Bay Street News

Pluralsight Announces Fourth Quarter and Year End 2019 Results

SILICON SLOPES, Utah, Feb. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pluralsight, Inc. (NASDAQ: PS), the enterprise technology skills company, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2019.
“Pluralsight’s fourth quarter capped off a strong second half to the year, further demonstrating that the operational improvements we implemented in the second half of 2019 are working and laying the foundation for durable, long-term B2B billings growth above 30%,” said Aaron Skonnard, co-founder and CEO of Pluralsight. “We began 2020 with nearly a million business users and 18,000 business customers, and are on track to carry the momentum from the second half of 2019 through 2020.”Fourth Quarter Financial HighlightsBillings – Q4 2019 billings were $128.4 million, an increase of 28% period over period. Q4 2019 billings from business customers were $113.2 million, an increase of 30% period over period.Revenue – Q4 2019 revenue was $88.8 million, an increase of 32% period over period.Gross margin – Q4 2019 gross margin was 79%, compared to 76% in Q4 2018. Q4 2019 non-GAAP gross margin was 80%, compared to 77% in Q4 2018.Net loss per share – GAAP net loss per share for Q4 2019 was $0.31, compared to $0.26 in Q4 2018. Adjusted pro forma net loss per share for Q4 2019 and Q4 2018 was $0.09.Cash flows – Cash used in operations was $7.9 million for Q4 2019, compared to cash provided by operations of $8.4 million in Q4 2018. Free cash flow was negative $13.0 million for Q4 2019, compared to positive free cash flow of $5.2 million in Q4 2018.Full Year 2019 Financial HighlightsBillings – 2019 billings were $379.1 million, an increase of 29% period over period. 2019 billings from business customers were $330.1 million, an increase of 33% period over period.Revenue – 2019 revenue was $316.9 million, an increase of 37% period over period.Gross margin – 2019 gross margin was 77%, compared to 73% in 2018. 2019 non-GAAP gross margin was 79%, compared to 76% in 2018.Net loss per share – GAAP net loss per share for 2019 was $1.19, compared to $0.72 in 2018. Adjusted pro forma net loss per share for 2019 was $0.30, compared to $0.60 in 2018.Cash flows – Cash used in operations was $11.7 million for 2019, compared to $5.9 million in 2018. Free cash flow was negative $28.2 million for 2019, compared to $18.0 million in 2018.For information regarding the non-GAAP financial measures discussed in this press release, please see the section titled “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.” Reconciliations between GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures are provided in the tables of this press release.Financial OutlookThe following forward-looking statements reflect Pluralsight’s expectations as of February 12, 2020.First Quarter 2020 GuidanceRevenue is expected to be in the range of $88 million to $89 million.Adjusted pro forma net loss per share is expected to be in the range of $0.14 to $0.13, assuming weighted-average shares outstanding of approximately 141 million.Full Year 2020 GuidanceRevenue is expected to be in the range of $390 million to $400 million.Adjusted pro forma net loss per share is expected to be in the range of $0.50 to $0.45, assuming weighted-average shares outstanding of approximately 143 million.Guidance for non-GAAP financial measures excludes equity-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets, employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions, and amortization of debt discount and issuance costs. Pluralsight has not reconciled its expectations as to adjusted pro forma net loss per share to their most directly comparable GAAP measures because certain items cannot be reasonably predicted. Accordingly, a reconciliation for expectations of adjusted pro forma net loss per share is not available without unreasonable effort.Conference Call InformationPluralsight will host a conference call for analysts and investors to discuss its fourth quarter and full year 2019 results and outlook for its first quarter and full year 2020, today at 2:30 p.m. Mountain Time (4:30 p.m. Eastern Time).A live audio webcast of the conference call will also be accessible from the Pluralsight website at investors.pluralsight.com. A telephonic replay of the call will be available three hours after the call, will run for seven days, and may be accessed by dialing (855) 859-2056 or (404) 537-3406 and entering the passcode 2179421.About PluralsightPluralsight is an enterprise technology skills platform that delivers a unified, end-to-end learning experience for businesses across the globe. Through a subscription service, companies are empowered to move at the speed of technology, increasing proficiency, innovation, and efficiency. Founded in 2004 and trusted by Fortune 500 companies, Pluralsight provides customers with on-demand access to a digital ecosystem of learning tools, including adaptive skill tests, directed learning paths, expert-authored courses, interactive labs and analytics. For more information, visit pluralsight.com.Pluralsight and the Pluralsight logo are trademarks of Pluralsight, LLC in the United States and in jurisdictions throughout the world.Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws that involve risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding our future financial and operating performance, such as our financial outlook for the first quarter and full year 2020 and future periods. There are a significant number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from statements made in this press release, including: the pace of market adoption of cloud-based learning solutions; our ability to expand our course library and develop new platform features; competition; our ability to attract and retain customers; our ability to increase sales of subscriptions to our platform to customers; our ability to expand our sales and marketing capabilities and to improve sales management and execution; and general market, political, economic, and business conditions.Further information on these and other factors that could affect the Company’s financial results is included in the reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K and in other filings with the SEC from time to time. These documents are available on our website at investors.pluralsight.com and on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and we do not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements provided to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made, except as required by law.Key Business MetricsBillings. Billings represents total revenue plus the change in deferred revenue in the period, as presented in our consolidated statements of cash flows, less the change in contract assets and unbilled accounts receivable in the period. Billings in any particular period represents amounts invoiced to customers and reflects subscription renewals and upsells to existing customers plus sales to new customers. We use billings to measure our ability to sell subscriptions to our platform to both new and existing customers. We use billings from business customers and our percentage of billings from business customers to measure and monitor our ability to sell subscriptions to our platform to business customers.Non-GAAP Financial MeasuresPluralsight has provided financial information in this press release that has not been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (GAAP). Pluralsight uses the non-GAAP financial measures of non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating loss, adjusted pro forma net loss, adjusted pro forma net loss per share, and free cash flow in analyzing its financial results and believes that the use of these metrics is useful to investors as an additional tool to evaluate ongoing operating results and trends and in comparing Pluralsight’s financial results with other companies in its industry, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures.The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP financial measures and should be read only in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of our historical non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures have been provided in the financial statement tables included in this press release, and investors are encouraged to review these reconciliations.Non-GAAP gross profit. We define non-GAAP gross profit as gross profit plus equity-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets, and employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions.Non-GAAP gross margin. We define non-GAAP gross margin as non-GAAP gross profit divided by our revenue.Non-GAAP operating loss. We define non-GAAP operating loss as loss from operations plus equity-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets, employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions, secondary offering costs, and acquisition-related costs.Adjusted pro forma net loss and adjusted pro forma net loss per share. We define adjusted pro forma net loss as net loss attributable to Pluralsight, Inc. adjusted for the reallocation of loss attributable to non-controlling interests from the assumed exchange of LLC Units of Pluralsight Holdings for newly-issued shares of Class A common stock of Pluralsight, Inc. and further adjusted for equity-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets, employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions, secondary offering costs, acquisition-related costs, amortization of debt discount and issuance costs, and loss on debt extinguishment. We define adjusted pro forma net loss per share as adjusted pro forma net loss divided by the weighted-average shares of Class A common stock outstanding, assuming the full exchange of all outstanding LLC Units of Pluralsight Holdings for newly-issued shares of Class A common stock of Pluralsight, Inc.Free cash flow. We define free cash flow as cash (used in) provided by operating activities less purchases of property and equipment and purchases of our content library.PLURALSIGHT, INC.Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
(in thousands, except per share amounts)
(unaudited)
(1) Includes equity-based compensation as follows:(2) Includes amortization of acquired intangible assets as follows:(3) Net loss per share, basic and diluted and weighted-average common shares used in computing basic and diluted net loss per share for the year ended December 31, 2018 reflects only the activity for the portion of the period following Pluralsight, Inc.’s initial public offering and the related reorganization transactions.PLURALSIGHT, INC.Key Business Metrics and Non-GAAP Financial Measures
(dollars in thousands)
(unaudited)
Key Business MetricsNon-GAAP Financial Measures

PLURALSIGHT, INC.Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(in thousands)
(unaudited)
PLURALSIGHT, INC.Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(in thousands)
(unaudited)
Investor Relations Contact:
Mark McReynolds
Investor Relations
Pluralsight
801-784-9007
ir@pluralsight.com
Media Contact:
DJ Anderson
Communications/Press
Pluralsight
801-784-9007
dj@pluralsight.com

Bay Street News