SPROUT SOCIAL ANNOUNCES SECOND QUARTER 2021 FINANCIAL RESULTS ABOVE GUIDANCE RANGE
Raises 2021 Guidance
Second Quarter Total Revenue of $44.7 Million
29,612 Customers as of June 30, 2021
CHICAGO, Aug. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sprout Social, Inc. (“Sprout Social”, the “Company”) (Nasdaq: SPT), an industry-leading provider of cloud-based social media management software, today announced financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2021.
“Our company is executing extraordinarily well, reinforcing confidence in our strategy and our rapidly expanding opportunity,” said Justyn Howard, Sprout Social’s CEO and co-founder. “We brought multiple new capabilities to market this quarter, including a first-of-its-kind social commerce solution, that will further empower our customers to operationalize social. We’re also in a fortunate position to report our first ever quarterly non-GAAP profit, which underscores our powerful unit economics and further validates the aggressive investments we’re making in our future.”
“We’re incredibly proud of the team for continually raising the bar and delivering for our customers.”
Second Quarter 2021 Financial Highlights
Revenue
Revenue was $44.7 million, up 42% compared to the second quarter of 2020.
ARR was $189.1 million, up 45% compared to the second quarter of 2020.
Operating Loss
GAAP operating loss was ($5.3) million, compared to ($8.3) million in the second quarter of 2020.
Non-GAAP operating income was $0.1 million, compared to a Non-GAAP operating loss of ($5.9) million in the second quarter of 2020.
Net Loss
GAAP net loss was ($5.4) million, compared to ($8.3) million in the second quarter of 2020.
Non-GAAP net income was $0.0 million, compared to a Non-GAAP net loss of ($5.8) million in the second quarter of 2020.
GAAP net loss per share was ($0.10) based on 53.7 million weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding, compared to ($0.16) based on 50.5 million weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding in the second quarter of 2020.
Non-GAAP net income per share was $0.00 based on 54.8 million weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding, compared to Non-GAAP net loss per share of ($0.11) based on 50.5 million weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding in the second quarter of 2020.
Cash
Cash and equivalents and marketable securities totaled $171.5 million as of June 30, 2021, up from $167.8 million as of March 31, 2021.
Net cash generated by operating activities was $4.4 million, compared to net cash used by operating activities of ($4.0) million in the second quarter of 2020.
Free cash flow was $4.1 million, compared to ($4.5) million in the second quarter of 2020.
See “Customer Metrics” and “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below for how Sprout Social defines ARR, non-GAAP operating income (loss), non-GAAP net income (loss), non-GAAP net income (loss) per share and free cash flow and the financial tables that accompany this release for reconciliations of these measures to their closest comparable GAAP measures.
Customer Metrics
Grew number of customers to 29,612 as of June 30, 2021, up from 28,122 customers as of March 31, 2021, and up from 24,356 customers as of June 30, 2020.
Grew number of customers contributing over $10,000 in ARR to 3,936 customers as of June 30, 2021, up 55% compared to June 30, 2020.
Recent Customer Highlights
During the first quarter, we had the opportunity to help new customers like Kraft Heinz, Franklin Electric, Levi’s, BARK, Sisense, The AARP, and Whataburger. We executed growth deals with great brands like The Department of Energy, Nutanix, Agrium, Kaplan Test Prep and WW USA.
Recent Business Highlights
Sprout Social was recently named to the:
2021 Fortune Best Workplaces in Technology
Great Place to Work’s Best Workplaces in Chicago 2021
2021 Crain’s Fast 50
2021 Fortune Best Workplaces for Millennials
Third Quarter and 2021 Financial Outlook
For the third quarter of 2021, the Company currently expects:
Total revenue between $47.3 and $47.4 million, or overall growth of 41%.
Non-GAAP operating loss between ($4.3) million and ($3.9) million.
Non-GAAP net loss per share of between ($0.08) and ($0.07) based on approximately 53.9 million weighted average basic shares of common stock outstanding.
“We are pleased to report our first ever quarterly non-GAAP profit and to deliver positive free cash flow for a second consecutive quarter,” said Joe Del Preto, CFO. “We’re growing at an accelerated pace with greater efficiency, underscoring the attractiveness of our business model. Execution remains strong and we’re pleased to raise our 2021 forecast.”
For the full year 2021, the Company is updating guidance to reflect the following:
Total revenue between $182 to $182.6 million, or overall growth of roughly 37%.
Non-GAAP operating loss between ($11.0) and ($10.6) million.
At the midpoint of these ranges, this implies a (5.9%) operating margin and nearly 1,000bps of year-over-year operating margin improvement.
Non-GAAP net loss per share of between ($0.21) and ($0.20) based on approximately 53.8 million weighted average basic shares of common stock outstanding.
The Company’s third quarter and 2021 financial outlook is based on a number of assumptions that are subject to change and many of which are outside the Company’s control, including the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on our financial performance and customer demand. If actual results vary from these assumptions, the Company’s expectations may change. There can be no assurance that the Company will achieve these results.
The Company does not provide guidance for operating loss, the most directly comparable GAAP measure to non-GAAP operating loss, or net loss per share, the most directly comparable GAAP measure to non-GAAP net loss per share, and similarly cannot provide a reconciliation between its forecasted non-GAAP operating loss and non-GAAP net loss per share and these comparable GAAP measures without unreasonable effort due to the unavailability of reliable estimates for certain items. These items are not within the Company’s control and may vary greatly between periods and could significantly impact future financial results.
Conference Call Information
The financial results and business highlights will be discussed on a conference call and webcast scheduled at 4:00 p.m. Central Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time) today, August 3, 2021. Online registration for this event conference call can be found at http://www.directeventreg.com/registration/event/7541136. The live webcast of the conference call can be accessed from Sprout Social’s investor relations website at http://investors.sproutsocial.com.
Following completion of the events, a webcast replay will also be available at http://investors.sproutsocial.com for 12 months.
About Sprout Social
Sprout Social offers deep social media listening and analytics, social management, customer care, commerce and advocacy solutions to more than 29,000 brands and agencies worldwide. Sprout’s unified platform integrates the power of social throughout every aspect of a business and enables social leaders at every level to extract valuable data and insights that drive their business forward. Headquartered in Chicago, Sprout operates across major social media networks, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “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. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “outlook,” “long-term model,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “project,” “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “can,” “predict,” “potential,” “strategy, “target,” “explore,” “continue,” or the negative of these terms, and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. However, not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These statements may relate to the impact on our business and the businesses of our prospective and existing customers of the COVID-19 pandemic, our market size and growth strategy, our estimated and projected costs, margins, revenue, expenditures and customer and financial growth rates, our Q3 and 2021 financial outlook, our plans and objectives for future operations, growth, initiatives or strategies. By their nature, these statements are subject to numerous uncertainties and risks, including factors beyond our control, that could cause actual results, performance or achievement to differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. These assumptions, uncertainties and risks include that, among others: the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the governmental actions taken to combat the pandemic may materially affect how we and our customers operate our businesses, and the duration and extent to which this threatens our future results of operations and overall financial performance remains uncertain; any decline in new customers, renewals or upgrades; our limited operating history makes it difficult to evaluate our prospects and future results of operations; we operate in competitive markets; we may not be able to sustain our revenue growth rate in the future; our business would be harmed by any significant interruptions, delays or outages in services from our platform or certain social media platforms; changing regulations relating to privacy, information security and data protection could increase our costs, affect or limit how we collect and use personal information and harm our brand; and a cybersecurity-related attack, significant data breach or disruption of the information technology systems or networks could negatively affect our business. Additional risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements are included under the caption “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 filed with the SEC on February 24, 2021, as well as any other future quarterly and current reports that we file with the SEC. Moreover, you should interpret many of the risks identified in those reports as being heightened as a result of the ongoing and numerous adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements are made and are based on information available to Sprout Social at the time those statements are made and/or management's good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events. Sprout Social assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, except as required by law.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
We have provided in this press release certain financial information that has not been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”). Our management uses these non-GAAP financial measures internally in analyzing our financial results and believes that use of these non-GAAP financial measures is useful to investors as an additional tool to evaluate ongoing operating results and trends and in comparing our financial results with other companies in our industry, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures. Non-GAAP financial measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP 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 the most directly comparable GAAP measures has 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 GAAP gross profit, excluding stock-based compensation expense. We believe non-GAAP gross profit provides our management and investors consistency and comparability with our past financial performance and facilitates period-to-period comparisons of operations, as it eliminates the effect of stock-based compensation, which is often unrelated to overall operating performance.
Non-GAAP operating income (loss). We define non-GAAP operating income (loss) as GAAP loss from operations, excluding stock-based compensation expense. We believe non-GAAP operating income (loss) provides our management and investors consistency and comparability with our past financial performance and facilitates period-to-period comparisons of operations, as it eliminates the effect of stock-based compensation, which is often unrelated to overall operating performance.
Non-GAAP net income (loss). We define non-GAAP net income (loss) as GAAP net loss and comprehensive loss, excluding stock-based compensation expense. We believe non-GAAP net income (loss) provides our management and investors consistency and comparability with our past financial performance and facilitates period-to-period comparisons of operations, as this non-GAAP financial measure eliminates the effect of stock-based compensation, which is often unrelated to overall operating performance.
Non-GAAP net income (loss) per share. We define non-GAAP net income (loss) per share as GAAP net loss per share attributable to common shareholders, basic and diluted, excluding stock-based compensation expense. We believe non-GAAP net income (loss) per share provides our management and investors consistency and comparability with our past financial performance and facilitates period-to-period comparisons of operations, as this non-GAAP financial measure eliminates the effect of stock-based compensation, which is often unrelated to overall operating performance.
Free cash flow. We define free cash flow as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities less purchases of property and equipment. Free cash flow does not reflect our future contractual obligations or represent the total increase or decrease in our cash balance for a given period. We believe free cash flow is a useful indicator of liquidity that provides information to management and investors about the amount of cash used in our core operations that, after purchases of property and equipment, is not available for strategic initiatives.
Free cash flow margin. We define free cash flow margin as free cash flow as a percentage of revenue.
Customer Metrics
Annual recurring revenue (“ARR”). We define ARR as the annualized revenue run-rate of subscription agreements from all customers as of the last date of the specified period. We believe ARR is an indicator of the scale of our entire platform while mitigating fluctuations due to seasonality and contract term.
Number of customers. We define a customer as a unique account, multiple accounts containing a common non-personal email domain or multiple accounts governed by a single agreement. Number of customers excludes customers exclusively using legacy products obtained through the acquisition of Simply Measured. We believe that the number of customers using our platform is an indicator not only of our market penetration, but also of our potential for future growth as our customers often expand their adoption of our platform over time based on an increased awareness of the value of our platform and products.
Number of customers contributing more than $10,000 in ARR. We define number of customers contributing more than $10,000 in ARR as those on a paid subscription plan that had more than $10,000 in ARR as of a period end. We view the number of customers that contribute more than $10,000 in ARR as a measure of our ability to scale with our customers and attract larger organizations. We believe this represents potential for future growth, including expanding within our current customer base.
Availability of Information on Sprout Social’s Website and Social Media Profiles
Investors and others should note that Sprout Social routinely announces material information to investors and the marketplace using SEC filings, press releases, public conference calls, webcasts and the Sprout Social Investors website. We also intend to use the social media profiles listed below as a means of disclosing information about us to our customers, investors and the public. While not all of the information that the Company posts to the Sprout Social Investors website or to social media profiles is of a material nature, some information could be deemed to be material. Accordingly, the Company encourages investors, the media, and others interested in Sprout Social to review the information that it shares at the Investors link located at the bottom of the page on www.sproutsocial.com and to regularly follow our social media profiles. Users may automatically receive email alerts and other information about Sprout Social when enrolling an email address by visiting "Email Alerts" in the "Shareholder Services" section of Sprout Social's Investor website at https://investors.sproutsocial.com/.
Social Media Profiles:
www.twitter.com/SproutSocial
www.facebook.com/SproutSocialInc
www.linkedin.com/company/sprout-social-inc-/
www.instagram.com/sproutsocial
(*) For the three months ended June 30, 2021, Non-GAAP Basic and Diluted net income per share were both $0.00. Non-GAAP Diluted net income per share for the three months ended June 30, 2021 was calculated using 54,834,301 weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding, which includes the impact of dilutive shares related to options and restricted stock units. All other GAAP and Non-GAAP net loss per share calculations excluded these common stock equivalents as their effect is antidilutive.
CONTACT: Contact Media: Kaitlyn Gronek Email: pr@sproutsocial.com Phone: (773) 904-9674 Investors: Jason Rechel Email: jason.rechel@sproutsocial.com Phone: (312) 528-9166