Pluralsight Announces Third Quarter 2019 Results


  • Third quarter revenue grew 34 percent period over period to $82.6 million
  • Third quarter billings grew 28 percent period over period to $92.1 million

SILICON SLOPES, Utah , Oct. 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pluralsight, Inc. (NASDAQ: PS), the enterprise technology skills company, today announced financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2019.

“We had a solid quarter and improved many of our growth metrics demonstrating that the operational improvements we put into motion at the beginning of the quarter are working. I’m happy with the progress we made in the quarter, and recognize we still have work to do,” said Aaron Skonnard, co-founder and CEO of Pluralsight. “B2B billings grew 32%, total billings grew 28%, revenue grew 34% and our guidance for 2019 remains inside the range we provided and reiterated earlier in the year.”

Third Quarter Financial Highlights

  • Billings - Q3 2019 billings were $92.1 million, an increase of 28% period over period. Q3 2019 billings from business customers were $80.7 million, an increase of 32% period over period.
  • Revenue - Q3 2019 revenue was $82.6 million, an increase of 34% period over period.
  • Gross margin - Q3 2019 gross margin was 78%, compared to 75% in Q3 2018. Q3 2019 non-GAAP gross margin was 80%, compared to 77% in Q3 2018.
  • Net loss per share - GAAP net loss per share for Q3 2019 was $0.32, compared to $0.26 in Q3 2018. Adjusted pro forma net loss per share for Q3 2019 was $0.08, compared to $0.10 in Q3 2018.
  • Cash flows - Cash used in operations was $2.2 million for Q3 2019, compared to cash provided by operations of $1.9 million in Q3 2018. Free cash flow was negative $6.6 million for Q3 2019, compared to negative free cash flow of $0.9 million in Q3 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 Outlook

The following forward-looking statements reflect Pluralsight's expectations as of October 30, 2019.

Full Year 2019 Guidance

  • Revenue is expected to be in the range of $314 million to $316 million.
  • Adjusted pro forma net loss per share is expected to be in the range of $0.37 to $0.35, assuming weighted-average shares outstanding of approximately 137 million.

Guidance for non-GAAP financial measures excludes 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. 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 Information

Pluralsight will host a conference call for analysts and investors to discuss its second quarter 2019 results and outlook for its full year 2019, today at 2:30 p.m. Mountain Time (4:30 p.m. Eastern Time).

Date:October 30, 2019
Time:2:30 p.m. MT (4:30 p.m. ET)
Webcast:https://investors.pluralsight.com/
Dial-in number:(877) 350-6732 or (629) 228-0693, conference ID: 2080527

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 2080527.

About Pluralsight

Pluralsight 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 Statements

This 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, including our financial outlook for the full year 2019 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; our ability to successfully integrate GitPrime into our platform; 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.

Additional risks and uncertainties that could affect our financial results are included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K/A filed with the SEC on June 27, 2019 and in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on October 30, 2019, which is available on our website at investors.pluralsight.com and on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Additional information will also be set forth in other filings that we make with the SEC from time to time. 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 Metrics

Billings. Billings represents total revenue plus the change in deferred revenue in the period, as presented in our condensed 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 Measures

Pluralsight has provided in this press release financial information 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)

  Three Months Ended September 30, Nine Months Ended September 30,
  2019 2018 2019 2018
         
Revenue $82,620  $61,553  $228,099  $164,769 
Cost of revenue(1)(2) 17,825  15,347  52,336  46,166 
Gross profit 64,795  46,206  175,763  118,603 
Operating expenses(1)(2):        
Sales and marketing 55,727  42,632  149,852  113,956 
Technology and content 27,799  18,137  72,829  49,858 
General and administrative 20,817  19,818  63,591  57,112 
Total operating expenses 104,343  80,587  286,272  220,926 
Loss from operations (39,548) (34,381) (110,509) (102,323)
Other (expense) income:        
Interest expense (7,778) (342) (17,499) (6,476)
Loss on debt extinguishment (950)   (950) (4,085)
Other income, net 2,878  654  8,532  689 
Loss before income taxes (45,398) (34,069) (120,426) (112,195)
Provision for income taxes (404) (254) (701) (506)
Net loss $(45,802) $(34,323) $(121,127) $(112,701)
Less: Net loss attributable to non-controlling interests (13,073) (17,980) (39,763) (31,890)
Net loss attributable to Pluralsight, Inc. $(32,729) $(16,343) $(81,364) $(80,811)
Less: Accretion of Series A redeemable convertible preferred units       (176,275)
Net loss attributable to shares of Class A common stock $(32,729) $(16,343) $(81,364) $(257,086)
Net loss per share, basic and diluted(3) $(0.32) $(0.26) $(0.89) $(0.47)
Weighted-average shares of Class A common stock used in computing basic and diluted net loss per share(3) 101,407  62,472  91,741  62,400 

(1) Includes equity-based compensation as follows:

  Three Months Ended September 30, Nine Months Ended September 30,
  2019 2018 2019 2018
         
Cost of revenue $138  $56  $355  $145 
Sales and marketing 8,739  5,612  22,967  13,507 
Technology and content 6,666  3,700  15,513  8,652 
General and administrative 9,114  11,262  28,822  30,678 
Total equity-based compensation $24,657  $20,630  $67,657  $52,982 

(2) Includes amortization of acquired intangible assets as follows:

  Three Months Ended September 30, Nine Months Ended September 30,
  2019 2018 2019 2018
         
Cost of revenue $1,209  $880  $2,436  $6,803 
Sales and marketing 50    79  389 
Technology and content 176  176  529  529 
Total amortization of acquired intangible assets $1,435  $1,056  $3,044  $7,721 

(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 nine months ended September 30, 2019 reflect 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 Metrics

  Three Months Ended September 30, Nine Months Ended September 30,
  2019 2018 2019 2018
         
Billings $92,123  $72,243  $250,603  $192,959 
Billings from business customers $80,707  $61,143  $216,967  $161,018 
% of billings from business customers 88% 85% 87% 83%

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

  Three Months Ended September 30, Nine Months Ended September 30,
  2019 2018 2019 2018
         
Reconciliation of gross profit to non-GAAP gross profit:        
Gross profit $64,795  $46,206  $175,763  $118,603 
Equity-based compensation 138  56  355  145 
Amortization of acquired intangible assets 1,209  880  2,436  6,803 
Employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions 2    18   
Non-GAAP gross profit $66,144  $47,142  $178,572  $125,551 
Gross margin 78% 75% 77% 72%
Non-GAAP gross margin 80% 77% 78% 76%
Reconciliation of loss from operations to non-GAAP operating loss:        
Loss from operations $(39,548) $(34,381) $(110,509) $(102,323)
Equity-based compensation 24,657  20,630  67,657  52,982 
Amortization of acquired intangible assets 1,435  1,056  3,044  7,721 
Employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions 333    3,106   
Secondary offering costs     918   
Acquisition-related costs     835   
Non-GAAP operating loss $(13,123) $(12,695) $(34,949) $(41,620)


  Three Months Ended September 30, Nine Months Ended September 30,
  2019 2018 2019 2018
         
Adjusted pro forma net loss per share        
Numerator:        
GAAP net loss attributable to shares of Class A common stock $(32,729) $(16,343) $(81,364) $(257,086)
Accretion of Series A redeemable convertible preferred units       176,275 
Reallocation of net loss attributable to non-controlling interests from the assumed exchange of LLC Units of Pluralsight Holdings for Class A common stock (13,073) (17,980) (39,763) (31,890)
Equity-based compensation 24,657  20,630  67,657  52,982 
Amortization of acquired intangibles 1,435  1,056  3,044  7,721 
Employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions 333    3,106   
Secondary offering costs     918   
Acquisition-related costs     835   
Amortization of debt discount and issuance costs 6,826    15,120  126 
Loss on debt extinguishment 950    950  4,085 
Adjusted pro forma net loss $(11,601) $(12,637) $(29,497) $(47,787)
Denominator:        
Weighted-average shares of Class A common stock outstanding 101,407  62,472  91,741  31,314 
Weighted-average LLC Units of Pluralsight Holdings that are convertible into Class A common stock 36,791  68,734  44,834  58,529 
Adjusted pro forma weighted-average common shares outstanding, basic and diluted 138,198  131,206  136,575  89,843 
Adjusted pro forma net loss per share $(0.08) $(0.10) $(0.22) $(0.53)


Reconciliation of net cash (used in) provided by operating activities to free cash flow:        
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities $(2,171) $1,934  $(3,812) $(14,283)
Less: Purchases of property and equipment (3,029) (2,002) (7,619) (6,576)
Less: Purchases of content library (1,381) (841) (3,822) (2,345)
Free cash flow $(6,581) $(909) $(15,253) $(23,204)
                 

PLURALSIGHT, INC.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(in thousands)
(unaudited)

  September 30,
 2019
 December 31,
 2018
     
Assets    
Current assets:    
Cash and cash equivalents $120,871  $194,306 
Short-term investments 328,602   
Accounts receivable, net 63,001  63,436 
Deferred contract acquisition costs, net 17,128   
Prepaid expenses and other current assets 12,664  8,323 
Total current assets 542,266  266,065 
Restricted cash 27,748  16,765 
Long-term investments 84,210   
Property and equipment, net 56,471  31,641 
Content library, net 8,207  7,050 
Intangible assets, net 24,057  1,759 
Goodwill 261,622  123,119 
Deferred contract acquisition costs, noncurrent, net 4,435   
Other assets 1,530  1,064 
Total assets $1,010,546  $447,463 
Liabilities and stockholders' equity    
Current liabilities:    
Accounts payable $4,664  $7,160 
Accrued expenses 37,635  32,047 
Accrued author fees 11,294  10,002 
Deferred revenue 177,523  157,695 
Total current liabilities 231,116  206,904 
Deferred revenue, noncurrent 17,586  14,886 
Convertible senior notes, net 463,656   
Facility financing obligations 38,225  15,777 
Other liabilities 2,157  1,303 
Total liabilities 752,740  238,870 
Stockholders' equity:    
Preferred stock    
Class A common stock 10  7 
Class B common stock 2  6 
Class C common stack 1  1 
Additional paid-in capital 615,713  456,899 
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) 185  (41)
Accumulated deficit (426,777) (355,446)
Total stockholders’ equity attributable to Pluralsight, Inc. 189,134  101,426 
Non-controlling interests 68,672  107,167 
Total stockholders’ equity 257,806  208,593 
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $1,010,546  $447,463 

PLURALSIGHT, INC.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(in thousands)
(unaudited)

  Three Months Ended September 30, Nine Months Ended September 30,
  2019 2018 2019 2018
         
Operating activities        
Net loss $(45,802) $(34,323) $(121,127) $(112,701)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash (used in) provided by operating activities:        
Depreciation of property and equipment 2,275  1,973  6,471  6,331 
Amortization of acquired intangible assets 1,435  1,056  3,044  7,721 
Amortization of course creation costs 651  507  1,841  1,437 
Equity-based compensation 24,657  20,630  67,657  52,982 
Amortization of deferred contract acquisition costs 6,006    17,317   
Amortization of debt discount and issuance costs 6,826    15,120  1,215 
Investment discount and premium amortization, net (1,065)   (1,771)  
Loss on debt extinguishment 950    950  4,085 
Other (478) 118  (178) 507 
Changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquired assets and liabilities:        
Accounts receivable (5,258) (11,687) 1,858  (10,352)
Deferred contract acquisition costs (7,238)   (18,668)  
Prepaid expenses and other assets 534  868  (3,660) (2,990)
Accounts payable (3,556) 1,516  (2,486) 928 
Accrued expenses and other liabilities 8,441  9,751  6,067  6,912 
Accrued author fees (7) 835  1,292  1,452 
Deferred revenue 9,458  10,690  22,461  28,190 
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities (2,171) 1,934  (3,812) (14,283)
Investing activities        
Purchases of property and equipment (3,029) (2,002) (7,619) (6,576)
Purchases of content library (1,381) (841) (3,822) (2,345)
Cash paid for acquisition, net of cash acquired 100    (163,771)  
Purchases of investments (212,573)   (529,653)  
Proceeds from sales of investments     4,967   
Proceeds from maturities of short-term investments 112,995    112,995   
Net cash used in investing activities (103,888) (2,843) (586,903) (8,921)
Financing activities        
Proceeds from issuance of convertible senior notes, net of discount and issuance costs     616,654   
Purchase of capped calls related to issuance of convertible senior notes     (69,432)  
Repurchases of convertible senior notes (35,000)   (35,000)  
Proceeds from terminations of capped calls related to repurchases of convertible senior notes 1,284    1,284   
Proceeds from issuance of common stock from employee equity plans 245    14,876   
Proceeds from initial public offering, net of underwriting discounts and commissions       332,080 
Payments of costs related to initial public offering   (3,998)   (7,083)
Borrowings of long-term debt       20,000 
Repayments of long-term debt       (137,710)
Payments of debt extinguishment costs   (17)   (2,179)
Payments of debt issuance costs       (450)
Payments to settle equity appreciation rights       (325)
Taxes paid related to net share settlement       (78)
Other (4) (5) (10) (13)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities (33,475) (4,020) 528,372  204,242 
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash (130) (50) (109) (136)
Net (decrease) increase in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash (139,664) (4,979) (62,452) 180,902 
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, beginning of period 288,283  214,358  211,071  28,477 
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, end of period $148,619  $209,379  $148,619  $209,379 

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