Delivers Strong Financial Performance and Updates FY’22 Outlook
NETSCOUT SYSTEMS, INC. (NASDAQ: NTCT), a leading provider of cybersecurity, service assurance, and business analytics solutions, today announced financial results for its third quarter fiscal year 2022 ended December 31, 2021.
“We delivered strong performance across the board in the third quarter,” stated Anil Singhal, NETSCOUT’s president and chief executive officer. “Increased enterprise customer demand and the substantial acceleration of service provider customer orders, previously forecasted to occur in our fourth quarter, led to higher sales, margins, and profitability. Compared with the prior year’s third quarter, we grew revenue by more than 14%, while our GAAP and non-GAAP diluted EPS growth rate was more than twice that of our revenue growth rate, further demonstrating the financial strength of our business model.”
Singhal continued, “Customers’ acceleration of service provider deals from our fourth quarter to our third quarter has provided us with even greater visibility into our fiscal year 2022 forecast. As such, we have updated our full-year outlook, raising our revenue mid-point and increasing our EPS target ranges. These updates are based on our year-to-date performance and expectations for mid-single-digit product revenue and EPS growth in our 2022 fiscal year, despite our projections for lower product revenue in the fourth quarter due to the previously mentioned acceleration of service provider deals by customers to our third quarter. Looking ahead, we remain confident in our full-year outlook and future growth prospects as we continue to help our customers succeed in the new digital economy.”
Q3 FY22 Financial Results
Total revenue (GAAP and non-GAAP) for the third quarter of fiscal year 2022 was $262.2 million, compared with $228.7 million (GAAP and non-GAAP) in the same quarter one year ago. A reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP results is included in the financial tables below.
Product revenue (GAAP and non-GAAP) for the third quarter of fiscal year 2022 was $144.4 million, which was approximately 55% of total revenue in the period. This compares with product revenue (GAAP and non-GAAP) of $115.0 million in the third quarter of fiscal year 2021, which was approximately 50% of total revenue in the period. As of December 31, 2021, NETSCOUT had a product backlog consisting of unshipped orders of approximately $30 million, which excludes radio frequency propagation modeling orders.
Service revenue (GAAP and non-GAAP) for the third quarter of fiscal year 2022 was $117.8 million, or approximately 45% of total revenue in the period. This compares with service revenue (GAAP and non-GAAP) of $113.8 million for the third quarter of fiscal year 2021, which was approximately 50% of total revenue for the period.
NETSCOUT’s income from operations (GAAP) was $55.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal year 2022, compared with income from operations (GAAP) of $31.8 million in the third quarter of fiscal year 2021. Non-GAAP EBITDA from operations in the third quarter of fiscal year 2022 was $92.6 million, or 35.3% of non-GAAP quarterly revenue. This compares to $70.9 million in non-GAAP EBITDA from operations, or 31.0% of non-GAAP quarterly revenue, in the third quarter of fiscal year 2021. The Company’s operating margin (GAAP) was 21.2% in the third quarter of fiscal year 2022, versus 13.9% in the same period of the prior fiscal year. Non-GAAP income from operations in the third quarter of fiscal year 2022 was $87.2 million with a non-GAAP operating margin of 33.2%. This compares to non-GAAP income from operations of $64.5 million and a non-GAAP operating margin of 28.2% in the third quarter of fiscal year 2021.
Net income (GAAP) for the third quarter of fiscal year 2022 was $47.7 million, or $0.64 per share (diluted), versus net income (GAAP) of $29.0 million, or $0.39 per share (diluted), for the third quarter of fiscal year 2021. On a non-GAAP basis, net income for the third quarter of fiscal year 2022 was $66.5 million, or $0.89 per share (diluted), which compares with $48.9 million, or $0.66 per share (diluted), for the third quarter of fiscal year 2021.
As of December 31, 2021, cash, cash equivalents, and short and long-term marketable securities were $553.5 million, compared with $475.8 million as of September 30, 2021, and $476.5 million as of March 31, 2021. During the third quarter of fiscal year 2022, NETSCOUT repurchased a total of 409,379 shares of its common stock at an average price of $26.88 per share for a total of approximately $11.0 million. As of December 31, 2021, NETSCOUT had $350.0 million outstanding on its $800 million revolving credit facility, which will expire in July 2026.
Nine-Months FY22 Financial Results
- For the first nine months of fiscal year 2022, total revenue (GAAP and non-GAAP) was $664.4 million versus total revenue (GAAP and non-GAAP) of $617.9 million for the comparable nine-month period of fiscal year 2021. A reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP results is included in the financial tables below.
- Product revenue (GAAP and non-GAAP) for the first nine months of fiscal year 2022 was $328.0 million, compared with $278.6 million in the same period one year ago.
- Total service revenue (GAAP and non-GAAP) for the first nine months of fiscal year 2022 was $336.4 million versus $339.3 million in the same period last year.
- NETSCOUT’s income from operations (GAAP) for the first nine months of fiscal year 2022 was $57.0 million, compared with $21.1 million for the same period last year. The Company’s operating margin (GAAP) for the first nine months of fiscal year 2022 was 8.6% versus 3.4% in the same period last year. The Company’s non-GAAP EBITDA from operations in the first nine months of fiscal year 2022 was $173.2 million, or 26.1% of non-GAAP total revenue, versus non-GAAP EBITDA from operations of $144.3 million, or 23.4% of non-GAAP total revenue, in the first nine months of fiscal year 2021. The Company’s non-GAAP income from operations for the first nine months of fiscal year 2022 was $156.3 million with a non-GAAP operating margin of 23.5%, compared with non-GAAP income from operations of $125.0 million and a non-GAAP operating margin of 20.2% for the same period of fiscal year 2021.
- NETSCOUT’s net income (GAAP) for the first nine months of fiscal year 2022 was $44.3 million, or $0.59 per share (diluted), versus a net income of $7.9 million, or $0.11 per share (diluted), in the same nine-month period one year ago. Non-GAAP net income for the first nine months of fiscal year 2022 was $116.8 million, or $1.56 per share (diluted), versus $89.3 million, or $1.21 per share (diluted), for the same period of fiscal year 2021.
- NETSCOUT repurchased approximately 1.3 million shares of its common stock at an average price of $26.79 per share for a total of approximately $35.7 million during the first three quarters of fiscal year 2022.
Outlook
Upon review of its year-to-date performance and the future timing and delivery of orders, NETSCOUT has updated its outlook for the full fiscal year, raising its revenue (GAAP and non-GAAP) mid-point and increasing its diluted net income per share (GAAP and non-GAAP) outlook for fiscal year 2022. This update reflects NETSCOUT’s expectation for lower product revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2022 due to its customers’ acceleration of service provider deals and early booking of product revenue of approximately $25 million to $30 million from the fourth quarter into the third quarter of fiscal year 2022. NETSCOUT’s outlook update for the full fiscal year also reflects the Company’s expectation that it will end the fourth quarter with a product backlog of unshipped orders similar to that of the third quarter. The current outlook is as follows:
- GAAP and non-GAAP revenue is expected to be in the range of $850 million to $855 million, compared with the previous range of $835 million to $865 million.
- GAAP net income per share (diluted) is expected to be in the range of $0.40 to $0.43, compared with the previous range of $0.36 to $0.42. Non-GAAP net income per share (diluted) is expected to be in the range of $1.75 to $1.78, compared with the previous range of $1.71 to $1.77.
- A reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP revenue and net income per share (diluted) for NETSCOUT’s guidance is included in the financial tables below.
Recent developments and highlights
- NETSCOUT plans to host its customers and partners at its annual Engage Technology and User Summit (“Engage 2022”) in Orlando, Florida, from April 25th through April 28th this year. During Engage 2022, the Company will showcase its cybersecurity, service assurance, and DDoS capabilities through presentations, panel discussions, demonstrations, and hands-on training. As an annual tradition, this event is a true highlight of the year for the Company, providing it with more opportunities to meet with its user and partner communities to discuss and solicit feedback regarding its Visibility Without Borders offerings.
- In mid-January 2022, NETSCOUT announced that it is supporting Southern Linc, an integrated digital wireless service provider specifically created to work with Southern Company’s energy/power subsidiaries. As part of this work, NETSCOUT is providing end-to-end service assurance visibility for Southern Linc’s private 4G LTE network. By working with NETSCOUT, Southern Linc can provide its power grid customers with a mission-critical, continuously available, secure environment.
- In early-January 2022, NETSCOUT announced that it collaborated with Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) in support of ENGIE IT’s digital transformation journey. Through this cooperation, NETSCOUT and AWS helped ENGIE IT to seamlessly migrate its workloads and services to the cloud. ENGIE IT is the IT subsidiary of ENGIE, a worldwide low-carbon energy supplier.
- In mid-December 2021, NETSCOUT announced a new integration that connects NETSCOUT’s nGeniusONE® service assurance solution with ServiceNow® IT Operations Management (ITOM) Visibility and ITOM Health. This integration module enables nGeniusONE to generate enhanced alerts to ServiceNow® ITOM with a contextual launch capability for service triage.
- In mid-December 2021, NETSCOUT announced new, unified communications-as-a-service (UCaaS) capabilities for its Smart Edge Monitoring solution. These capabilities help organizations with work-from-home and hybrid workforce models to help ensure a quality employee experience when using UCaaS solutions, such as Zoom, Cisco Webex, and Microsoft Teams.
- In mid-December 2021, NETSCOUT released new research that showed that 93% of enterprise-level organizations had increased their use of unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) platforms since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the additional usage and increased performance problems have also created a flood of employee-generated IT helpdesk requests, driving concerns around employee productivity.
- In early-November 2021, NETSCOUT announced that AWS customers will now have added visibility and security when migrating workloads to AWS by using NETSCOUT’s Omnis® Cyber Intelligence (OCI) integration with AWS Security Hub. NETSCOUT OCI is the industry’s fastest and most scalable network security software solution, built on the foundation of the industry’s most prominent network monitoring and packet recording and analysis technology.
Conference Call Instructions:
NETSCOUT will host a conference call to discuss its third-quarter fiscal year 2022 financial results today at 8:30 a.m. ET. This call will be webcast live through NETSCOUT’s website at https://ir.netscout.com/investors/overview/default.aspx. Alternatively, people can listen to the call by dialing (785) 424-1667. The conference call ID is NTCTQ322. A replay of the call will be available after 12:00 p.m. ET on January 27, 2022, for approximately one week. The number for the replay is (800) 839-4514 for U.S./Canada and (402) 220-2680 for international callers.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information:
To supplement the financial measures presented in NETSCOUT’s press release in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”), NETSCOUT also reports the following non-GAAP measures: non-GAAP revenue, non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP income from operations, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP net income per share (diluted) and non-GAAP earnings before interest and other expense, income taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) from operations. Non-GAAP revenue eliminates the GAAP effects of acquisitions by adding back revenue related to deferred revenue revaluation. Non-GAAP gross profit includes the aforementioned revenue adjustments and also removes expenses related to the amortization of acquired intangible assets, share based compensation, and acquisition-related depreciation. Non-GAAP income from operations includes the aforementioned adjustments and also removes business development and integration expense, compensation for post-combination services, legal expenses related to a civil judgment, restructuring charges, and transitional service agreement expenses. Non-GAAP net income includes the foregoing adjustments related to non-GAAP income from operations, and also removes loss on extinguishment of debt and change in fair value of contingent consideration, net of related income tax effects. Non-GAAP EBITDA from operations includes the aforementioned items related to non-GAAP income from operations and also removes non-acquisition related depreciation expense. Investors are encouraged to review the related GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures included in the attached tables within this press release.
These non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with GAAP, should not be considered an alternative for measures prepared in accordance with GAAP (revenue, gross profit, operating margin, net income, and diluted net income per share), and may have limitations because they do not reflect all NETSCOUT’s results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP. These non-GAAP measures should only be used to evaluate NETSCOUT’s results of operations in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures. The presentation of non-GAAP information is not meant to be considered superior to, in isolation from, or as a substitute for results prepared in accordance with GAAP. NETSCOUT believes these non-GAAP financial measures will enhance the reader’s overall understanding of NETSCOUT’s current financial performance and NETSCOUT’s prospects for the future by providing a higher degree of transparency for certain financial measures and providing a level of disclosure that helps investors understand how the Company plans and measures its own business. NETSCOUT believes that providing these non-GAAP measures affords investors a view of NETSCOUT’s operating results that may be more easily compared to peer companies and also enables investors to consider NETSCOUT’s operating results on both a GAAP and non-GAAP basis during and following the integration period of NETSCOUT’s acquisitions. Presenting the GAAP measures on their own, without the supplemental non-GAAP disclosures, might not be indicative of NETSCOUT’s core operating results. Furthermore, NETSCOUT believes that the presentation of non-GAAP measures when shown in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures provides useful information to management and investors regarding present and future business trends relating to its financial condition and results of operations.
NETSCOUT management regularly uses supplemental non-GAAP financial measures internally to understand, manage and evaluate its business and to make operating decisions. These non-GAAP measures are among the primary factors that management uses in planning and forecasting.
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