21.8 million, up 114.0% y/y
• Diluted EPS: $0.83, up 113.6% y/y

Connection (PC Connection, Inc.; NASDAQ: CNXN), a leading information technology solutions provider to business, government, healthcare and education markets, today announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022.

“We executed well against our business objectives in the first quarter of 2022. There was continued strong demand for workplace solutions driven by a hybrid return to office. This trend is also driving growth in datacenter and cloud transformation,” said Timothy McGrath, President and Chief Executive Officer of Connection.

Net sales for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 increased by 23.8% to $788.3 million, compared to $636.9 million for the prior year quarter. Net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 increased by 114.0% to $21.8 million, or $0.83 per diluted share, compared to net income of $10.2 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, for the prior year quarter.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, adjusted for stock-based compensation expense and restructuring and other charges (“Adjusted EBITDA”) totaled $129.1 million for the twelve months ended March 31, 2022, compared to $84.4 million for the twelve months ended March 31, 2021. ¹

Quarterly Highlights

• Continued growth in our vertical markets:
  • In the Retail vertical, we grew revenue 26% year-over-year as a result of retailers’ new customer acquisition strategies which include upgrading in-store infrastructure and improving the overall customer experience.
  • The Healthcare vertical experienced revenue growth of 25% year-over-year as healthcare IT decision makers have re-engaged in major IT investments, including electronic health record migrations to the cloud, and the revitalization of on-premise investments as the balance of IT activity shifts more toward infrastructure and datacenter solutions in the workplace.
  • Revenue for the Manufacturing vertical grew 20% year-over-year as manufacturers are revisiting, accelerating, or investing for the first time in smart manufacturing solutions and technology modernization.

Quarterly Performance by Segment:

• Net sales for the Business Solutions segment increased by 30.1% to $320.4 million in the first quarter of 2022, compared to $246.3 million in the prior year quarter. Gross profit increased by 31.2% to $62.1 million in the first quarter of 2022, compared to $47.4 million in the prior year quarter. Gross margin increased by 16 basis points to 19.4% primarily due to a change in product mix.
• Net sales for the Public Sector Solutions segment increased by 5.8% to $132.5 million in the first quarter of 2022, compared to $125.3 million in the prior year quarter. Sales to state and local governments and educational institutions increased by 14.4%, compared to the prior year quarter, while sales to the federal government decreased by 15.4%. Gross profit increased by 10.5% to $17.3 million in the first quarter of 2022, compared to $15.6 million in the prior year quarter. Gross margin increased by 56 basis points to 13.1% primarily due to changes in both product and customer mix.
• Net sales for the Enterprise Solutions segment increased by 26.4% to $335.4 million in the first quarter of 2022, compared to $265.3 million in the prior year quarter. Gross profit increased by 30.3% to $48.9 million in the first quarter of 2022, compared to $37.5 million in the prior year quarter. Gross margin increased by 44 basis points to 14.6% primarily due to a change in product mix.

Quarterly Sales by Product Mix:

• Notebook/mobility sales, increased 32% year over year and accounted for 39% of net sales in the first quarter of 2022, compared to 37% of net sales in the first quarter of 2021.
• Accessories sales increased by 16% year over year and accounted for 12% of net sales in the first quarter of 2022, compared to 13% of net sales in the first quarter of 2021.
• Software sales increased by 8% year over year and accounted for 8% of net sales in the first quarter of 2022, compared to 9% in the first quarter of 2021.
• Desktop sales increased by 46% year over year and accounted for 11% of net sales in the first quarter of 2022, compared to 9% of net sales in the first quarter of 2021.

Selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses increased in the first quarter of 2022 to $98.2 million from $86.4 million in the prior year quarter. SG&A as a percentage of net sales decreased to 12.5%, compared to 13.6% in the prior year quarter. The increase in SG&A was primarily due to an increase in variable compensation due to the higher levels of gross profit and an increase in marketing costs.

Cash and cash equivalents were $67.4 million at March 31, 2022, compared to $108.3 million at December 31, 2021.

“I would like to thank our dedicated team for their commitment and hard work in delivering record first quarter results,” concluded Mr. McGrath. “We believe the team and the strategies we have in place well position Connection to gain market share and increase long-term shareholder value.”

Conference Call and Webcast

Connection will host a conference call and live web cast today, May 5, 2022 at 4:30 p.m. ET to discuss its first quarter financial results. To access the conference call (audio only), please dial 877-776-4016 (US) or 973-638-3231 (International) and enter the confirmation number 1897202. A web-cast of the conference call, which will be broadcast live via the Internet, and a copy of this press release, can be accessed on Connection’s website at ir.connection.com. For those unable to participate in the live call, a replay of the webcast will be available at ir.connection.com approximately 90 minutes after the completion of the call and will be accessible on the site for approximately one year.

Non-GAAP Financial Information

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are non-GAAP financial measures. These measures are included to provide additional information with respect to the Company’s operating performance and earnings. Non-GAAP measures are not a substitute for GAAP measures and should be considered together with the GAAP financial measures. Our non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies. A reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are available in the tables at the end of this release.

About Connection

PC Connection, Inc. and its subsidiaries, dba Connection, (www.connection.com; NASDAQ: CNXN) is a Fortune 1000 company headquartered in Merrimack, NH. With offices throughout the United States, Connection delivers custom-configured computer systems overnight from its ISO 9001:2015 certified technical configuration lab at its distribution center in Wilmington, OH. In addition, the Company has over 2,500 technical certifications to ensure that it can solve the most complex issues of its customers. Connection also services international customers through its GlobalServe subsidiary, a global IT procurement and service management company. Investors and media can find more information about Connection at http://ir.connection.com.

Connection–Business Solutions (800.800.5555) is a rapid-response provider of IT products and services serving primarily the small-and medium-sized business sector. It offers more than 460,000 brand-name products through its staff of technically trained sales account managers, publications, and its website at www.connection.com.

Connection–Enterprise Solutions (561.237.3300), www.connection.com/enterprise, provides corporate technology buyers with best-in-class IT solutions, in-depth IT supply-chain expertise, and real-time access to over 460,000 products and 2,500 vendors through MarkITplace^®, a proprietary next-generation, cloud-based supply chain solution. The team’s engineers, software licensing specialists, and subject matter experts help reduce the cost and complexity of buying hardware, software, and services throughout the entire IT lifecycle.

Connection–Public Sector Solutions (800.800.0019), is a rapid-response provider of IT products and services to federal, state, and local government agencies and educational institutions through specialized account managers, publications, and online at www.connection.com/publicsector.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements inherently involve important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted in such forward-looking statements. You can generally identify forward-looking statements by words such as "believe," "expect," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "anticipate," "may," "should," "will," or similar statements or variations of such terms, although not all forward-looking statements include such terms. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic, including, without limitation, the actions taken by governments in responses to it, disruptions impacting the global supply chain, including those attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine the impact of changes in market demand and the overall level of economic activity and environment, or in the level of business investment in information technology products, product availability and market acceptance, new products, continuation of key vendor and customer relationships and support programs, the ability to realize market demand for and competitive pricing pressures on the products and services marketed by the Company, fluctuations in operating results and the ability of the Company to manage personnel levels in response to fluctuations in revenue, the ability of the Company to hire and retain qualified sales representatives and other essential personnel, the impact of changes in accounting requirements, and other risks detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the year ended December 31, 2021. The Company assumes no obligation to update the information in this press release or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of any new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

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¹ Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure. See page 10 for the definition and reconciliation.

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