Progress Reports 46% Year-Over-Year Growth in Annualized Recurring Revenue and Strong Fiscal Year 2024 Financial Results

Progress reported 46% ARR growth, $212 million in cash flow, and ongoing ShareFile integration in FY 2024 results.

Quiver AI Summary

Progress (Nasdaq: PRGS) reported strong financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter and year ending November 30, 2024. Highlights include a 21% year-over-year increase in revenue, reaching $215 million, and a 46% growth in Annualized Recurring Revenue (ARR), totaling $842 million. The company experienced a 22% increase in cash flow from operations, amounting to $212 million. Despite these gains, diluted earnings per share fell significantly to $0.03 from $0.34 in the same quarter last year. The CEO, Yogesh Gupta, emphasized the company's commitment to innovation and customer success, particularly with the integration of the recently acquired ShareFile, an AI-powered collaboration platform. The company anticipates continued growth and strategic capital allocation moving forward.

Potential Positives

• Annualized Recurring Revenue ("ARR") grew 46% year-over-year, indicating strong customer retention and growth in subscription-based services.
• Cash Flow from Operations for 2024 increased by 22% to $212 million, demonstrating improved operational efficiency and profitability.
• The acquisition of ShareFile, a SaaS-native and AI-powered collaboration platform, is expected to contribute significantly to both top- and bottom-line growth, highlighting the company’s strategic growth initiatives.
• Strong non-GAAP diluted earnings per share increased by 30% year-over-year, reflecting improved operational performance despite challenges in GAAP earnings.

Potential Negatives

• Net income decreased by 93% year-over-year, indicating significant profitability issues.
• Diluted earnings per share fell from $0.34 to $0.03, representing a 91% decline, which could negatively impact investor confidence.
• The company halted its quarterly dividend to redirect funds towards debt repayment, suggesting potential liquidity concerns and reduced shareholder returns.

FAQ

What was the Annualized Recurring Revenue growth for Progress in 2024?

The Annualized Recurring Revenue (ARR) grew 46% year-over-year, reaching $842 million.

How much did cash flow from operations increase in 2024?

Cash flow from operations increased by 22%, totaling $212 million compared to $174 million the previous year.

What was the revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2024?

The revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2024 was $215 million, a 21% increase year-over-year.

What does Progress plan to do with the capital from suspended dividends?

Progress plans to redirect the capital from suspended dividends towards debt repayment and future acquisitions.

What significant acquisition did Progress complete in 2024?

Progress completed the acquisition of ShareFile, an AI-powered SaaS collaboration platform, on October 31, 2024.

Disclaimer: This is an AI-generated summary of a press release distributed by GlobeNewswire. The model used to summarize this release may make mistakes. See the full release here.

$PRGS Insider Trading Activity

$PRGS insiders have traded $PRGS stock on the open market 11 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 11 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $PRGS stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

• YOGESH K GUPTA (Chief Executive Officer) sold 8,028 shares for an estimated $537,916
• ANTHONY FOLGER (Chief Financial Officer) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 7,797 shares for an estimated $525,420.
• DOMENIC LOCOCO (Chief Accounting Officer) has made 0 purchases and 4 sales selling 6,386 shares for an estimated $407,058.
• IAN PITT (Chief Information Officer) sold 1,747 shares for an estimated $113,677
• LOREN JARRETT (EVP/GM Digital Experience) sold 1,666 shares for an estimated $106,574
• YUFAN STEPHANIE WANG (Chief Legal Officer) sold 1,428 shares for an estimated $93,177
• SUNDAR SUBRAMANIAN (EVP/GM Infrastructure Mgmt) sold 649 shares for an estimated $41,548

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard.

$PRGS Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 151 institutional investors add shares of $PRGS stock to their portfolio, and 135 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

• LEUTHOLD GROUP, LLC added 371,026 shares (+958.1%) to their portfolio in Q3 2024, for an estimated $24,996,021
• BNP PARIBAS FINANCIAL MARKETS added 260,008 shares (+722.4%) to their portfolio in Q3 2024, for an estimated $17,516,738
• NOMURA HOLDINGS INC added 259,240 shares (+36.6%) to their portfolio in Q3 2024, for an estimated $17,464,998
• GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC added 256,481 shares (+222.1%) to their portfolio in Q3 2024, for an estimated $17,279,124
• SEGALL BRYANT & HAMILL, LLC added 251,125 shares (+74.2%) to their portfolio in Q3 2024, for an estimated $16,918,291
• MILLENNIUM MANAGEMENT LLC removed 225,161 shares (-94.9%) from their portfolio in Q3 2024, for an estimated $15,169,096
• BARCLAYS PLC added 215,034 shares (+124.3%) to their portfolio in Q3 2024, for an estimated $14,486,840

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard.

Full Release

Annualized Recurring Revenue grew 46% year-over-year


2024 Cash Flow from Operations $212 million vs. $174 million last year, 22% growth


ShareFile Integration Underway

BURLINGTON, Mass., Jan. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Progress (Nasdaq: PRGS), the trusted provider of AI-powered digital experiences and infrastructure software, today announced financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter and fiscal year ended November 30, 2024.

Fourth Quarter


2024


Highlights¹


:

• 
  Revenue and non-GAAP revenue of $215 million increased 21% year-over-year both on an actual and a constant currency basis.
  

• 
  Annualized Recurring Revenue ("ARR") of $842 million increased 46% year-over-year on a constant currency basis.
  

• 
  Operating margin was 10% and non-GAAP operating margin was 37%.
  

• 
  Diluted earnings per share was $0.03 compared to $0.34 in the same quarter last year, a decrease of 91%.
  

• 
  Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share was $1.33 compared to $1.02 in the same quarter last year, an increase of 30%.
  
  
  

"2024 was a strong year for Progress as we continue to execute on our long-term strategy to invest and innovate, acquire and integrate, and drive customer success to deliver Total Growth," said Yogesh Gupta, CEO at Progress. "Mission-critical business applications at more than a hundred thousand businesses are powered by Progress products, and I’m grateful to our employees who are building great products, serving our customers’ evolving needs, and making them successful. We are particularly excited about our recent acquisition of ShareFile, which adds an AI-powered SaaS content-centric collaboration platform to our portfolio and will contribute meaningfully to our top- and bottom-line."

Additional financial highlights included:

Other fiscal


fourth


quarter


2024


metrics and recent results included:

• 
  Cash and cash equivalents were $118 million at the end of the quarter.
  

• 
  Days sales outstanding was 67 days compared to 62 days in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2023, and 45 days in the fiscal third quarter of 2024.
  

• 
  On October 31, 2024, we completed the acquisition of ShareFile, which provides a SaaS-native, AI-powered, document-centric collaboration platform, from Cloud Software Group, Inc.
  

• 
  During the fiscal fourth quarter of 2024, our Board of Directors suspended our quarterly dividend in connection with the ShareFile acquisition and plans to redirect such capital toward the repayment of debt to increase liquidity for future M&A and for share repurchases, both of which are prioritized in our capital allocation policy.
  

"We are extremely pleased with our fiscal fourth quarter and full-year results," said Anthony Folger, CFO at Progress. "NRR closed the year above 100%, we delivered exceptionally strong operating margins and adjusted free cash flow and ShareFile delivered results in line with our expectations. We look forward to carrying this momentum into Fiscal 2025 as we work to complete the integration of ShareFile and realize meaningful synergies from the deal."

Full Year Results

2025


Business Outlook

Progress provides the following guidance for the fiscal year ending November 30, 2025 and the fiscal first quarter ending February 28, 2025, together with actual results for the same periods in the fiscal year ending November 30, 2024:

Based on current exchange rates, the expected negative currency translation impact on our:

• 
  Fiscal year 2025 business outlook compared to 2024 exchange rates is approximately $5.6 million on revenue.
  

• 
  GAAP and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for fiscal year 2025 is approximately $0.03.
  

• 
  Fiscal Q1 2025 business outlook compared to 2024 exchange rates is approximately $1.8 million on revenue.
  

• 
  GAAP and non-GAAP diluted (loss) earnings per share for fiscal Q1 2025 is approximately $0.01.
  

To the extent that there are changes in exchange rates versus the current environment and/or our expectations, this may have an impact on Progress' business outlook.

Conference Call

Progress will hold a conference call to review its financial results for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2024 at 5:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, January 21, 2025. Participants must register for the conference call here:

https://register.vevent.com/register/BI14e62bc5ab3f4885a358aaef36f1684e

. The webcast can be accessed at:

https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/5i6yaf23

. The conference call will include comments followed by questions and answers. Attendees must register for the webcast and an archived version of the conference call and supporting materials will be available on the Progress website within the investor relations section after the live conference call.

Important Information Regarding Non-GAAP Financial Information

Progress furnishes certain non-GAAP supplemental information to our financial results. We use such non-GAAP financial measures to evaluate our period-over-period operating performance because our management team believes that by excluding the effects of certain GAAP-related items that in their opinion do not reflect the ordinary earnings of our operations, such information helps to illustrate underlying trends in our business and provides us with a more comparable measure of our continuing business, as well as greater understanding of the results from the primary operations of our business. Management also uses such non-GAAP financial measures to establish budgets and operational goals, evaluate performance, and allocate resources. In addition, the compensation of our executives and non-executive employees is based in part on the performance of our business as evaluated by such non-GAAP financial measures. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures enhance investors’ overall understanding of our current financial performance and our prospects for the future by: (i) providing more transparency for certain financial measures, (ii) presenting disclosure that helps investors understand how we plan and measure the performance of our business, (iii) affords a view of our operating results that may be more easily compared to our peer companies, and (iv) enables investors to consider our operating results on both a GAAP and non-GAAP basis (including following the integration period of our prior and proposed acquisitions). However, this non-GAAP information is not in accordance with, or an alternative to, generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP") and should be considered in conjunction with our GAAP results as the items excluded from the non-GAAP information may have a material impact on Progress’ financial results. A reconciliation of non-GAAP adjustments to Progress' GAAP financial results is included in the tables at the end of this press release.

In the noted fiscal periods, we adjusted for the following items from our GAAP financial results to arrive at our non-GAAP financial measures:

• 
  
  Acquisition-related revenue
  
  
  -
  
  We include acquisition-related revenue, which constitutes revenue reflected as pre-acquisition deferred revenue that would have been recognized prior to our adoption of Accounting Standards Update No. 2021-08, Business Combinations (Topic 805):
  
  Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers
  
  ("ASU 2021-08") during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2021. The acquisition-related revenue in our prior period results relates to Chef Software, Inc. which we acquired on October 5, 2020. Since GAAP accounting required the elimination of this revenue prior to the adoption of ASU 2021-08, GAAP results alone do not fully capture all of our economic activities. We believe these adjustments are useful to management and investors as a measure of the ongoing performance of the business because, although we cannot be certain that customers will renew their contracts, we have historically experienced high renewal rates on maintenance and support agreements and other customer contracts. Upon our adoption of ASU 2021-08, this adjustment is no longer applicable to subsequent acquisitions.
  

• 
  
  Amortization of acquired intangibles -
  
  We exclude amortization of acquired intangibles because those expenses are unrelated to our core operating performance and the intangible assets acquired vary significantly based on the timing and magnitude of our acquisition transactions and the maturities of the businesses acquired. Adjustments include preliminary estimates relating to the valuation of intangible assets from ShareFile. The final amounts will not be available until the Company's internal procedures and reviews are completed.
  

• 
  
  Stock-based compensation -
  
  We exclude stock-based compensation to be consistent with the way management and, in our view, the overall financial community evaluates our performance and the methods used by analysts to calculate consensus estimates. The expense related to stock-based awards is generally not controllable in the short-term and can vary significantly based on the timing, size and nature of awards granted. As such, we do not include these charges in operating plans.
  

• 
  
  Restructuring expenses and other -
  
  In all periods presented, we exclude restructuring expenses incurred because those expenses distort trends and are not part of our core operating results. Adjustments include preliminary estimates relating to restructuring expenses from ShareFile. The final amounts will not be available until the Company's internal procedures and reviews are completed.
  

• 
  
  Acquisition-related expenses -
  
  We exclude acquisition-related expenses in order to provide a more meaningful comparison of the financial results to our historical operations and forward-looking guidance and the financial results of less acquisitive peer companies. We consider these types of costs and adjustments, to a great extent, to be unpredictable and dependent on a significant number of factors that are outside of our control. Furthermore, we do not consider these acquisition-related costs and adjustments to be related to the organic continuing operations of the acquired businesses and are generally not relevant to assessing or estimating the long-term performance of the acquired assets. In addition, the size, complexity and/or volume of past acquisitions, which often drives the magnitude of acquisition-related costs, may not be indicative of the size, complexity and/or volume of future acquisitions.
  

• 
  
  Cyber incident and vulnerability response expenses, net
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • 
    
    November 2022 Cyber Incident
    
    - We exclude certain expenses resulting from the detection of irregular activity on certain portions of our corporate network, as more thoroughly described in the Current Report on Form 8-K that we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 19, 2022.
    
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • 
    
    MOVEit Vulnerability
    
    - We exclude certain expenses resulting from the zero-day MOVEit Vulnerability, as more thoroughly described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission since June 5, 2023.
    
  
  
  
  

Expenses include costs to investigate and remediate these cyber related matters, as well as legal and other professional services related thereto. Expenses related to such cyber matters are provided net of expected insurance recoveries, although the timing of recognizing insurance recoveries may differ from the timing of recognizing the associated expenses. Costs associated with the enhancement of our cybersecurity program are not included within this adjustment. We expect to continue to incur legal and other professional services expenses in future periods associated with the MOVEit vulnerability. We do not expect to incur additional costs associated with the November 2022 Cyber Incident as the investigation is closed. Expenses related to such cyber matters are expected to result in operating expenses that would not have otherwise been incurred in the normal course of business operations. We believe that excluding these costs facilitates a more meaningful evaluation of our operating performance and comparisons to our past operating performance.

• 
  
  Income tax adjustment
  
  - We adjust our income tax provision by excluding the tax impact of the non-GAAP adjustments discussed above.
  

• 
  
  Constant Currency -
  
  Revenue from our international operations has historically represented a substantial portion of our total revenue. As a result, our revenue results have been impacted, and we expect will continue to be impacted, by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. As exchange rates are an important factor in understanding period-to-period comparisons, we present revenue growth rates on a constant currency basis, which helps improve the understanding of our revenue results and our performance in comparison to prior periods. The constant currency information presented is calculated by translating current period results using prior period weighted average foreign currency exchange rates.
  

• 
  
  Annualized Recurring Revenue ("ARR")
  
  
  -
  
  We disclose ARR as a performance metric to help investors better understand and assess the performance of our business because our mix of revenue generated from recurring sources currently represents the substantial majority of our revenues and is expected to continue in the future. We define ARR as the annualized revenue of all active and contractually binding term-based contracts from all customers at a point in time. ARR includes revenue from maintenance, software upgrade rights, public cloud, and on-premises subscription-based transactions and managed services. ARR mitigates fluctuations in revenue due to seasonality, contract term and the sales mix of subscriptions for term-based licenses and SaaS. Management uses ARR to understand customer trends and the overall health of the Company’s business, helping it to formulate strategic business decisions.
  
  
  
  
  We calculate the annualized value of annual and multi-year contracts, and contracts with terms less than one year, by dividing the total contract value of each contract by the number of months in the term and then multiplying by 12. Annualizing contracts with terms less than one-year results in amounts being included in our ARR that are in excess of the total contract value for those contracts at the end of the reporting period. We generally do not sell non-SaaS-based contracts with a term of less than one year unless a customer is purchasing additional licenses under an existing annual or multi-year contract. The expectation is that at the time of renewal, such contracts with a term less than one year will renew with the same term as the existing contracts being renewed, such that both contracts are co-termed. Historically, such contracts with a term of less than one year renew at rates equal to or better than annual or multi-year contracts.
  
  
  
  
  For SaaS-based contracts, there is a meaningful percentage of monthly auto-renewing contracts for which annualizing the contracts results in amounts being included in our ARR that are in excess of the total contract value for those contracts at the end of the reporting period.
  
  
  
  
  Revenue from term-based license and on-premises subscription arrangements include a portion of the arrangement consideration that is allocated to the software license that is recognized up-front at the point in time control is transferred under ASC 606 revenue recognition principles. ARR for these arrangements is calculated as described above. The expectation is that the total contract value, inclusive of revenue recognized as software license, will be renewed at the end of the contract term.
  
  
  
  
  The calculation is done at constant currency using the current year budgeted exchange rates for all periods presented.
  
  
  
  
  ARR is not defined in GAAP and is not derived from a GAAP measure. Rather, ARR generally aligns to billings (as opposed to GAAP revenue which aligns to the transfer of control of each performance obligation). ARR does not have any standardized meaning and is therefore unlikely to be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. ARR should be viewed independently of revenue and deferred revenue and is not intended to be combined with or to replace either of those items. ARR is not a forecast and the active contracts at the end of a reporting period used in calculating ARR may or may not be extended or renewed by our customers.
  

• 
  
  Net Retention Rate ("NRR")
  
  - We calculate net retention rate as of a period end by starting with the ARR from the cohort of all customers as of 12 months prior to such period end ("Prior Period ARR"). We then calculate the ARR from these same customers as of the current period end ("Current Period ARR"). Current Period ARR includes any expansion and is net of contraction or attrition over the last 12 months but excludes ARR from new customers in the current period. We then divide the total Current Period ARR by the total Prior Period ARR to arrive at the net retention rate. Net retention rate is not calculated in accordance with GAAP.
  
  
  

We also provide guidance on adjusted free cash flow ("AFCF") and unlevered free cash flow ("Unlevered FCF"). AFCF is equal to cash flows from operating activities less purchases of property and equipment, plus restructuring payments. Unlevered FCF is AFCF plus tax-effected interest expense on outstanding debt.

Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Progress has identified some of these forward-looking statements with words like "believe," "may," "could," "would," "might," "should," "expect," "intend," "plan," "target," "anticipate" and "continue," the negative of these words, other terms of similar meaning or the use of future dates. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Progress' business outlook (including future acquisition activity) and financial guidance. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results or future events to differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: (i) economic, geopolitical and market conditions can adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition, including our revenue growth and profitability, which in turn could adversely affect our stock price; (ii) our international sales and operations subject us to additional risks that can adversely affect our operating results, including risks relating to foreign currency gains and losses; (iii) we may fail to achieve our financial forecasts due to such factors as delays or size reductions in transactions, fewer large transactions in a particular quarter, fluctuations in currency exchange rates, or a decline in our renewal rates for contracts; (iv) if the security measures for our software, services, other offerings or our internal information technology infrastructure are compromised or subject to a successful cyber-attack, or if our software offerings contain significant coding or configuration errors or zero-day vulnerabilities, we may experience reputational harm, legal claims and financial exposure; and the results of inquiries, investigations and legal claims regarding the MOVEit Vulnerability remain uncertain, while the ultimate resolution of these matters could result in losses that may be material to our financial results for a particular period; and (v) future acquisitions may not be successful or may involve unanticipated costs or other integration issues that could disrupt our existing operations; and (vi) expected synergies and benefits of the ShareFile acquisition may not be realized which could negatively impact our future results of operations and financial condition. For further information regarding risks and uncertainties associated with Progress' business, please refer to Progress' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended November 30, 2024 and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarters ended February 29, 2024, May 31, 2024 and August 31, 2024. Progress undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.

About Progress

Progress (Nasdaq: PRGS) empowers organizations to achieve transformational success in the face of disruptive change. Our software enables our customers to develop, deploy and manage responsible AI-powered applications and digital experiences with agility and ease. Customers get a trusted provider in Progress, with the products, expertise and vision they need to succeed. Over 4 million developers and technologists at hundreds of thousands of enterprises depend on Progress. Learn more at

www.progress.com

.

Progress and Progress Software are trademarks or registered trademarks of Progress Software Corporation and/or its subsidiaries or affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Any other names contained herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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RECONCILIATIONS OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP SELECTED FINANCIAL MEASURES¹



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