Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
For the quarterly period ended October 31, 2024
OR
☐
Transition report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
For transition period from to
Commission File Number: 001-35680
WORKDAY, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware
20-2480422
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)
(I.R.S Employer Identification No.)
6110 Stoneridge Mall Road
Pleasanton, California94588
(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)
(925) 951-9000
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class
Trading Symbol(s)
Name of each exchange on which registered
Class A Common Stock, par value $0.001
WDAY
The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
(Nasdaq Global Select Market)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer
☒
Accelerated filer
☐
Non-accelerated filer
☐
Smaller reporting company
☐
Emerging growth company
☐
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
As of November 29, 2024, there were approximately 214 million shares of the registrant’s Class A common stock, net of treasury stock, and 52 million shares of the registrant’s Class B common stock outstanding.
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
As used in this report, the terms “Workday,” “registrant,” “we,” “us,” and “our” mean Workday, Inc. and its subsidiaries unless the context indicates otherwise.
Amounts in this report may not recalculate due to rounding. Year-over-year comparisons, operating margin, and net income (loss) per share are calculated using unrounded data.
Note 1. Overview and Basis of Presentation
Description of the Business
Workday is a leading provider of cloud-based applications for financial management, human capital management (“HCM”), planning, spend management, and analytics. With Workday, our customers have a unified platform with artificial intelligence (“AI”) built into its core that helps them manage their most important assets – their people and money.
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) and applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) regarding interim financial reporting. The condensed consolidated financial statements include the results of Workday, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated. Certain information and note disclosures normally included in the financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been condensed or omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations. In the opinion of our management, the information contained herein reflects all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of Workday’s financial position, results of operations, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows. All such adjustments are of a normal, recurring nature. The results of operations for the three and nine months ended October 31, 2024, shown in this report are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full fiscal year ending January 31, 2025. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2024, filed with the SEC on March 8, 2024.
Certain prior period amounts reported in our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and notes thereto have been reclassified to conform to current period presentation.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires us to make certain estimates, judgments, and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the condensed consolidated financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Significant estimates, judgments, and assumptions include, but are not limited to, the identification of distinct performance obligations for revenue recognition, the determination of the period of benefit for deferred commissions, the realizability of deferred tax assets, the measurement of uncertain tax positions, the fair value and useful lives of assets acquired and liabilities assumed through business combinations, and the valuation of non-marketable equity investments. Actual results could differ from those estimates, judgments, and assumptions, and such differences could be material to our condensed consolidated financial statements.
Segment Information
We operate in one operating segment, cloud applications. Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise where separate financial information is evaluated regularly by the chief operating decision maker (“CODM”) in deciding how to allocate resources and assessing performance. Our CODM, the Chief Executive Officer, allocates resources and assesses performance based upon discrete financial information at the consolidated level.
Note 2. Significant Accounting Policies and Accounting Standards
Significant Accounting Policies
There have been no material changes in our significant accounting policies as described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2024.
Our financial instruments that are exposed to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents, debt securities, derivative instruments, and trade and other receivables. Our deposits exceed federally insured limits.
No customer individually accounted for more than 10% of trade and other receivables, net as of October 31, 2024, or January 31, 2024. No customer individually accounted for more than 10% of total revenues during the three and nine months ended October 31, 2024, or 2023.
Other than the United States, no country individually accounted for more than 10% of total revenues during the three and nine months ended October 31, 2024, or 2023.
In order to reduce the risk of disruption of our cloud applications, we have established data centers in various geographic regions. We serve our customers and users from data center facilities operated by third parties, located in North America and Europe. We have internal procedures to restore services in the event of disruption at one of our data center facilities. Even with these procedures for disaster recovery in place, our cloud applications could be significantly interrupted during the implementation of the procedures to restore services.
In addition, we rely upon third-party hosted infrastructure partners, including Amazon Web Services (“AWS”) and Google LLC, to serve customers globally and operate certain aspects of our services. Given this, any disruption of or interference at our hosted infrastructure partners may impact our operations and our business could be adversely impacted.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
In November 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) No. 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures, which requires disclosure of incremental segment information on an annual and interim basis. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, with early adoption permitted. The standard requires retrospective application to all prior periods presented in the financial statements. We are currently evaluating the impacts of the new standard.
In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU No. 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Disclosures, which requires disclosure of disaggregated income taxes paid, prescribes standard categories for the components of the effective tax rate reconciliation, and modifies other income tax-related disclosures. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, with early adoption permitted. The standard allows for adoption on a prospective basis, with a retrospective option. We do not intend to early adopt, and are currently evaluating the impacts of the new standard.
In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU No. 2024-03, Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income - Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40): Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses, which requires the disclosure of additional information about specific expense categories in the notes to the financial statements. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2027, with early adoption permitted. The standard allows for adoption on a prospective or retrospective basis. We are currently evaluating the impacts of the new standard.
Note 3. Investments
Debt Securities
As of October 31, 2024, debt securities consisted of the following (in millions):
As of January 31, 2024, debt securities consisted of the following (in millions):
Amortized Cost
Unrealized Gains
Unrealized Losses
Aggregate Fair Value
U.S. treasury securities
$
2,072
$
4
$
(2)
$
2,074
U.S. agency obligations
753
2
(1)
754
Corporate bonds
2,496
9
(5)
2,500
Commercial paper
1,232
0
0
1,232
Total debt securities
$
6,553
$
15
$
(8)
$
6,560
Included in Cash and cash equivalents
$
759
$
0
$
0
$
759
Included in Marketable securities
$
5,794
$
15
$
(8)
$
5,801
The fair values of debt securities, by remaining contractual maturity, were as follows (in millions):
October 31, 2024
Due within 1 year
$
2,983
Due in 1 year through 5 years
3,011
Total debt securities
$
5,994
We classify our debt securities as available-for-sale at the time of purchase and reevaluate such classification as of each balance sheet date. We consider all debt securities as funds available for use in current operations, including those with maturity dates beyond one year, and therefore classify these securities as current assets on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. Debt securities included in Marketable securities on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets consist of securities with original maturities at the time of purchase greater than three months, and the remaining securities are included in Cash and cash equivalents.
Interest receivable of $48 million and $35 million is included in Prepaid expenses and other current assets on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of October 31, 2024, and January 31, 2024, respectively.
The unrealized losses on our debt securities primarily resulted from changes in market interest rates. We do not intend to sell these debt securities and it is not more likely than not that we will be required to sell the debt securities before recovery of their amortized cost bases, which may be at maturity. We did not recognize any credit-related losses on our debt securities during the periods presented. The following tables summarize the aggregate fair value and gross unrealized losses for all debt securities in an unrealized loss position, aggregated by investment category and the length of time that individual securities have been in a continuous loss position (in millions):
As of October 31, 2024
Less than 12 Months
12 Months or Greater
Total
Fair Value
Unrealized Loss
Fair Value
Unrealized Loss
Fair Value
Unrealized Loss
U.S. treasury securities
$
266
$
(1)
$
120
$
0
$
386
$
(1)
U.S. agency obligations
142
0
15
0
157
0
Corporate bonds
640
(2)
184
0
824
(2)
Total
$
1,048
$
(3)
$
319
$
0
$
1,367
$
(3)
As of January 31, 2024
Less than 12 Months
12 Months or Greater
Total
Fair Value
Unrealized Loss
Fair Value
Unrealized Loss
Fair Value
Unrealized Loss
U.S. treasury securities
$
921
$
(2)
$
78
$
(1)
$
999
$
(3)
U.S. agency obligations
234
0
100
(1)
334
(1)
Corporate bonds
921
(3)
171
(1)
1,092
(4)
Commercial paper
5
0
0
0
5
0
Total
$
2,081
$
(5)
$
349
$
(3)
$
2,430
$
(8)
We sold $48 million and $24 million of debt securities during the three months ended October 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively. We sold $115 million and $42 million of debt securities during the nine months ended October 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively. The realized gains and losses from the sales were immaterial.
Equity investments consisted of the following (in millions):
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets Location
October 31, 2024
January 31, 2024
Money market funds
Cash and cash equivalents
$
849
$
1,017
Non-marketable equity investments measured using the measurement alternative
Other assets
242
248
Total equity investments
$
1,091
$
1,265
Total realized and unrealized gains and losses associated with our equity investments were as follows (in millions):
Three Months Ended October 31,
Nine Months Ended October 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
Net realized gains (losses) recognized on equity investments sold (1)
$
0
$
(1)
$
(3)
$
2
Net unrealized gains (losses) recognized on equity investments held as of the end of the period
3
(13)
(4)
(24)
Total net gains (losses) recognized in Other income (expense), net
$
3
$
(14)
$
(7)
$
(22)
(1)Reflects the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the equity investments at the beginning of the period.
Non-Marketable Equity Investments Measured Using the Measurement Alternative
Non-marketable equity investments measured using the measurement alternative include investments in privately held companies without readily determinable fair values in which we do not own a controlling interest or exercise significant influence. These investments are recorded at cost and are adjusted for observable transactions for same or similar securities of the same issuer or impairment events. The carrying values for our non-marketable equity investments are summarized below (in millions):
October 31, 2024
January 31, 2024
Total initial cost
$
210
$
213
Cumulative net unrealized gains (losses)
32
35
Carrying value
$
242
$
248
During the three months ended October 31, 2024, we recorded upward adjustments of $5 million to the carrying value of non-marketable equity investments and impairment losses of $2 million. During the three months ended October 31, 2023, we recorded impairment losses of $9 million.
During the nine months ended October 31, 2024, we recorded losses related to impairments and exits of $13 million and upward adjustments of $6 million to the carrying value of non-marketable equity investments. During the nine months ended October 31, 2023, we recorded impairment losses of $22 million.
Marketable Equity Investments
We may hold marketable equity investments with readily determinable fair values over which we do not own a controlling interest or exercise significant influence. As of October 31, 2024, and January 31, 2024, we did not hold any such investments.
During the three and nine months ended October 31, 2023, we recorded unrealized net losses of $4 million and $2 million, respectively, on our marketable equity investment balance held as of the end of the period of $29 million. Additionally, during the three and nine months ended October 31, 2023, we sold marketable equity investments for proceeds of $22 million and $52 million, respectively. The realized gains and losses from the sales were immaterial.
Note 4. Fair Value Measurements
We use a fair value hierarchy that requires that we maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. A financial instrument’s classification within the fair value hierarchy is based upon the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. Three levels of inputs may be used to measure fair value:
Level 1 — Observable inputs that reflect quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical assets or liabilities in active markets.
Level 2 — Other inputs that are directly or indirectly observable in the marketplace.
Level 3 — Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity.
Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value on a Recurring Basis
The following table presents information about our assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis and their assigned levels within the valuation hierarchy as of October 31, 2024 (in millions):
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Total
U.S. treasury securities
$
1,664
$
0
$
0
$
1,664
U.S. agency obligations
0
696
0
696
Corporate bonds
0
3,068
0
3,068
Commercial paper
0
566
0
566
Money market funds
849
0
0
849
Foreign currency derivative assets
0
46
0
46
Total assets
$
2,513
$
4,376
$
0
$
6,889
Foreign currency derivative liabilities
$
0
$
25
$
0
$
25
Total liabilities
$
0
$
25
$
0
$
25
The following table presents information about our assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis and their assigned levels within the valuation hierarchy as of January 31, 2024 (in millions):
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Total
U.S. treasury securities
$
2,074
$
0
$
0
$
2,074
U.S. agency obligations
0
754
0
754
Corporate bonds
0
2,500
0
2,500
Commercial paper
0
1,232
0
1,232
Money market funds
1,017
0
0
1,017
Foreign currency derivative assets
0
46
0
46
Total assets
$
3,091
$
4,532
$
0
$
7,623
Foreign currency derivative liabilities
$
0
$
27
$
0
$
27
Total liabilities
$
0
$
27
$
0
$
27
Non-Marketable Equity Investments Measured at Fair Value on a Non-Recurring Basis
Non-marketable equity investments that have been remeasured due to an observable event or impairment are classified within Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy because we estimate the value based on valuation methods which may include a combination of the observable transaction price at the transaction date and other unobservable inputs including volatility, rights, and obligations of the investments we hold. For further information, see Note 3, Investments.
Fair Value Measurements of Other Financial Instruments
We carry our debt at face value less unamortized debt discount and issuance costs on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and present the fair value for disclosure purposes only. The fair values of all of our debt obligations are categorized as Level 2 financial instruments. For further information on the fair values of our debt and the inputs used in the calculations, see Note 11, Debt.
Note 5. Deferred Costs
Deferred costs, which consist of deferred sales commissions, were $734 million and $741 million as of October 31, 2024, and January 31, 2024, respectively. Amortization expense for the deferred costs was $64 million and $54 million for the three months ended October 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively, and $185 million and $155 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively. There was no impairment loss in relation to the costs capitalized for the periods presented.
Property and equipment, net consisted of the following (in millions):
October 31, 2024
January 31, 2024
Computers, equipment, and software
$
1,402
$
1,387
Buildings
740
726
Leasehold improvements
245
213
Furniture, fixtures, and transportation equipment
105
99
Land and land improvements
81
81
Property and equipment, gross
2,573
2,506
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization
(1,310)
(1,272)
Property and equipment, net
$
1,263
$
1,234
Depreciation expense totaled $60 million and $52 million for the three months ended October 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively, and $174 million and $149 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively.
Note 7. Business Combinations
Evisort Acquisition
On October 8, 2024, we acquired all outstanding stock of Evisort Inc. (“Evisort”), a provider of an AI-native document intelligence platform. With Evisort, we intend to add AI-powered document intelligence solutions across our suite of finance and HCM applications. We have included the financial results of Evisort in our condensed consolidated financial statements from the date of acquisition.
The total acquisition-date fair value of the purchase consideration was $311 million, which was paid in cash. We recorded developed technology intangible assets of $44 million (to be amortized over an estimated useful life of 6 years), customer relationships intangible assets of $28 million (to be amortized over an estimated useful life of 14 years), and goodwill of $238 million. The goodwill recognized was primarily attributable to the expected synergies from integrating Evisort’s technology into our product portfolio. The goodwill is not deductible for income tax purposes. The fair values of assets acquired and liabilities assumed may be subject to change over the measurement period as additional information is received and certain tax matters are finalized. The measurement period will end no later than one year from the acquisition date.
Separate operating results and pro forma results of operations for Evisort have not been presented as the effect of this acquisition was not material to our financial results.
HiredScore Acquisition
On March 29, 2024, we acquired all outstanding stock of HiredScore, Inc. (“HiredScore”), a provider of AI-powered talent orchestration solutions. With HiredScore, Workday provides customers with a comprehensive, transparent, and intelligent talent acquisition and internal mobility offering, helping them better address their ever-evolving people needs. We have included the financial results of HiredScore in our condensed consolidated financial statements from the date of acquisition.
The total acquisition-date fair value of the purchase consideration was $530 million, which was paid in cash. The purchase consideration was preliminarily allocated to the tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their estimated fair values as of the acquisition date, with the excess recorded to goodwill. The fair values of assets acquired and liabilities assumed may be subject to change over the measurement period as additional information is received and certain tax matters are finalized. The primary areas that are subject to change include income taxes payable and deferred taxes. The measurement period will end no later than one year from the acquisition date. The preliminary fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed as of the date of acquisition were as follows (in millions):
The fair values and weighted-average useful lives of the acquired intangible assets by category were as follows (in millions, except years):
Estimated Fair Values
Weighted-Average Useful Lives (in Years)
Developed technology
$
111
8
Customer relationships
23
14
Trade name
1
1
Total acquisition-related intangible assets
$
135
9
The goodwill recognized was primarily attributable to the assembled workforce and the expected synergies from integrating HiredScore’s technology into our product portfolio. The goodwill is not deductible for income tax purposes.
Separate operating results and pro forma results of operations for HiredScore have not been presented as the effect of this acquisition was not material to our financial results.
Note 8. Acquisition-Related Intangible Assets, Net
Acquisition-related intangible assets, net consisted of the following as of October 31, 2024 (in millions):
Gross Carrying Amount
Accumulated Amortization
Net Book Value
Developed technology
$
473
$
(290)
$
183
Customer relationships
362
(163)
199
Backlog
15
(15)
0
Trade name
14
(13)
1
Total
$
864
$
(481)
$
383
Acquisition-related intangible assets, net consisted of the following as of January 31, 2024 (in millions):
Gross Carrying Amount
Accumulated Amortization
Net Book Value
Developed technology
$
318
$
(256)
$
62
Customer relationships
311
(140)
171
Backlog
15
(15)
0
Trade name
13
(13)
0
Total
$
657
$
(424)
$
233
Amortization expense related to acquisition-related intangible assets was $20 million and $16 million for the three months ended October 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively, and $58 million for each of the nine month periods ended October 31, 2024, and 2023.
As of October 31, 2024, the future estimated amortization expense related to acquisition-related intangible assets was as follows (in millions):
Other assets consisted of the following (in millions):
October 31, 2024
January 31, 2024
Non-marketable equity and other investments
$
245
$
248
Contract assets
37
21
Technology patents and other intangible assets, net
26
26
Prepayments for goods and services
16
14
Derivative assets
13
14
Deposits
10
8
Other
18
6
Total other assets
$
365
$
337
Technology patents and other intangible assets with estimable useful lives are amortized on a straight-line basis. As of October 31, 2024, the future estimated amortization expense was as follows (in millions):
Fiscal Period:
Remainder of 2025
$
1
2026
4
2027
3
2028
3
2029
3
Thereafter
12
Total
$
26
Note 10. Derivative Instruments
We conduct business on a global basis in multiple foreign currencies, subjecting Workday to foreign currency exchange risk. To mitigate this risk, we utilize derivative hedging contracts as described below. We do not enter into any derivatives for trading or speculative purposes.
Our foreign currency contracts are classified within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy because the valuation inputs are based on quoted prices and market observable data of similar instruments in active markets, such as currency spot and forward rates.
Cash Flow Hedges
We enter into foreign currency forward contracts to hedge a portion of our forecasted revenue and expense transactions (“cash flow hedges”). We designate these forward contracts as cash flow hedging instruments since the accounting criteria for such designation has been met.
Cash flow hedges are recorded on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets at fair value. Cash flows from the settlement of these forward contracts are classified as operating activities on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. Gains or losses resulting from changes in the fair value of these hedges are recorded in Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) (“AOCI”) on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and are subsequently reclassified to the same line item as the hedged transaction on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations in the same period that the hedged transaction affects earnings. As of October 31, 2024, we estimate that $18 million of net gains recorded in AOCI related to our cash flow hedges will be reclassified into income within the next 12 months.
As of October 31, 2024, and January 31, 2024, the notional values of the cash flow hedges that we held to buy U.S. dollars in exchange for other currencies were $2.8 billion and $2.5 billion, respectively, and the notional values of the cash flow hedges that we held to sell U.S. dollars in exchange for other currencies were $412 million and $399 million, respectively. All contracts had maturities of less than 60 months.
We also enter into foreign currency forward contracts to hedge a portion of our net outstanding monetary assets and liabilities (“non-designated hedges”). These forward contracts are intended to offset foreign currency gains or losses associated with the underlying monetary assets and liabilities and are recorded on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets at fair value. These forward contracts are not designated as hedging instruments under applicable accounting guidance, and therefore all changes in the fair value of these forward contracts are recorded in Other income (expense), net on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. Cash flows from the settlement of these forward contracts are classified as operating activities on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.
As of October 31, 2024, and January 31, 2024, the notional values of the non-designated hedges that we held to buy U.S. dollars in exchange for other currencies were $120 million and $237 million, respectively, and the notional values of the non-designated hedges that we held to sell U.S. dollars in exchange for other currencies were $54 million and $11 million, respectively.
The fair values of outstanding derivative instruments were as follows (in millions):
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets Location
October 31, 2024
January 31, 2024
Derivative assets:
Cash flow hedges
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
$
30
$
30
Cash flow hedges
Other assets
13
14
Non-designated hedges
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
3
2
Total derivative assets
$
46
$
46
Derivative liabilities:
Cash flow hedges
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
$
12
$
14
Cash flow hedges
Other liabilities
12
12
Non-designated hedges
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
1
1
Total derivative liabilities
$
25
$
27
The effect of cash flow hedges on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations was as follows (in millions):
Three Months Ended October 31,
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations Location
2024
2023
Total
Gains (losses) related to cash flow hedges
Total
Gains (losses) related to cash flow hedges
Revenues
$
2,160
$
7
$
1,866
$
16
Costs and expenses
1,995
3
1,778
1
Nine Months Ended October 31,
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations Location
Pre-tax gains (losses) associated with cash flow hedges were as follows (in millions):
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) Locations
Three Months Ended October 31,
Nine Months Ended October 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
Gains (losses) recognized in OCI
Net change in unrealized gains (losses) on cash flow hedges
$
0
$
67
$
11
$
54
Gains (losses) reclassified from AOCI into income (effective portion)
Revenues
7
16
23
49
Gains (losses) reclassified from AOCI into income (effective portion)
Costs and expenses
3
1
(2)
2
Gains (losses) associated with non-designated hedges were as follows (in millions):
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations Location
Three Months Ended October 31,
Nine Months Ended October 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
Gains (losses) related to non-designated hedges
Other income (expense), net
$
0
$
6
$
(2)
$
8
We are subject to netting agreements with all of the counterparties of the foreign exchange contracts, under which we are permitted to net settle transactions of the same currency with a single net amount payable by one party to the other. It is our policy to present the derivatives gross on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. Our foreign currency forward contracts are not subject to any credit contingent features or collateral requirements. We manage our exposure to counterparty risk by entering into contracts with a diversified group of major financial institutions and by actively monitoring outstanding positions.
As of October 31, 2024, information related to these offsetting arrangements was as follows (in millions):
Gross Amounts of Recognized Assets
Gross Amounts Offset on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
Net Amounts of Assets Presented on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
Gross Amounts Not Offset on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
Net Assets Exposed
Financial Instruments
Cash Collateral Received
Derivative assets:
Counterparty A
$
13
$
0
$
13
$
(4)
$
0
$
9
Counterparty B
9
0
9
(6)
0
3
Counterparty C
3
0
3
(1)
0
2
Counterparty D
17
0
17
(13)
0
4
Counterparty E
1
0
1
0
0
1
Counterparty F
2
0
2
(1)
0
1
Counterparty G
1
0
1
0
0
1
Total
$
46
$
0
$
46
$
(25)
$
0
$
21
Gross Amounts of Recognized Liabilities
Gross Amounts Offset on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
Net Amounts of Liabilities Presented on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
Gross Amounts Not Offset on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
Outstanding debt consisted of the following (in millions):
October 31, 2024
January 31, 2024
2027 Notes
$
1,000
$
1,000
2029 Notes
750
750
2032 Notes
1,250
1,250
Total principal amount
3,000
3,000
Less: unamortized debt discount and issuance costs
(17)
(20)
Debt, noncurrent
$
2,983
$
2,980
As of October 31, 2024, the future principal payments for the outstanding debt were as follows (in millions):
Fiscal Period:
Remainder of 2025
$
0
2026
0
2027
0
2028
1,000
2029
0
Thereafter
2,000
Total principal amount
$
3,000
Senior Notes
In April 2022, we issued $3.0 billion aggregate principal amount of senior notes, consisting of $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 3.500% notes due April 1, 2027 (“2027 Notes”), $750 million aggregate principal amount of 3.700% notes due April 1, 2029 (“2029 Notes”), and $1.25 billion aggregate principal amount of 3.800% notes due April 1, 2032 (“2032 Notes,” and together with the 2027 Notes and the 2029 Notes, “Senior Notes”). Interest is payable semi-annually in arrears on April 1 and October 1 of each year.
The Senior Notes are unsecured obligations and rank equally with all existing and future unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness of Workday. We may redeem the Senior Notes in whole or in part at any time or from time to time, at specified redemption dates and prices. In addition, upon the occurrence of certain change of control triggering events, we may be required to repurchase the Senior Notes under specified terms. The indenture governing the Senior Notes also includes covenants (including certain limited covenants restricting our ability to incur certain liens and enter into certain sale and leaseback transactions), events of default, and other customary provisions. As of October 31, 2024, and January 31, 2024, we were in compliance with all covenants associated with the Senior Notes.
We incurred debt discount and issuance costs of approximately $27 million in connection with the Senior Notes offering, which were allocated on a pro rata basis to the 2027 Notes, 2029 Notes, and 2032 Notes. The debt discount and issuance costs are amortized on a straight-line basis, which approximates the effective interest rate method, to interest expense over the contractual term of each arrangement. The effective interest rates on the 2027 Notes, 2029 Notes, and 2032 Notes, which are calculated as the contractual interest rates adjusted for the debt discount and issuance costs, are 3.67%, 3.82%, and 3.90%, respectively.
As of both October 31, 2024, and January 31, 2024, the total estimated fair value of the Senior Notes was $2.8 billion. The estimated fair values of the Senior Notes, which we have classified as Level 2 financial instruments, were determined based on quoted bid prices in an over-the-counter market on the last trading day of the reporting period.
Credit Agreement
In April 2022, we entered into a credit agreement (“2022 Credit Agreement”) which provides for a revolving credit facility in an aggregate principal amount of $1.0 billion. As of October 31, 2024, we had no outstanding revolving loans under the 2022 Credit Agreement. The revolving loans under the 2022 Credit Agreement may be borrowed, repaid, and reborrowed until April 6, 2027, at which time all amounts borrowed must be repaid. The revolving loans under the 2022 Credit Agreement will bear interest, at our option, at a base rate plus a margin of 0.000% to 0.500% or a secured overnight financing rate (“SOFR”) plus 10 basis points, plus a margin of 0.750% to 1.500%, with such margin being determined based on our consolidated leverage ratio or debt rating. We are also obligated to pay an ongoing commitment fee on undrawn amounts.
The 2022 Credit Agreement contains customary representations, warranties, and affirmative and negative covenants, including a financial covenant, events of default, and indemnification provisions in favor of the lenders. The negative covenants include restrictions on the incurrence of liens and indebtedness, certain merger transactions, and other matters, all subject to certain exceptions. The financial covenant, based on a quarterly financial test, requires that we do not exceed a maximum leverage ratio of 3.50:1.00, subject to a step-up to 4.50:1.00 at our election for a certain period following an acquisition. As of October 31, 2024, and January 31, 2024, we were in compliance with all covenants included in the 2022 Credit Agreement.
Interest Expense on Debt
The following table sets forth the interest expense recognized related to our debt (in millions):
Three Months Ended October 31,
Nine Months Ended October 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
Contractual interest expense
$
28
$
28
$
83
$
83
Interest cost related to amortization of debt discount and issuance costs
1
1
3
3
Total interest expense
$
29
$
29
$
86
$
86
Note 12. Leases
We have entered into operating lease agreements for our office space, data centers, and other property and equipment. Operating lease right-of-use assets were $335 million and $289 million as of October 31, 2024, and January 31, 2024, respectively, and operating lease liabilities were $380 million and $316 million as of October 31, 2024, and January 31, 2024, respectively.
The components of operating lease expense were as follows (in millions):
Three Months Ended October 31,
Nine Months Ended October 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
Operating lease cost
$
30
$
27
$
88
$
82
Short-term lease cost
0
1
1
2
Variable lease cost
15
12
39
34
Total operating lease cost
$
45
$
40
$
128
$
118
Supplemental cash flow information related to our operating leases was as follows (in millions):
Three Months Ended October 31,
Nine Months Ended October 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
Cash paid for operating lease liabilities
$
29
$
25
$
80
$
79
Operating lease right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for new operating lease liabilities
22
30
123
94
Other information related to our operating leases was as follows:
As of October 31, 2024, maturities of operating lease liabilities were as follows (in millions):
Fiscal Period:
Remainder of 2025
$
30
2026
108
2027
88
2028
77
2029
49
Thereafter
78
Total lease payments
430
Less imputed interest
(50)
Total operating lease liabilities
$
380
As of October 31, 2024, we have additional operating leases for data centers and office space that had not yet commenced with total undiscounted lease payments of $90 million. These operating leases will commence in fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2026, with lease terms ranging from approximately five to ten years.
Note 13. Commitments and Contingencies
Purchase Obligations
Our purchase obligations are primarily related to agreements for third-party hosted infrastructure platforms, data center equipment and software, business technology software and support, and sales and marketing activities. During the nine months ended October 31, 2024, there were no material changes outside the ordinary course of business to our non-cancelable purchase obligations disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2024.
Legal Matters
We are a party to various legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of business. We make a provision for a liability relating to legal matters when it is both probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. These provisions are reviewed at least quarterly and adjusted to reflect the impacts of negotiations, settlements, rulings, advice of legal counsel, and other information and events pertaining to a particular matter. In our opinion, as of October 31, 2024, there was not at least a reasonable possibility that we had incurred a material loss, or a material loss in excess of a recorded accrual, with respect to such loss contingencies.
Note 14. Stockholders’ Equity
Common Stock
As of October 31, 2024, there were 213 million shares of Class A common stock, net of treasury stock, and 52 million shares of Class B common stock outstanding. The rights of the holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock are identical, except with respect to voting and conversion. Each share of Class A common stock is entitled to one vote per share and each share of Class B common stock is entitled to 10 votes per share. Each share of Class B common stock can be converted into a share of Class A common stock at any time at the option of the holder.
Share Repurchase Programs
In August 2024, our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $1.0 billion of our outstanding shares of Class A common stock (“August 2024 Share Repurchase Program”). Under this program, in accordance with applicable securities laws and other restrictions, we may repurchase shares of our Class A common stock through open market purchases, including through the use of trading plans intended to qualify under Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act, in privately negotiated transactions, or by other means. The timing and total amount of share repurchases will depend upon business, economic, and market conditions, corporate and regulatory requirements, prevailing stock prices, and other considerations. The August 2024 Share Repurchase Program has no expiration date, may be suspended or discontinued at any time, and does not obligate us to acquire any amount of Class A common stock.
Prior to the August 2024 Share Repurchase Program, our Board of Directors authorized a $500 million share repurchase program in February 2024, which we completed in the third quarter of fiscal 2025, and a $500 million share repurchase program in November 2022, which we completed in the first quarter of fiscal 2025.
The table below sets forth information regarding our share repurchase programs (in millions, except number of shares which are reflected in thousands, and per share data):
Three Months Ended October 31,
Nine Months Ended October 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
Total number of shares repurchased
649
677
2,538
1,312
Average price paid per share
$
242.42
$
218.35
$
236.73
$
218.34
Amount repurchased
$
157
$
147
$
600
$
286
All repurchases were made in open market transactions. As of October 31, 2024, we were authorized to repurchase a remaining $902 million of our outstanding shares of Class A common stock under the August 2024 Share Repurchase Program.
Employee Equity Plans
In June 2022, our stockholders approved the 2022 Equity Incentive Plan (“2022 Plan”), with a reserve of 30 million shares for issuance. The 2022 Plan serves as the successor to our 2012 Equity Incentive Plan (“2012 Plan” and, together with the 2022 Plan, “Stock Plans”). Awards that are granted on or after the effective date of the 2022 Plan will be granted pursuant to and subject to the terms and provisions of the 2022 Plan. Prior awards granted under the 2012 Plan continue to be subject to the terms and provisions of the 2012 Plan. Shares that are withheld in connection with the net share settlement of RSUs or forfeited are added to the reserves of the 2022 Plan. As of October 31, 2024, we had 17 million shares of Class A common stock available for future grants.
In June 2022, our stockholders approved the Amended and Restated 2012 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”). Under the ESPP, eligible employees are granted options to purchase shares at the lower of 85% of the fair market value of the stock at the time of grant or 85% of the fair market value at the time of exercise. Options to purchase shares are granted twice yearly on or about June 1 and December 1, and are exercisable on or about the succeeding November 30 and May 31, respectively. As of October 31, 2024, 3 million shares of Class A common stock were available for issuance under the ESPP.
Restricted Stock Units
The Stock Plans provide for the issuance of restricted stock units (“RSUs”) to employees and non-employees. RSUs generally vest over four years. RSU activity during the nine months ended October 31, 2024, was as follows (in thousands, except per share data):
Number of Shares
Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding balance as of January 31, 2024
15,020
$
203.94
RSUs granted
6,602
251.96
RSUs vested
(3,495)
203.45
RSUs forfeited and canceled (1)
(2,854)
206.65
Outstanding balance as of October 31, 2024
15,273
224.31
(1)Includes shares withheld in connection with the net share settlement of RSUs.
As of October 31, 2024, there was a total of $2.6 billion in unrecognized compensation cost, adjusted for estimated forfeitures, related to unvested RSUs, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of approximately three years.
In December 2022, 0.3 million shares of market-based RSUs were granted to Mr. Eschenbach in connection with his appointment as Co-CEO that vest based on appreciation of the price of our Class A common stock over a multi-year period and upon continued service (“PVU Award”). We estimated the fair value of the PVU Award on the grant date using the Monte Carlo simulation model with the following assumptions: (i) expected volatility of 40%, (ii) risk-free interest rate of 4%, and (iii) total performance period of six years. The weighted-average grant date fair value of the PVU Award was $124.80 per share. We recognize expense for the PVU Award over the requisite service period of five years using the accelerated attribution method. Provided that the requisite service is rendered, the total fair value of the PVU Award at the date of grant is recognized as compensation expense even if the market condition is not achieved. However, the number of shares that ultimately vest can vary significantly with the achievement of the specified market criteria.
As of October 31, 2024, there was a total of $11 million in unrecognized compensation cost related to the PVU Award, which is expected to be recognized over approximately three years.
Stock Options
The Stock Plans provide for the issuance of incentive and nonstatutory stock options to employees and non-employees. Stock options issued under the Stock Plans generally are exercisable for periods not to exceed ten years and generally vest over five years.
As of October 31, 2024, there were 0.1 million options outstanding and exercisable with a weighted-average exercise price of $29.43, and an aggregate intrinsic value of $16 million. All stock options were fully vested, with no remaining unrecognized compensation cost.
Note 15. Contract Balances and Performance Obligations
Contract Balances
Contract assets and unearned revenue balances were as follows (in millions):
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets Location
October 31, 2024
January 31, 2024
Contract assets:
Contract assets, current
Trade and other receivables, net
$
414
$
240
Contract assets, noncurrent
Other assets
37
21
Total contract assets
$
451
$
261
Unearned revenue (1):
Unearned revenue, current
Unearned revenue
$
3,447
$
4,057
Unearned revenue, noncurrent
Unearned revenue, noncurrent
64
70
Total unearned revenue
$
3,511
$
4,127
(1)Included in the unearned revenue balance are amounts related to professional services that are subject to cancellation and pro-rated refund rights of $69 million and $76 million as of October 31, 2024, and January 31, 2024, respectively.
Revenues of $1.6 billion and $1.4 billion were recognized during the three months ended October 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively, that were included in the unearned revenue balances as of July 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively. Revenues of $3.6 billion and $3.1 billion were recognized during the nine months ended October 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively, that were included in the unearned revenue balances as of January 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively.
Transaction Price Allocated to the Remaining Performance Obligations
As of October 31, 2024, approximately $22.2 billion of revenues are expected to be recognized from remaining performance obligations for subscription contracts. We expect to recognize revenues on approximately $7.0 billion and $12.3 billion of these remaining performance obligations over the next 12 and 24 months, respectively, with the balance recognized thereafter. Revenues from remaining performance obligations for professional services contracts as of October 31, 2024, were not material.
Other income (expense), net consisted of the following (in millions):
Three Months Ended October 31,
Nine Months Ended October 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
Interest income
$
86
$
80
$
267
$
214
Interest expense (1)
(29)
(29)
(86)
(86)
Other (2)
5
(10)
(3)
(14)
Total other income (expense), net
$
62
$
41
$
178
$
114
(1)Interest expense primarily includes the contractual interest expense of our debt obligations, and the related non-cash interest expense attributable to amortization of the debt discount and issuance costs. For further information, see Note 11, Debt.
(2)Other primarily includes the net gains (losses) from our equity investments. For further information, see Note 3, Investments.
Note 17. Income Taxes
We reported an income tax provision of $86 million and $25 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively. The income tax provision for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, was primarily attributable to earnings in the U.S. and profitable foreign jurisdictions, offset by the excess tax benefit from stock-based compensation and increase in research and development credits. The income tax provision for the nine months ended October 31, 2023, was primarily attributable to income tax expenses in profitable foreign jurisdictions and an increase in U.S. taxes due to capitalized research and development expenditures.
We are subject to income tax audits in the U.S. and foreign jurisdictions. We record liabilities related to uncertain tax positions and believe that we have provided adequate reserves for income tax uncertainties in all open tax years. Due to our history of tax losses, all years remain open to tax audit.
We periodically evaluate the realizability of our net deferred tax assets based on all available evidence, both positive and negative. The realization of net deferred tax assets is dependent on our ability to generate sufficient future taxable income during periods prior to the expiration of tax attributes to fully utilize these assets. As of October 31, 2024, we continue to maintain valuation allowances related to tax credits in certain state jurisdictions and net operating loss in certain foreign jurisdictions. We will continue to evaluate the need for valuation allowances for our deferred tax assets.
Note 18. Net Income (Loss) Per Share
Basic net income (loss) per share is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period, net of treasury stock. Diluted net income (loss) per share is computed by giving effect to all potentially dilutive shares of common stock, including outstanding share-based awards consisting primarily of unvested RSUs and ESPP obligations and outstanding warrants related to the issuance of convertible senior notes. We determine the dilutive effect of outstanding share-based awards and warrants using the treasury stock method.
The net income (loss) per share is allocated based on the contractual participation rights of the Class A common shares and Class B common shares as if the income (loss) for the period had been distributed. As the liquidation and dividend rights are identical, the net income (loss) is allocated on a proportionate basis. The computation of the diluted net income per share of Class A common stock assumes the conversion of our Class B common stock to Class A common stock, while the diluted net income (loss) per share of Class B common stock does not assume the conversion of those shares.
The following table presents the calculation of basic and diluted net income (loss) per share (in millions, except number of shares, which are reflected in thousands, and per share data):
Three Months Ended October 31,
Nine Months Ended October 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
Class A
Class B
Class A
Class B
Class A
Class B
Class A
Class B
Net income (loss) per share, basic:
Numerator:
Net income (loss)
$
155
$
38
$
90
$
24
$
346
$
86
$
152
$
41
Denominator:
Weighted-average shares outstanding, basic
213,047
52,364
207,726
54,427
212,350
52,712
206,184
54,563
Net income (loss) per share, basic
$
0.73
$
0.73
$
0.43
$
0.43
$
1.63
$
1.63
$
0.74
$
0.74
Net income (loss) per share, diluted:
Numerator:
Net income (loss)
$
155
$
38
$
90
$
24
$
346
$
86
$
152
$
41
Reallocation of net income as a result of conversion of Class B to Class A common stock
38
0
24
0
86
0
41
0
Reallocation of net income to Class B common stock
0
0
0
(1)
0
(1)
0
(1)
Net income (loss) for diluted calculation
193
38
114
23
432
85
193
40
Denominator:
Weighted-average shares outstanding, basic
213,047
52,364
207,726
54,427
212,350
52,712
206,184
54,563
Conversion of Class B to Class A common stock
52,364
0
54,427
0
52,712
0
54,563
0
Dilutive effect of share-based awards
3,138
0
4,224
0
3,874
0
3,340
0
Weighted-average shares outstanding, diluted
268,549
52,364
266,377
54,427
268,936
52,712
264,087
54,563
Net income (loss) per share, diluted
$
0.72
$
0.72
$
0.43
$
0.43
$
1.61
$
1.61
$
0.73
$
0.73
The computation of diluted net income (loss) per share does not include the effect of the following potentially outstanding weighted-average shares of common stock. The effects of these potentially outstanding shares were not included in the calculation of diluted net income (loss) per share because the effect would have been anti-dilutive (in thousands):
Three Months Ended October 31,
Nine Months Ended October 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
Total weighted-average shares related to outstanding share-based awards
We sell our subscription contracts and related services in two primary geographical markets: to customers located in the United States and to customers located outside of the United States. Revenues by geography are generally based on the address of the customer as specified in our customer subscription agreement. The following table sets forth revenues by geographic area (in millions):
Three Months Ended October 31,
Nine Months Ended October 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
United States
$
1,623
$
1,404
$
4,676
$
4,013
Other countries
537
462
1,559
1,324
Total revenues
$
2,160
$
1,866
$
6,235
$
5,337
Long-Lived Assets
Our long-lived assets are attributed to a country based on the physical location of the assets. We define long-lived assets as property and equipment and operating lease right-of-use assets because many of these assets cannot be readily moved and are relatively illiquid, subjecting them to geographic risk. None of our other assets are subject to significant geographic risk. Aggregate Property and equipment, net and Operating lease right-of-use assets by geographic area was as follows (in millions):
This report contains forward-looking statements, which are subject to safe harbor protection under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this report other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding our future financial condition and operating results, business strategy and plans, and objectives for future operations, are forward-looking statements. The words “believe,”“may,”“will,”“estimate,”“continue,”“anticipate,”“intend,”“expect,”“seek,”“plan,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations, beliefs, and projections about future events, conditions, and trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, operating results, business strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives, and financial needs. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control, such as those arising from the impact of recent macroeconomic events, including inflation, fluctuating interest rates, and geopolitical factors, as well as those described in the “Risk Factors” section, which we encourage you to read carefully. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make.
In light of these risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and potential changes in circumstances, the future events, conditions, and trends discussed in this report may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied by the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you should not rely upon any forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activities, performance, or achievements. We are under no duty to update any of these forward-looking statements after the date of this report or to conform these statements to actual results or revised expectations, except as required by applicable law. If we do update any forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.
ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
You should read the following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations in conjunction with the condensed consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in Part I, Item 1 of this report.
Overview
Workday is a leading platform that helps organizations manage their most important assets - their people and money. We deliver cloud-based applications for financial management, human capital management, planning, spend management, and analytics. Our diverse customer base includes medium-sized and large, global organizations within numerous industry categories, including professional and business services, financial services, healthcare, education, government, technology, media, retail, and hospitality. With Workday, our customers have a unified platform with AI built into its core that can help them deliver better employee experiences, improve operational efficiencies, and provide insights for faster, data-driven decision-making.
We have achieved significant growth since our inception in 2005, when we pioneered HCM in the cloud. As a result of our innovation and commitment to customer success, today we are a Fortune 500 company with more than 10,500 customers around the world. As we continue to grow, we are focused on driving sustainable, long-term subscription revenue growth by adding new customers and expanding our footprint with existing customers through product add-ons, increased headcount level commitments, and price adjustments. Central to this effort is investing in strategic growth areas including leveraging the power of our platform to drive increased adoption of our full suite of financial management and HCM applications, expanding internationally, innovating with AI, growing our partner ecosystem, deepening our industry verticals, and exploring strategic acquisitions to complement our organic innovation. Our investments across these targeted growth areas may require additional costs, but we remain committed to optimizing resource allocation and realizing a return on our investments. Over time, we believe these investments will support revenue growth and a more scalable business.
We are continuing to focus on expanding our operating margin by driving scale and building efficiencies across the business through investments in people, processes, and systems. We expect our product development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative expenses as a percentage of total revenues will decrease over the longer term as we grow our revenues and invest in a disciplined manner to support our long-term growth objectives.
Recent macroeconomic events including elevated inflation and fluctuating interest rates, as well as geopolitical factors including the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts, continue to impact the global economy and create uncertainty, volatility, and disruption of financial markets. Despite this, we are confident in the long-term overall health of our business, the strength of our product offerings, and our ability to continue to execute on our strategy and help our customers on their human capital and finance digital transformation journeys. Demand for our products remains strong, we continue to achieve solid new subscription bookings, and our near-term revenues are relatively predictable as a result of our subscription-based business model.
We have experienced, and may continue to experience, a moderation of revenue growth rates due to deal scrutiny and the lengthening of certain sales cycles, particularly within net new opportunities, and reduced growth in headcount level commitments upon renewals of existing customers. Further, we have provided, and may continue to provide, certain customers with more flexible payment terms. If the economic uncertainty continues, we may also experience additional negative impacts on customer renewals, customer collections, sales and marketing efforts, customer deployments, product development, or other financial metrics. Any of these factors could harm our business, financial condition, and operating results. For further discussion of the potential impacts of recent macroeconomic events on our business, financial condition, and operating results, see “Risk Factors” included in Part II, Item 1A of this report.
Financial Results Overview
The following table provides an overview of our key metrics (in millions, except percentages, basis points, and headcount data):
Three Months Ended October 31,
Nine Months Ended October 31,
2024
2023
Change
2024
2023
Change
Total revenues
$
2,160
$
1,866
16
%
$
6,235
$
5,337
17
%
Subscription services revenues
$
1,959
$
1,691
16
%
$
5,678
$
4,843
17
%
GAAP operating income (loss)
$
165
$
88
88
%
$
340
$
104
226
%
Non-GAAP operating income (1)
$
569
$
462
23
%
$
1,602
$
1,280
25
%
GAAP operating margin
7.6
%
4.7
%
294 bps
5.5
%
2.0
%
350 bps
Non-GAAP operating margin (1)
26.3
%
24.8
%
154 bps
25.7
%
24.0
%
171 bps
Operating cash flows
$
406
$
451
(10)
%
$
1,349
$
1,153
17
%
Free cash flows (1)
$
359
$
391
(8)
%
$
1,166
$
970
20
%
As of October 31,
2024
2023
Change
Total subscription revenue backlog
$
22,191
$
18,446
20
%
12-month subscription revenue backlog
$
6,975
$
6,047
15
%
Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities
$
7,157
$
6,880
4
%
Headcount
20,493
18,369
12
%
(1)See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below for further information.
We derive our revenues from subscription services and professional services. Subscription services revenues primarily consist of fees that give our customers access to our cloud applications, which include related customer support. Professional services revenues include fees for deployment services, optimization services, and training.
Subscription services revenues accounted for approximately 91% of our total revenues for the three and nine months ended October 31, 2024, and represented 96% of our total unearned revenue as of October 31, 2024. Subscription services revenues are driven primarily by the number of customers, the number of workers at each customer, the specific applications subscribed to by each customer, and the price of our applications.
The mix of applications to which each customer subscribes can affect our financial performance due to price differentials in our applications. Pricing for our applications varies based on many factors, including the complexity and maturity of the application and its acceptance in the marketplace. New products or services offerings by competitors in the future could also impact the mix and pricing of our offerings.
Subscription services revenues are recognized over time as services are delivered, beginning on the date our service is made available to the customer. Our subscription contracts typically have a term of three years or longer and are generally noncancelable. We generally invoice our customers annually in advance for subscription services. We may provide certain customers flexible payment terms and the timing of revenue recognition may differ from the timing of invoicing to our customers.
Our professional services consulting engagements are billed on a time and materials or fixed price basis. We generally invoice our customers in arrears for our professional services. For contracts billed on a time and materials basis, revenues are recognized over time as the professional services are performed. For contracts billed on a fixed price basis, revenues are recognized over time based on the proportion of the professional services performed. In some cases, we supplement our consulting teams by subcontracting resources from our service partners and deploying them on customer engagements. As the Workday-related consulting practices of our partner firms continue to develop, we expect these partners to increasingly contract directly with our subscription customers for services engagements.
Subscription Revenue Backlog
Our subscription revenue backlog, which is also referred to as remaining performance obligations for subscription contracts, represents contracted subscription services revenues that have not yet been recognized and includes billed and unbilled amounts. Subscription revenue backlog may fluctuate from period to period due to a number of factors, including the timing of renewals and overall renewal rates, new business growth, average contract duration, business combinations, and seasonality.
Costs and Expenses
Costs of subscription services revenues. Costs of subscription services revenues consist primarily of expenses associated with hosting our applications and providing customer support, including employee-related expenses, expenses related to data center capacity and computing infrastructure operated by third parties, and depreciation of our data center equipment.
Costs of professional services revenues. Costs of professional services revenues consist primarily of employee-related expenses associated with these services, subcontractor expenses, and travel expenses.
Product development expenses. Product development expenses consist primarily of employee-related expenses associated with our efforts to add new features and applications, increase functionality, and enhance the ease of use of our cloud applications, as well as expenses related to data center capacity.
Sales and marketing expenses. Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of employee-related expenses, sales commissions, marketing programs, and travel expenses. Marketing programs consist of advertising, events, corporate communications, brand awareness, brand ambassador campaigns, and product marketing activities. Sales commissions are considered incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer. Sales commissions for new revenue contracts are capitalized and amortized on a straight-line basis over a period of benefit that we have determined to be five years.
General and administrative expenses. General and administrative expenses consist of employee-related expenses for finance and accounting, legal, human resources, information systems personnel, professional fees, and other corporate expenses.
Our total revenues were as follows (in millions, except percentages):
Three Months Ended October 31,
Nine Months Ended October 31,
2024
2023
% Change
2024
2023
% Change
Subscription services
$
1,959
$
1,691
16
%
$
5,678
$
4,843
17
%
Professional services
201
175
15
%
557
494
13
%
Total revenues
$
2,160
$
1,866
16
%
$
6,235
$
5,337
17
%
Total revenues were $2.2 billion for the three months ended October 31, 2024, compared to $1.9 billion for the prior year period, an increase of $294 million, or 16%. Subscription services revenues were $2.0 billion for the three months ended October 31, 2024, compared to $1.7 billion for the prior year period, an increase of $268 million, or 16%. Approximately 60% of the increase in subscription services revenues was attributable to expansion within our customers that existed as of the beginning of the comparable prior year period, and the remaining 40% was attributable to customers added after the beginning of the comparable prior year period. Professional services revenues were $201 million for the three months ended October 31, 2024, compared to $175 million for the prior year period, an increase of $27 million, or 15%. The increase in professional services revenues was driven by increased progress on fixed fee projects of $15 million and higher demand for deployment and integration services of $12 million.
Total revenues were $6.2 billion for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, compared to $5.3 billion for the prior year period, an increase of $898 million, or 17%. Subscription services revenues were $5.7 billion for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, compared to $4.8 billion for the prior year period, an increase of $835 million, or 17%. Approximately 60% of the increase in subscription services revenues was attributable to expansion of our customers that existed as of the beginning of the prior fiscal year, and the remaining 40% was attributable to customers added after the beginning of the prior fiscal year. Professional services revenues were $557 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, compared to $494 million for the prior year period, an increase of $63 million, or 13%. The increase in professional services revenues was driven by higher demand for deployment and integration services of $47 million and increased progress on fixed fee projects of $16 million.
Gross Revenue Retention Rate
Our growth in subscription services revenues attributable to existing customers is further reflected by our gross revenue retention rate of 98% as of October 31, 2024. Our gross revenue retention rate measures the percentage of recurring revenue retained from existing customers and is calculated by taking total annual recurring revenue (“ARR”) of our customers as of the corresponding prior period-end and comparing that to ARR from that same set of customers as of the current period-end. The metric takes into account recurring revenues lost to product or customer churn but does not account for additional revenue earned from add-ons or net expansions, which include volume and price adjustments. Our high gross revenue retention rate demonstrates our ability to maintain our existing customer base and drive strong overall customer satisfaction.
Our gross revenue retention rate is based on ARR, which represents the annualized value of active subscription contracts as of the end of each period. Each subscription contract is annualized by dividing the total contract value by the number of days in the contract term and then multiplying by 365. We exclude certain subscription contracts from the calculation, including contracts with terms less than one year that are distinct from our core product offering, such as contracts for tenants which are used for implementation and testing. To the extent that we are negotiating a renewal with a customer after the expiration of the subscription, ARR is only adjusted if the customer churns. We calculate ARR on a constant currency basis using exchange rates set at the beginning of each fiscal year. ARR is a non-GAAP financial measure and should be viewed independently of, and not as a substitute for or combined with, revenue and unearned revenue.
Subscription Revenue Backlog
As of October 31, 2024, our total subscription revenue backlog was $22.2 billion, with $7.0 billion expected to be recognized in revenues over the next 12 months. As of October 31, 2023, our total subscription revenue backlog was $18.4 billion, with $6.0 billion expected to be recognized in revenues over the next 12 months. The increase in subscription revenue backlog was primarily driven by expansion within our existing customer base, sales to new customers, and timing of renewals for existing customers.
Our costs and expenses were as follows (in millions):
Three Months Ended October 31,
Nine Months Ended October 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
Costs of subscription services
$
329
$
264
$
924
$
759
Costs of professional services
201
181
606
552
Product development
647
619
1,952
1,829
Sales and marketing
620
538
1,804
1,581
General and administrative
198
176
609
512
Total costs and expenses
$
1,995
$
1,778
$
5,895
$
5,233
Total costs and expenses were $2.0 billion for the three months ended October 31, 2024, compared to $1.8 billion for the prior year period, an increase of $217 million, or 12%. The increase in operating expenses included increases of $132 million in employee-related expenses, including share-based compensation, primarily due to higher average headcount, $20 million in facilities and IT-related expenses, $20 million in data center capacity expenses, $16 million in professional services and subcontractor expenses, $9 million in amortization of deferred sales commissions due to increased sales, and $8 million in depreciation.
Total costs and expenses were $5.9 billion for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, compared to $5.2 billion for the prior year period, an increase of $662 million, or 13%. The increase in operating expenses included increases of $404 million in employee-related expenses, including share-based compensation, primarily due to higher average headcount, $63 million in professional services and subcontractor expenses, $48 million in facilities and IT-related expenses, $37 million in data center capacity expenses, $29 million in amortization of deferred sales commissions due to increased sales, and $25 million in depreciation.
Costs of Subscription Services
Costs of subscription services were $329 million for the three months ended October 31, 2024, compared to $264 million for the prior year period, an increase of $66 million, or 25%. The increase in costs of subscription services included increases of $33 million in employee-related expenses primarily due to higher average headcount, $17 million in data center capacity expenses, and $8 million in depreciation.
Costs of subscription services were $924 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, compared to $759 million for the prior year period, an increase of $165 million, or 22%. The increase in costs of subscription services included increases of $100 million in employee-related expenses primarily due to higher average headcount, $29 million in data center capacity expenses, and $20 million in depreciation.
We expect costs of subscription services will continue to increase in absolute dollars as we improve and expand our technical operations infrastructure, including our data centers and computing infrastructure operated by third parties.
Costs of Professional Services
Costs of professional services were $201 million for the three months ended October 31, 2024, compared to $181 million for the prior year period, an increase of $19 million, or 11%. The increase in costs of professional services included an increase of $16 million in subcontractor expenses.
Costs of professional services were $606 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, compared to $552 million for the prior year period, an increase of $54 million, or 10%. The increase in costs of professional services included increases of $40 million in subcontractor expenses and $9 million in employee-related expenses.
We expect costs of professional services as a percentage of total revenues to continue to decline as we rely on our service partners to deploy our applications and as our subscription services revenues continue to grow as we expand both our customer base and our footprint within our existing customers.
Product Development
Product development expenses were $647 million for the three months ended October 31, 2024, compared to $619 million for the prior year period, an increase of $28 million, or 5%. The increase in product development expenses included an increase of $32 million in employee-related expenses primarily due to higher average headcount.
Product development expenses were $2.0 billion for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, compared to $1.8 billion for the prior year period, an increase of $123 million, or 7%. The increase in product development expenses included an increase of $110 million in employee-related expenses primarily due to higher average headcount.
We expect product development expenses will continue to increase in absolute dollars as we improve and extend our applications and develop new technologies, including costs incurred for hardware maintenance, data center capacity, facility costs, and IT-related expenses.
Sales and Marketing
Sales and marketing expenses were $620 million for the three months ended October 31, 2024, compared to $538 million for the prior year period, an increase of $82 million, or 15%. The increase in sales and marketing expenses included increases of $57 million in employee-related expenses primarily due to higher average headcount, $10 million related to marketing programs, $9 million in amortization of deferred sales commissions due to increased sales, and $8 million in facilities and IT-related expenses.
Sales and marketing expenses were $1.8 billion for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, compared to $1.6 billion for the prior year period, an increase of $223 million, or 14%. The increase in sales and marketing expenses included increases of $134 million in employee-related expenses primarily due to higher average headcount, $29 million in amortization of deferred sales commissions due to increased sales, $24 million related to marketing programs, and $20 million in facilities and IT-related expenses.
We expect sales and marketing expenses to increase in absolute dollars as we continue to invest in our domestic and international selling and marketing activities to expand awareness of our brand and product offerings to attract new and existing customers.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expenses were $198 million for the three months ended October 31, 2024, compared to $176 million for the prior year period, an increase of $22 million, or 12%. The increase in general and administrative expenses included increases of $9 million in professional services expenses and $8 million in employee-related expenses primarily due to higher average headcount.
General and administrative expenses were $609 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, compared to $512 million for the prior year period, an increase of $97 million, or 19%. The increase in general and administrative expenses included increases of $51 million in employee-related expenses primarily due to higher average headcount, $24 million in professional services expenses, and $9 million in realignment costs.
We expect general and administrative expenses will continue to increase in absolute dollars as we continue to grow our business and invest in our infrastructure, people, and systems to support our global operations.
Share-Based Compensation
Costs and expenses include share-based compensation expenses as follows (in millions):
Three Months Ended October 31,
Nine Months Ended October 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
Costs of subscription services
$
35
$
30
$
108
$
90
Costs of professional services
28
29
86
87
Product development
162
162
498
494
Sales and marketing
78
65
226
212
General and administrative
65
63
204
188
Total share-based compensation expenses
$
368
$
349
$
1,122
$
1,071
Percentage of total revenues
17.0
%
18.7
%
18.0
%
20.1
%
Share-based compensation expenses increased by $19 million for the three months ended October 31, 2024, compared to the prior year period, primarily due to additional grants to new and existing employees.
Share-based compensation expenses increased by $51 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, compared to the prior year period, primarily due to additional grants to new and existing employees.
Equity compensation is an important element of our compensation philosophy. While we expect share-based compensation expense to grow in absolute dollars as we expand our global workforce, we expect it to continue to decline as a percentage of total revenues.
Operating Income (Loss) and Operating Margin
GAAP operating income was $165 million, or 7.6% of revenues, for the three months ended October 31, 2024, compared to the prior year GAAP operating income of $88 million, or 4.7% of revenues. The increase was primarily due to our revenue growth outpacing headcount growth and moderation of operating expenses, including share-based compensation.
GAAP operating income was $340 million, or 5.5% of revenues, for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, compared to the prior year GAAP operating income of $104 million, or 2.0% of revenues. The increase was primarily due to our revenue growth outpacing headcount growth and moderation of operating expenses, including share-based compensation.
Non-GAAP operating income was $569 million, or 26.3% of revenues, for the three months ended October 31, 2024, compared to the prior year non-GAAP operating income of $462 million, or 24.8% of revenues. The increase was primarily due to our revenue growth outpacing headcount growth and moderation of operating expenses.
Non-GAAP operating income was $1.6 billion, or 25.7% of revenues, for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, compared to the prior year non-GAAP operating income of $1.3 billion, or 24.0% of revenues. The increase was primarily due to our revenue growth outpacing headcount growth and moderation of operating expenses.
Reconciliations of our GAAP to non-GAAP operating income (loss) and operating margin were as follows (in millions, except percentages). See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below for further information.
Three Months Ended October 31,
Nine Months Ended October 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
Operating income (loss)
$
165
$
88
$
340
$
104
Share-based compensation expenses
368
349
1,122
1,071
Employer payroll tax-related items on employee stock transactions
9
9
57
47
Amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets
20
16
58
58
Acquisition-related costs
7
0
16
0
Realignment costs
0
0
9
0
Non-GAAP operating income (loss)
$
569
$
462
$
1,602
$
1,280
Operating margin
7.6
%
4.7
%
5.5
%
2.0
%
Share-based compensation expenses
17.0
%
18.7
%
18.0
%
20.1
%
Employer payroll tax-related items on employee stock transactions
0.4
%
0.5
%
0.9
%
0.8
%
Amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets
1.0
%
0.9
%
0.9
%
1.1
%
Acquisition-related costs
0.3
%
0.0
%
0.3
%
0.0
%
Realignment costs
0.0
%
0.0
%
0.1
%
0.0
%
Non-GAAP operating margin
26.3
%
24.8
%
25.7
%
24.0
%
Other Income (Expense), Net
Other income (expense), net was as follows (in millions):
Three Months Ended October 31,
Nine Months Ended October 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
Total other income (expense), net
$
62
$
41
$
178
$
114
Other income, net increased by $20 million for the three months ended October 31, 2024, primarily due to a favorable change of $17 million on our equity investments.
Other income, net increased by $64 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, primarily due to increases of $53 million in interest income earned from higher investment balances and increased interest rates and a favorable change of $15 million on our equity investments.
The provision for (benefit from) income taxes was as follows (in millions):
Three Months Ended October 31,
Nine Months Ended October 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes
$
34
$
15
$
86
$
25
The income tax provision for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, was primarily attributable to earnings in the U.S. and profitable foreign jurisdictions, offset by the excess tax benefit from stock-based compensation and increase in research and development credits.
The income tax provision for the nine months ended October 31, 2023, was primarily attributable to earnings in profitable foreign jurisdictions and an increase in U.S. taxes due to capitalized research and development expenditures.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (“OECD”) released Pillar Two model rules defining a 15% global minimum tax for large multinational corporations. The OECD continues to release additional guidance and countries are implementing legislation with widespread adoption of the Pillar Two Framework expected in the near future. We are in the process of evaluating the potential impacts of Pillar Two. While we do not currently expect Pillar Two to have a material impact on our effective tax rate, our analysis is ongoing and incomplete, and it is possible that Pillar Two could have a material adverse effect on our tax liability.
For further information, see Note 17, Income Taxes, of the Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part I, Item 1 of this report.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of October 31, 2024, our principal sources of liquidity were cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities totaling $7.2 billion, which were primarily held for working capital and general corporate purposes. Our cash equivalents and marketable securities are composed of, in order from largest to smallest, corporate bonds, U.S. treasury securities, money market funds, U.S. agency obligations, and commercial paper. We have financed our operations primarily through customer payments, issuance of debt, and sales of our common stock.
We believe our existing cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, cash provided by operating activities, unbilled amounts related to the remaining term of contracted noncancelable subscription agreements, which are not reflected on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, and, if necessary, our borrowing capacity under our 2022 Credit Agreement that provides for $1.0 billion of unsecured financing, are sufficient to meet our working capital, capital expenditure, share repurchase, and debt repayment needs over the next 12 months and beyond.
Our long-term future capital requirements depend on many factors, including the effects of macroeconomic trends, customer growth rates, subscription renewal activity, headcount growth, the timing and extent of development efforts, the expansion of sales and marketing activities, the introduction of new and enhanced services offerings, infrastructure development, and our investment and acquisition activities. As part of our strategy, we may choose to seek additional debt or equity financing.
Our cash flows were as follows (in millions):
Three Months Ended October 31,
Nine Months Ended October 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
Net cash provided by (used in):
Operating activities
$
406
$
451
$
1,349
$
1,153
Investing activities
(450)
(172)
(1,054)
(1,270)
Financing activities
(282)
(150)
(996)
(201)
Effect of exchange rate changes
0
(1)
0
(1)
Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash
$
(326)
$
128
$
(701)
$
(319)
Operating Activities
Cash provided by operating activities was $406 million and $451 million for the three months ended October 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively. The decline in cash flow provided by operating activities was primarily the result of increased employee-related payments of $119 million primarily due to higher average headcount and increased supplier payments of $62 million to support our strategic growth objectives, offset by higher cash collections of $158 million due to increased sales.
Cash provided by operating activities was $1.3 billion and $1.2 billion for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively. The improvement in cash flow provided by operating activities was primarily the result of higher cash collections of $555 million due to increased sales and additional interest income received of $102 million from marketable debt securities, offset by increased employee-related payments of $288 million primarily due to higher average headcount and increased supplier payments of $139 million to support our strategic growth objectives.
Investing Activities
Cash used in investing activities for the three months ended October 31, 2024, was $450 million, which primarily resulted from cash consideration of $302 million, net of cash acquired, for the acquisition of Evisort, capital expenditures of $47 million for data center and office space projects, and a net cash outflow of $96 million related to marketable debt securities activity.
Cash used in investing activities for the three months ended October 31, 2023, was $172 million, which primarily resulted from a cash outflow of $148 million from the timing of purchases and maturities of marketable securities and capital expenditures of $60 million for data center and office space projects, offset by proceeds of $46 million from sales of marketable securities.
Cash used in investing activities for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, was $1.1 billion, which primarily resulted from cash consideration, net of cash acquired, of $522 million and $302 million for the acquisitions of HiredScore and Evisort, respectively, capital expenditures of $183 million for data center and office space projects, and a net cash outflow of $39 million related to marketable debt securities activity.
Cash used in investing activities for the nine months ended October 31, 2023, was $1.3 billion, which primarily resulted from a cash outflow of $1.2 billion from the timing of purchases and maturities of marketable securities and capital expenditures of $183 million for data center and office space projects, offset by proceeds of $93 million from sales of marketable securities.
We expect capital expenditures will be approximately $300 million in fiscal 2025. This includes investments in our data centers and office facilities to support our continued growth.
Financing Activities
Cash used in financing activities was $282 million for the three months ended October 31, 2024, which was primarily due to repurchases of common stock of $158 million under our share repurchase programs and taxes paid of $124 million related to net share settlement of equity awards.
Cash used in financing activities was $150 million for the three months ended October 31, 2023, which was primarily due to repurchases of common stock of $145 million under our share repurchase programs.
Cash used in financing activities was $996 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, which was primarily due to repurchases of common stock of $597 million under our share repurchase programs and taxes paid of $505 million related to net share settlement of equity awards, offset by proceeds of $106 million from the issuance of common stock from employee equity plans.
Cash used in financing activities was $201 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2023, which was primarily due to due to repurchases of common stock of $283 million under our share repurchase programs, offset by proceeds of $95 million from the issuance of common stock from employee equity plans.
Free Cash Flows
In evaluating our performance internally, we focus on long-term, sustainable growth in free cash flows. We define free cash flows, a non-GAAP financial measure, as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities minus capital expenditures. See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below for further information.
Free cash flows were $359 million for the three months ended October 31, 2024, compared to $391 million for the prior year period. The decline was primarily the result of increased employee-related payments of $119 million primarily due to higher average headcount and increased supplier payments of $62 million to support our strategic growth objectives, offset by higher cash collections of $158 million due to increased sales and a decrease in capital expenditures of $13 million for data centers.
Free cash flows were $1.2 billion for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, compared to $970 million for the prior year period. The improvement was primarily the result of higher cash collections of $555 million due to increased sales and additional interest income received of $102 million from marketable debt securities, offset by increased employee-related payments of $288 million primarily due to higher average headcount and increased supplier payments of $139 million to support our strategic growth objectives.
Reconciliation of our GAAP net cash provided by (used in) operating activities to non-GAAP free cash flows is as follows (in millions):
Three Months Ended October 31,
Nine Months Ended October 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities
$
406
$
451
$
1,349
$
1,153
Less: Capital expenditures
(47)
(60)
(183)
(183)
Free cash flows
$
359
$
391
$
1,166
$
970
Share Repurchase Programs
In August 2024, our Board of Directors authorized the August 2024 Share Repurchase Program, under which we may repurchase up to $1.0 billion of our outstanding shares of our Class A common stock. Prior to the August 2024 Share Repurchase Program, our Board of Directors authorized a $500 million share repurchase program in February 2024, which we completed in the third quarter of fiscal 2025, and a $500 million share repurchase program in November 2022, which we completed in the first quarter of fiscal 2025. For further information, see Note 14, Stockholders’ Equity, of the Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part I, Item 1 of this report.
Contractual Obligations
Our contractual obligations primarily consist of borrowings under our Senior Notes, agreements for third-party hosted infrastructure platforms for business operations, leases for office space and co-location facilities for data center capacity, and other purchase obligations entered into in the ordinary course of business. There have been no material changes outside the ordinary course of business to our contractual obligations disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2024.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Regulation S-K Item 10(e), “Use of non-GAAP financial measures in Commission filings,” defines and prescribes the conditions for use of non-GAAP financial information. Our measures of non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP operating margin, and free cash flows meet the definition of non-GAAP financial measures.
Change in Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Effective beginning fiscal 2025, we will exclude certain acquisition-related costs and realignment costs from our non-GAAP results as they may vary from period to period independent of the operating performance of our business. There was no impact to prior period amounts presented in this report as a result of this change since no qualifying costs were incurred in the first three quarters of fiscal 2024.
Non-GAAP Operating Income and Non-GAAP Operating Margin
We use the non-GAAP financial measures of non-GAAP operating income and non-GAAP operating margin to understand and compare operating results across accounting periods, for internal budgeting and forecasting purposes, for short- and long-term operating plans, and to evaluate our financial performance. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures reflect our ongoing business in a manner that allows for meaningful period-to-period comparisons and analysis of trends in our business.
Our non-GAAP operating income and non-GAAP operating margin exclude the components listed below. For the reasons set forth below, we believe that excluding these components provides useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results and prospects in the same manner as management, in comparing financial results across accounting periods and to those of peer companies, and to better understand the long-term performance of our core business.
•Share-based compensation expenses. Share-based compensation primarily consists of non-cash expenses for employee RSUs and our ESPP, and includes share-based compensation associated with acquisitions. Although share-based compensation is an important aspect of the compensation of our employees and executives, this expense is determined using a number of factors, including our stock price, volatility, and forfeiture rates, that are beyond our control and generally unrelated to operational decisions and performance in any particular period. Further, share-based compensation expenses are not reflective of the value ultimately received by the grant recipients.
•Employer payroll tax-related items on employee stock transactions. We exclude the employer payroll tax-related items on employee stock transactions in order to show the full effect that excluding share-based compensation expenses has on our operating results. Similar to share-based compensation expenses, this tax expense is dependent on our stock price and other factors that are beyond our control and do not correlate to the operation of our business.
•Amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets. For business combinations, we generally allocate a portion of the purchase price to intangible assets. The amount of the allocation is based on estimates and assumptions made by management and is subject to amortization. The amount of purchase price allocated to intangible assets and the term of the related amortization can vary significantly and are unique to each acquisition and thus we do not believe it is reflective of our ongoing operations. Although we exclude the amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets from these non-GAAP financial measures, we believe that it is important for investors to understand that such intangible assets were recorded as part of purchase accounting and contribute to revenue generation.
•Acquisition-related costs. Acquisition-related costs include direct transaction costs, such as due diligence and advisory fees, and certain compensation and integration-related expenses. We exclude the effects of acquisition-related costs as we believe these transaction-specific expenses are inconsistent in amount and frequency and do not correlate to the operation of our business.
•Realignment costs. Realignment costs are associated with a formal restructuring plan and are primarily related to employee severance, the closure of facilities, and cancellation of certain contracts. We exclude these expenses because they are not reflective of ongoing business and operating results.
Free Cash Flows
We define free cash flows as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities minus capital expenditures. We use free cash flows as a measure of financial progress in our business, as it balances operating results, cash management, and capital efficiency. We believe information regarding free cash flows provides investors and others with an enhanced view of cash flow generation from the ongoing operations of our business.
Limitations on the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
A limitation of our non-GAAP financial measures of non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP operating margin, and free cash flows is that they do not have uniform definitions. Our definitions will likely differ from the definitions used by other companies, including peer companies, and therefore comparability may be limited. Further, these non-GAAP financial measures have certain limitations as they do not reflect all items of expense or cash that affect our operations and are reflected in the corresponding GAAP financial measures. In the case of share-based compensation, if we did not pay out a portion of compensation in the form of share-based compensation, the cash salary expense included in operating expenses would be higher, which would affect our cash position.
We compensate for these limitations by reconciling the non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for or in isolation from, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. We encourage investors and others to review our financial information in its entirety, not to rely on any single financial measure, and to view our non-GAAP financial measures in conjunction with the most comparable GAAP financial measures.
See “Results of Operations—Operating Income (Loss) and Operating Margin” for reconciliations from the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures of GAAP operating income (loss) and GAAP operating margin, to the non-GAAP financial measures of non-GAAP operating income and non-GAAP operating margin, for the three and nine months ended October 31, 2024, and 2023.
See “Liquidity and Capital Resources—Free Cash Flows” for a reconciliation from the most comparable GAAP financial measure, net cash provided by (used in) operating activities, to the non-GAAP financial measure, free cash flows, for the three and nine months ended October 31, 2024, and 2023.
Our condensed consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of these condensed consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates, judgments, and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, costs and expenses, and related disclosures. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates, judgments, and assumptions. Our actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
We believe that the following critical accounting policies involve a high degree of judgment and complexity, and are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our financial condition and operating results:
•Revenue recognition
•Deferred commissions
•Income taxes
•Business combinations, goodwill, and acquisition-related intangible assets
•Non-marketable equity investments
For a further discussion of our critical accounting policies, refer to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2024. During the three and nine months ended October 31, 2024, there were no significant changes to our critical accounting policies and estimates.
ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Recent macroeconomic events have resulted in negative impacts on global economies and financial markets, which may increase our foreign currency exchange risk and interest rate risk. For further discussion of the potential impacts of these events on our business, financial condition, and operating results, see “Risk Factors” included in Part II, Item 1A of this report.
Foreign Currency Exchange Risk
We transact business globally in multiple currencies. As a result, our operating results and cash flows are subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates. As of October 31, 2024, our most significant currency exposures were the euro, British pound, Canadian dollar, and Australian dollar.
Due to our exposure to market risks that may result from changes in foreign currency exchange rates, we enter into foreign currency derivative hedging transactions to mitigate these risks. For further information, see Note 10, Derivative Instruments, of the Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part I, Item 1 of this report.
Interest Rate Risk on our Investments
We had cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities totaling $7.2 billion and $7.8 billion as of October 31, 2024, and January 31, 2024, respectively. Cash equivalents and marketable securities were invested primarily in U.S. treasury securities, U.S. agency obligations, corporate bonds, commercial paper, and money market funds. The cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities are held primarily for working capital and general corporate purposes. Our investment portfolios are managed to preserve capital and meet liquidity needs. We do not enter into investments for trading or speculative purposes.
Our cash equivalents and our portfolio of debt securities are subject to market risk due to changes in interest rates. Fixed rate securities may have their market value adversely affected due to a rise in interest rates, while floating rate securities may produce less income than expected if interest rates fall. Due in part to these factors, our future investment income may fluctuate due to changes in interest rates or we may suffer losses in principal if we sell securities that decline in market value due to changes in interest rates. Further, since our debt securities are classified as “available-for-sale,” if the fair value of the security declines below its amortized cost basis, then any portion of that decline attributable to credit losses, to the extent expected to be nonrecoverable before the sale of the impaired security, is recognized on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.
An immediate increase or decrease of 100 basis points in interest rates would have resulted in an approximately $58 million market value reduction or increase in our investment portfolio as of October 31, 2024. An immediate increase or decrease of 100 basis points in interest rates would have resulted in an approximately $57 million market value reduction or increase in our investment portfolio as of January 31, 2024. This estimate is based on a sensitivity model that measures market value changes when changes in interest rates occur.
Interest Rate Risk on our Debt
The Senior Notes have fixed annual interest rates, and therefore we do not have economic interest rate exposure on these debt obligations. However, the fair values of the Senior Notes are exposed to interest rate risk. Generally, the fair values of the Senior Notes will increase as interest rates fall and decrease as interest rates rise.
Borrowings under our 2022 Credit Agreement will bear interest, at our option, at a base rate plus a margin of 0.000% to 0.500% or a SOFR plus 10 basis points, plus a margin of 0.750% to 1.500%, with such margin being determined based on our consolidated leverage ratio or debt rating. Because the interest rates applicable to borrowings under the 2022 Credit Agreement are variable, we are exposed to market risk from changes in the underlying index rates, which affect our cost of borrowing.
For further information, see Note 11, Debt, of the Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part I, Item 1 of this report.
ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
(a) Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures, as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act as of the end of the period covered by this report.
In designing and evaluating our disclosure controls and procedures, management recognizes that any disclosure controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives. In addition, the design of disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints and that management is required to apply its judgment in evaluating the benefits of possible controls and procedures relative to their costs.
Based on management’s evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are designed to, and are effective to, provide assurance at a reasonable level that the information we are required to disclose in reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures.
(b) Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of any changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) that occurred during our most recently completed fiscal quarter. Based on that evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that there has not been any material change in our internal control over financial reporting during the quarter covered by this report that materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
We are regularly involved with claims, suits, purported class or representative actions, and may be involved in regulatory and government investigations and other proceedings, involving competition, intellectual property, data security and privacy, bankruptcy, tax and related compliance, labor and employment, commercial disputes, and other matters. Such claims, suits, actions, regulatory and government investigations, and other proceedings can impose a significant burden on management and employees, could prevent us from offering one or more of our applications, services, or features to others, could require us to change our technology or business practices, or could result in monetary damages, fines, civil or criminal penalties, reputational harm, or other adverse consequences.
These claims, suits, actions, regulatory and government investigations, and other proceedings may include speculative, substantial, or indeterminate monetary amounts. We record a liability when we believe that it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount can be reasonably estimated. Significant judgment is required to determine both the likelihood of there being a liability and the estimated amount of a liability related to such matters. With respect to our outstanding matters, based on our current knowledge, we believe that the amount or range of reasonably possible liability will not, either individually or in aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results, or cash flows. However, the outcome of such matters is inherently unpredictable and subject to significant uncertainties.
Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this report, including the condensed consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this report, before making an investment decision. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently believe are not material, may also become important factors that materially and adversely affect our business. If any of the following risks actually occurs, our business operations, financial condition, operating results, and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. The market price of our securities could decline due to the materialization of these or any other risks, and you could lose part or all of your investment.
Summary of Risk Factors
The following summary provides an overview of the material risks we are exposed to in the normal course of our business activities. This risk factor summary does not contain all of the information that may be important to you, and you should read these together with the more detailed discussion of risks set forth following this section, as well as elsewhere in this report under the heading “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Additional risks beyond those summarized below, or discussed elsewhere in “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” may apply to our activities or operations as currently conducted or as we may conduct them in the future, or to the markets in which we currently operate or may in the future operate. Consistent with the foregoing, we are exposed to a variety of risks, including those associated with the following:
•any compromise of our information technology systems or security measures (including of our critical suppliers and service partners), or the unauthorized access of customer or user data;
•any slowdown or failure of our technical operations infrastructure, including our data centers and computing infrastructure operated by third parties, or the impact of service outages or delays in the deployment of our applications, or the failure of our applications to perform properly;
•privacy concerns and evolving domestic or foreign laws and regulations;
•the impact of continuing global economic and geopolitical volatility;
•any loss of key employees or the inability to attract, develop, and retain highly skilled employees;
•our ability to compete effectively in the intensely competitive markets in which we participate;
•our reliance on our network of partners to drive additional growth of our revenues;
•exposure to risks inherent to sales to customers outside the United States or with international operations;
•any dissatisfaction of our users with the deployment, training, and support services provided by us and our partners;
•the fluctuation of our quarterly results;
•our ability to realize a return on our current development efforts or offer new features, enhancements, and modifications to our products and services, and our ability to realize a return on the investments we have made toward entering new markets and new lines of business;
•delays in the reflection of downturns or upturns in new sales in our operating results associated with long sales cycles and our subscription model;
•our ability to predict the rate of customer subscription renewals or adoptions;
•new and evolving technologies such as AI;
•any adverse litigation results;
•our ability to successfully integrate our applications with third-party technologies;
•our ability to realize the expected business or financial benefits of company, employee, or technology acquisitions;
•any failure to protect our intellectual property rights or any lawsuits against us for alleged infringement of third-party proprietary rights;
•government contracts and related procurement regulations;
•our existing and future debt obligations; and
•the limited ability of third parties to influence corporate matters due to our dual class structure and to seek a merger, tender offer, or proxy contest due to Delaware law and provisions in our organizational documents.
Any slowdown or failure in our technical operations infrastructure or applications may subject us to liabilities and adversely affect our reputation and operating results.
We have experienced significant growth in the number of users, transactions, and data that our operations infrastructure supports. If we do not accurately predict our infrastructure requirements or fail to adapt and scale, we may experience service outages or delays, or significant increases in operating costs, which may adversely affect our business and operating results.
We have experienced, and may in the future experience, defects, system disruptions, outages, and other performance problems, including the failure of our applications to perform properly. These problems may be caused by a variety of factors, including infrastructure and software or code changes, vendor issues, software and system defects, human error, viruses, worms, security attacks (internal and external), fraud, spikes in customer usage, and denial of service issues. All of these issues may result in increased operational costs, delays in new feature rollouts, customer loss, reputational damage, and legal or regulatory liability, including liability under customer contracts.
Such issues have, and may in the future, result in certain parties having unauthorized access to data, which could increase the scope of our liability. For example, in November 2023, we discovered that an issue in our product affecting certain customers resulted in document notifications and PDF documents being sent to unintended recipients within the same organization. Because of the large amount of data that we collect and process in our systems, and the sensitive nature of such data, it is possible that these issues could result in significant disruption, data loss or corruption, or cause the data to be incomplete or contain inaccuracies that our customers and other users regard as significant.
Furthermore, our applications are essential to many of the business processes for our customers. For example, our financial management application is essential to our and our customers’ financial planning, reporting, and compliance programs. Any interruption in our service may affect the availability, accuracy, or timeliness of such programs and as a result could damage our reputation, cause our customers to terminate their use of our applications, require us to issue refunds for prepaid and unused subscription services, require us to compensate our customers for certain losses, and prevent us from gaining additional business from current or future customers. In addition, because we use Workday’s financial management application, any problems that we experience with financial reporting and compliance could be negatively perceived by prospective or current customers and negatively impact demand for our applications.
Our insurance policies, including our errors and omissions insurance, may be inadequate or may not be available in the future on acceptable terms, or at all, to protect against claims and other legal actions arising from breaches of our contracts, disruptions in our service, including those caused by cybersecurity incidents, failures or disruptions to our infrastructure, catastrophic events and disasters, or otherwise. In addition, our policy may not cover all claims made against us and defending a suit, regardless of its merit, could be costly.
We depend on data centers and other infrastructure operated by third parties, as well as internet availability, and any disruption in these operations could adversely affect our business and operating results.
We host our applications and serve our customers and users globally from data centers operated by third parties and rely upon third-party hosted infrastructure partners to operate certain aspects of our services. We control our applications and data but we do not control the facilities, operations, and physical security of these locations. Disruption of or interference at our data centers or hosted infrastructure partners has and could in the future impact our operations and our business could be adversely impacted. For example, we have experienced disruptions at certain of our data centers in the U.S. due to high temperatures and power outages that resulted in a brief temporary outage of our services for a subset of our customers. Our data center and hosted infrastructure partner facilities may also be subject to cybersecurity breaches, capacity constraints, financial difficulties, break-ins, sabotage, intentional acts of vandalism and similar misconduct, natural catastrophic events, as well as local administrative actions, changes to legal or permitting requirements, and litigation to stop, limit, or delay operations, and our disaster recovery planning may not account for all eventualities.
Furthermore, our customers and other users access our applications through their internet service providers. If a service provider fails to provide sufficient capacity to support our applications or otherwise experiences service outages, such failure could interrupt our customers’ and other users’ access to our applications, which could adversely affect their perception of our applications’ reliability and our revenues. In addition, certain countries have implemented or may implement legislative and technological actions that either do or can effectively regulate access to the internet, including the ability of internet service providers to limit access to specific websites or content.
Any changes in third-party service levels at data centers or at our hosted infrastructure partners, or any errors, defects, disruptions, or other performance problems with our applications or the infrastructure on which they run, including internet infrastructure, could adversely affect our reputation and may damage our customers’ or other users’ stored files or result in lengthy interruptions in our services. Interruptions in our services might adversely affect our reputation and operating results, cause us to issue refunds or service credits to customers, subject us to potential liabilities, result in contract terminations, or adversely affect our renewal rates.
The extent to which the continuing global economic and geopolitical volatility, and any resulting effect on customer spending, will continue to impact our business, financial condition, and operating results will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and difficult to predict.
We operate on a global scale, and as a result, our business and revenues are impacted by global economic and geopolitical conditions. Global economic developments, geopolitical volatilities, downturns or recessions, and global health crises may negatively affect us or our ability to accurately forecast and plan our future business activity. In addition, geopolitical volatilities, including the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts, have led and could lead to further economic disruption. Any sustained adverse impacts from these and other recent macroeconomic events could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results, and earnings guidance that we may issue from time to time, which could have a material effect on the value of our Class A common stock.
Our future revenues rely on continued demand by existing customers and the acquisition of new customers who may be subject to economic hardship due to recent macroeconomic events, including concerns about inflation or the interest rate environment, and may delay or reduce their enterprise software spending to preserve capital and liquidity. In connection with recent macroeconomic events, we have experienced and may continue to experience delays in purchasing decisions from existing and prospective customers, increased demand for price concessions and delayed payment terms, and a reduction in customer demand. Our business, financial condition, and operating results may be negatively impacted in future periods due to the prolonged impacts of recent macroeconomic events, which may not be fully reflected in our operating results and overall financial performance until future periods.
To the extent recent macroeconomic events adversely affect our business, financial condition, and operating results, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section.
We may lose key employees or be unable to attract, train, and retain highly skilled employees.
Our success and future growth depend largely upon the continued services of our executive officers, other members of senior management, and other key employees. Effective February 1, 2024, the start of our fiscal 2025, in accordance with an established succession plan, Aneel Bhusri stepped down from his role as Co-CEO and assumed the role of Executive Chair, and Carl Eschenbach, formerly Co-CEO alongside Mr. Bhusri, assumed the role of sole CEO. We do not have employment agreements with our executive officers or other key personnel that require them to continue to work for us for any specified period, and they could terminate their employment with us at any time. Key employee changes have the potential to disrupt our business, impact our ability to preserve our culture, negatively affect our ability to attract and retain talent, or otherwise have a serious adverse effect on our business and operating results.
To execute our growth plan, we must attract, enable, and develop highly qualified talent. Our ability to compete and succeed in a highly competitive environment is directly correlated to our ability to recruit and retain highly skilled employees, especially in the areas of product development, cybersecurity, senior sales executives, and engineers with significant experience in designing and developing software and internet-related services, including in the areas of AI. The expansion of our sales infrastructure, both domestically and internationally, is necessary to grow our customer base and business. Our business may be adversely affected if our efforts to attract and enable new members of our direct sales force do not generate a corresponding increase in revenues. We have experienced, and we expect to continue to experience, significant competition in hiring and retaining employees with appropriate qualifications.
We must also continue to retain and motivate existing employees through our compensation practices, company culture, and career development opportunities. Further, our current and future office environments, such as our current hybrid work policies, may not meet the expectations of our employees or prospective employees, and may amplify challenges in recruiting. We believe that a critical component of our success has been our corporate culture and our core values. As we continue to grow and change, we may find it difficult to maintain our corporate culture among a larger number of employees who are dispersed throughout various geographic regions. Additionally, we and many of our stakeholders expect to have a corporate culture that embraces diversity and inclusion, and any inability to attract and retain diverse and qualified personnel may harm our corporate culture and our ability to innovate. Failure to maintain or adapt our culture could negatively affect our ability to attract new personnel or to retain our current personnel and our business and future growth prospects could be adversely affected.
The markets in which we participate are intensely competitive, and if we do not compete effectively, our operating results could be adversely affected.
The markets for enterprise cloud applications are highly competitive, with relatively low barriers to entry for some applications or services. Some of our competitors are larger and have greater name recognition, significantly longer operating histories, access to larger customer bases, larger marketing budgets, and significantly greater resources to devote to the development, promotion, and sale of their products and services than we do. This may allow our competitors to respond more effectively than us to new or emerging technologies and changes in market conditions.
Our primary competitors are Oracle and SAP, well-established providers of financial management and HCM applications, which have long-standing relationships with customers and partners. Some customers may be hesitant to switch vendors or to adopt cloud applications such as ours and may prefer to maintain their existing relationships with competitors. We also face competition from other enterprise software vendors, from regional competitors that only operate in certain geographic markets, and from vendors of specific applications that address only one or a portion of our applications, some of which offer cloud-based solutions. These vendors include, without limitation: Anaplan, Inc., ADP, Coupa Software Inc., Dayforce, Inc., Infor, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, and UKG Inc. In order to take advantage of customer demand for cloud applications, legacy vendors are expanding their cloud applications through acquisitions, strategic alliances, and organic development. In addition, other cloud companies that provide services in different target markets or industries may develop applications or acquire companies that operate in our target markets or industries, and some potential customers may elect to develop their own internal applications. As the market matures and as existing and new market participants introduce new types of technologies and different approaches that enable organizations to address their HCM and financial needs, we expect this competition to intensify in the future.
Furthermore, our current or potential competitors may be acquired by, or merge with, third parties with greater available resources and the ability to initiate or withstand substantial price competition. Our competitors may also establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties that may further enhance their offerings or resources. Many of our competitors also have major distribution agreements with consultants, system integrators, and resellers and such partners may prefer to maintain their existing relationships with competitors. With the introduction of new technologies, such as generative AI, we expect competition to intensify in the future. If our competitors’ products, services, or technologies become more accepted than our products, if they are successful in bringing their products or services to market earlier than ours, or if their products or services are more technologically capable than ours, then our revenues could be adversely affected. In addition, our competitors may offer their products and services at a lower price, or may offer price concessions, delayed payment terms, financing terms, or other terms and conditions that are more enticing to potential customers. Due to the complex nature of implementing financial management solutions, the lifecycle of the contracts for such solutions tends to be long. Therefore, if we lose a current customer to a competitor or fail to secure a prospective customer for financials management solutions, there is a long duration before we will be able to approach that customer again with our sales efforts for such solutions. Pricing pressures and increased competition could result in reduced sales, reduced margins, losses, or a failure to maintain or improve our competitive market position, any of which could adversely affect our business and operating results.
We rely on our network of partners to drive additional growth of our revenues, and if these partners fail to perform, our ability to sell and distribute our products may be impacted, and our operating results and growth rate may be harmed.
Our strategy for additional growth depends, in part, on sales generated through our network of partners and professional services provided by our partners. If the operations of these partners are disrupted, including as a direct or indirect result of recent macroeconomic conditions, our own operations may suffer, which could adversely impact our operating results. Identifying partners, and negotiating and documenting relationships with them, requires significant time and resources, and we cannot ensure that these partnerships will result in increased customer adoption or usage of our applications or increased revenue. We may be at a disadvantage if our competitors are effective in providing incentives to our current or potential partners to favor their products or services or to prevent or reduce subscriptions to our services, or in negotiating better rates or terms with such partners, particularly in international markets where our potential partners may have existing relationships with our competitors. In addition, acquisitions of our partners by our competitors could end our strategic relationship with such acquired partner and result in a decrease in the number of our current and potential customers.
Our partner training and educational programs may not be effective or utilized consistently by partners. New partners may require extensive training and/or may require significant time and resources to achieve productivity. Changes to our direct go-to-market models may cause friction with our partners and may increase the risk in our partner ecosystem. The actions of our partners may subject us to lawsuits, potential liability, and reputational harm if, for example, any of our partners misrepresent the functionality of our products to customers, fail to perform services to our customers’ expectations, or violate laws or our corporate policies. In addition, our partners may utilize our platform to develop products and services that could potentially compete with products and services that we offer currently or in the future. Concerns over competitive matters or intellectual property ownership could constrain these partnerships. If we fail to effectively manage and grow our network of partners, maintain good relationships with our partners, or properly monitor the quality and efficacy of their service delivery, or if our partners do not effectively market and sell our subscription services, use greater efforts to market and sell their own products or services or those of our competitors, or fail to meet the needs or expectations of our customers, our ability to sell our products and efficiently provide our services may be impacted, and our operating results and growth rate may be harmed.
Sales to customers outside the United States or with international operations expose us to risks inherent in global operations.
The growth of our business and future prospects depends on our ability to increase our sales outside of the United States as a percentage of our total revenues. Operating globally requires significant resources and management attention and subjects us to regulatory, economic, and political risks that are different from those in the United States. Our investments and efforts to further expand internationally may not be successful in creating additional demand for our applications outside of the United States or in effectively selling subscriptions to our applications in all of the markets we enter. Risks associated with doing business on a global scale that could adversely affect our business, include:
•the need to develop, localize, and adapt our applications and customer support for specific countries;
•the need to successfully develop and execute on a localized go-to-market strategy;
•the need to adhere to local laws and regulations, including those related to data localization, privacy, and anti-corruption;
•difficulties in appropriately staffing and managing foreign operations and providing appropriate compensation for local markets;
•difficulties in leveraging executive presence and maintaining company culture globally;
•different pricing environments, longer sales cycles, and longer trade receivables payment cycles, and collections issues;
•new and different sources of competition;
•potentially weaker protection for intellectual property and other legal rights than in the United States and practical difficulties in enforcing intellectual property and other rights;
•laws, customs, and business practices favoring local competitors;
•restrictive governmental actions focused on cross-border trade, such as import and export restrictions, duties, quotas, tariffs, trade disputes, and barriers or sanctions, that may prevent us from offering certain portions of our products or services to a particular market, may increase our operating costs or may subject us to monetary fines or penalties;
•compliance challenges related to the complexity of multiple, conflicting, and changing governmental laws and regulations, including employment, tax, privacy, intellectual property, and data protection laws and regulations;
•increased compliance costs related to government regulatory reviews or audits, including those related to international cybersecurity and environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) requirements;
•increased financial accounting and reporting burdens and complexities;
•the effects of currency fluctuations on our revenues and expenses and customer demand for our services;
•restrictions on the transfer of funds;
•adverse tax consequences and tax rulings; and
•unstable economic and political conditions.
Any of the above factors may negatively impact our ability to sell our applications and offer services globally, reduce our competitive position in foreign markets, increase our costs of global operations, reduce demand for our applications and services from global customers, or subject us to legal or regulatory liability. Additionally, the majority of our international costs are denominated in local currencies and we anticipate that over time an increasing portion of our sales contracts may be outside the U.S. and will therefore be denominated in local currencies. Fluctuations in the value of foreign currencies, which may be amplified by macroeconomic events, may impact our operating results when translated into U.S. dollars. Such fluctuations may also impact our ability to predict our future results accurately. If we are not able to successfully hedge against the risks associated with foreign currency fluctuations, our financial condition and operating results could be adversely affected.
Our business could be adversely affected if our users are not satisfied with the deployment, training, and support services provided by us and our partners.
Implementation of our applications may be technically complicated because they are designed to enable complex and varied business processes across large organizations, integrate data from a broad and complex range of workflows and systems, and may involve deployment in a variety of environments. Incorrect or improper implementation or use of our applications could result in customer and user dissatisfaction and harm our business and operating results.
In order for our customers to successfully implement our applications, they need access to highly skilled and trained service professionals. Third parties provide a majority of deployment services for our customers, but professional services may also be performed by our own staff or by a combination of the two. If customers are not satisfied with the quality and timing of work performed by us or a third party or with the type of professional services or applications delivered, or if we or a third party have not delivered on commitments made to our customers, then we could incur additional costs to address the situation, the revenue recognition of the contract could be impacted, and the dissatisfaction with our services could damage our ability to expand the applications subscribed to by our customers. Negative publicity related to our customer relationships, regardless of its accuracy, may further damage our business by affecting our ability to compete for new business with current and prospective customers both domestic and abroad.
Customers and other users also depend on our support organization to provision the environments used by our customers and to resolve technical issues relating to our applications. Increased demand for these services, without corresponding revenues, could increase costs and adversely affect our operating results. Failure to maintain high-quality technical support and training, or a market perception that we do not maintain high-quality support or training, could adversely affect our reputation, our ability to offer and sell our applications, our renewal rates, and our business and operating results.
Our future success depends on the rate of customer subscription renewals, and our revenues or operating results could be adversely impacted if we do not achieve renewals at expected rates or on anticipated terms.
Our customers have no obligation to renew their subscriptions for our applications after the expiration of either the initial or renewed subscription period. Our customers’ renewal rates may decline or fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, including their level of satisfaction with our applications and pricing, their awareness and adoption of the benefits and features of our applications, their ability to continue their operations and spending levels, reductions in their headcount, and the evolution of their business. If our customers do not renew their subscriptions for our applications on similar pricing terms or renew for fewer elements of our applications, our revenues may decline, and we may not be able to meet our revenue projections, which could negatively impact our business and the market price of our Class A common stock.
Our future success also depends, in part, on our ability to sell additional products to our current customers, and the success rate of such endeavors is difficult to predict, especially with regard to any new lines of business that we may introduce from time to time. This may require increasingly costly marketing and sales efforts that are targeted at senior management, and if these efforts are not successful, our business and operating results may suffer. Additionally, acquisitions of our customers by other companies have led, and could continue to lead, to cancellation of our contracts with those customers, thereby reducing the number of our existing and potential customers.
The use of new and evolving technologies in our offerings at Workday, including AI, may result in reputational harm and increased litigation, and adversely affect our operating results.
We are increasingly building AI into the Workday product suite. As with many cutting-edge innovations, these technologies can present new risks and challenges. A quickly evolving legal and regulatory environment may cause us to incur increased research and development costs, or divert resources from other development efforts, to address ethical, legal, or compliance requirements or other issues related to AI. For example, the European Union’s AI Act puts new requirements on providers of AI technologies that will need to be addressed in alignment with various deadlines in the coming years. Additionally, existing laws and regulations may apply to us in new ways, the nature and extent of which are difficult to predict and subject to change over time. The risks and challenges presented by these technologies could undermine public confidence in AI, which could slow its adoption and affect our business. Many of our products are powered by AI, some of which include the use of large language models and generative AI, for use cases that could potentially impact human, civil, privacy, or employment rights and dignities. Our developers are also experimenting with the use of large language models provided by third parties for domain-specific use cases, and at this stage the line between developers and deployers of these technologies, including their respective responsibilities and liabilities, remains largely unclear. Any failure to accurately identify and address our responsibilities and liabilities in this uncertain environment, and adequately address relevant ethical and social issues that may arise with such technologies and use cases, as well as failure by others in our industry, or actions taken by our customers, employees, or end users (including misuse of these technologies), could negatively affect the adoption of our offerings and subject us to reputational harm, regulatory action, or litigation, which may harm our financial condition and operating results. We already are defending against a lawsuit alleging that our products and services enable discrimination, and although we believe that such claims lack merit, and the majority of the claims have been dismissed, legal proceedings can be lengthy, expensive, and disruptive to our operations and customers (particularly where, as in the present litigation, the plaintiff may seek to also litigate against certain of Workday’s customers). We may be subject to other litigation and regulatory actions that may cause financial, competitive, and developmental impacts, and could lead to legal liability. In addition, regardless of outcome, these types of claims could cause reputational harm to our brand, including our ability to sell newly acquired products that use AI. Our employees, customers, or customers’ employees who are dissatisfied with our public statements, policies, practices, or solutions related to the development and use of AI may express opinions that could introduce reputational or business harm, or cease their relationship with us.
Our quarterly results may fluctuate significantly and may not fully reflect the underlying performance of our business.
Our quarterly operating results, including our revenues, subscription revenue backlog, operating margin, profitability, and cash flow, may vary significantly in the future and period-to-period comparisons of our operating results may not be meaningful. Accordingly, the results of any one quarter should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance. Additionally, we typically sign a significantly higher percentage of agreements with new customers as well as renewal agreements with existing customers in the fourth quarter of each year, and this year-over-year compounding effect in billing patterns causes the value of invoices that we generate in the fourth quarter to continually increase in proportion to our billings in the other three quarters of our fiscal year.
Our quarterly financial results may fluctuate as a result of a variety of factors, including the risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, many of which are outside of our control, and as a result, may not fully reflect the underlying performance of our business. The extent to which recent macroeconomic events could continue to impact our operating results will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and difficult to predict. Fluctuations in our quarterly results and related impacts to any earnings guidance we may issue from time to time, including any modification or withdrawal thereof, may negatively impact the value of our securities.
If we are not able to realize a return on our current development efforts or offer new features, enhancements, and modifications to our services that are desired by current or potential customers, our business and operating results could be adversely affected.
Developing software applications and related enhancements, features, and modifications is expensive, and the investment in product development often involves a long return on investment cycle. Accelerated application introductions and short application life cycles require high levels of expenditures that could adversely affect our operating results if not offset by revenue increases, and we believe that we must continue to dedicate a significant amount of resources to our development efforts to maintain our competitive position. However, we may not receive significant revenues from these investments for several years, if at all. If we are unable to provide new features, enhancements to user experience, and modifications in a timely and cost-effective manner that achieve market acceptance, align with customer expectations, and that keep pace with rapid technological developments and changing regulatory landscapes, it may negatively impact our customer renewal rates, limit the market for our solutions, or impair our ability to attract new customers and our business and operating results could be adversely affected. For example, AI is propelling advancements in technology, but if we fail to innovate and keep up with advancements in AI technology, if Workday AI solutions fail to operate as expected or do not meet customer expectations, or if we do not have sufficient access to development resources and the technologies required to build and improve our applications, our business and reputation may be harmed.
If we fail to develop and maintain widespread positive awareness of our brand, our business may suffer.
We believe that developing and maintaining widespread positive awareness of our brand is critical to our growth. However, brand promotion activities may not generate the awareness or increased revenues we anticipate, and even if they do, any increase in revenues may not offset the significant expenses we incur in building our brand.
If we fail to successfully promote and maintain positive awareness of our brand, or we fail to expand positive awareness of our newer solutions or products, we may fail to attract or retain customers necessary to realize a sufficient return on our brand-building efforts, or to achieve the widespread positive brand awareness that is critical for broad customer adoption of our applications and for the end user experience. Any unfavorable publicity or perception of our brand or our applications, including any unfavorable candidate or end user experience, could negatively impact our ability to attract and retain customers and also make it more difficult to hire and retain employees.
If we are unable to successfully integrate our applications with a variety of third-party technologies, our business and operating results could be adversely affected.
We depend on relationships with third-party technology and content providers and other key suppliers, and are also dependent on third parties for the license of certain software and development tools that are incorporated into or used with our applications or used to help improve our own internal systems, processes, or controls. For example, we leverage software and services for development tools and to deliver applications from many third-party suppliers including AWS and Google LLC. If the operations of these third parties are disrupted, our own operations may suffer, which could adversely impact our operating results. Additionally, if we are unsuccessful in establishing or maintaining our relationships with these third parties, or if the quality of their products or performance is inadequate, our ability to compete in the marketplace or to grow our revenues could be impaired and our operating results may suffer.
To the extent that our applications depend upon the successful integration and operation of third-party software in conjunction with our software, any undetected errors or defects in this third-party software, as well as cybersecurity threats or attacks related to such software could prevent the deployment or impair the functionality of our applications, delay new application introductions, result in a failure of our applications, result in increased costs, including warranty and other related claims from customers, and injure our reputation.
As Workday Mobile becomes increasingly important to Workday’s customer experience, we also need to continuously modify and enhance our applications to keep pace with changes in third-party internet-related hardware, iOS, Android, other mobile-related operating systems, platforms, and technologies, and other third-party software, communication, browser, and database technologies, as well as with customer expectations. Any failure of our applications to operate effectively with future network platforms and other third-party technologies, or changes in such technologies that degrade the functionality of our products or give preferential treatment to competitive services, could reduce the demand for our applications, result in customer and end user dissatisfaction, and adversely affect our business and operating results.
We have acquired, and may in the future acquire, other companies, employee teams, or technologies, which could divert our management’s attention, result in additional indebtedness or dilution to our stockholders, and otherwise disrupt our operations and adversely affect our operating results.
We have acquired, and may in the future acquire, other companies, employee teams, or technologies to complement or expand our applications, enhance our technical capabilities, obtain personnel, or otherwise offer growth opportunities. The pursuit of acquisitions may divert the attention of management, disrupt ongoing business, and cause us to incur various expenses in identifying, investigating, and pursuing suitable acquisitions, whether or not they are consummated.
These impacts may continue through integration activities. Moreover, we may be unable to complete proposed transactions timely or at all due to a failure to obtain any necessary funding to complete an acquisition in a timely manner or on favorable terms, the failure to obtain required regulatory or other approvals, litigation, or other disputes, which may obligate us to pay a termination fee. We also may not achieve the anticipated benefits from an acquisition due to a number of factors, including:
•inability or difficulty integrating the intellectual property, technology infrastructure, and operations of the acquired business, including difficulty in addressing security risks of the acquired business;
•inability to retain key personnel or challenges in integrating the workforce from the acquired company, including the inability to maintain our culture and values;
•acquisition-related costs, liabilities, or tax impacts, some of which may be unanticipated;
•difficulty in leveraging the data of the acquired business if it includes personal data;
•a failure to maintain the information systems of an acquired business, which could increase the risk of a security breach of such system;
•a failure to implement, restore, or maintain controls, procedures, or policies at the acquired company and an increased risk of non-compliance;
•multiple product lines or service offerings as a result of our acquisitions that are offered, priced, and supported differently, as well as the potential for such acquired product lines and service offerings to impact the profitability of existing products;
•the opportunity cost of diverting management and financial resources away from other products, services, and strategic initiatives;
•difficulties and additional expenses associated with synchronizing product offerings, customer relationships, and contract portfolio terms and conditions between Workday and the acquired business;
•unknown liabilities or risks associated with the acquired businesses, including those arising from existing contractual obligations or litigation matters;
•adverse effects on our brand or existing business relationships with business partners and customers as a result of the acquisition, including integrating acquired technologies and a delay in market acceptance of and difficulty in transitioning new and existing customers to acquired product lines or services;
•risks and challenges presented by the use of innovative technologies that we acquire, such as AI;
•potential write-offs of acquired assets and potential financial and credit risks associated with acquired customers;
•inability to maintain relationships with key customers, suppliers, and partners of the acquired business;
•difficulty in predicting and controlling the effect of integrating multiple acquisitions concurrently;
•lack of experience in new markets, products, or technologies;
•difficulty in integrating operations and assets of an acquired foreign entity with differences in language, culture, or country-specific currency and regulatory risks;
•the inability to obtain (or a material delay in obtaining) regulatory approvals necessary to complete transactions or to integrate operations, or potential remedies imposed by regulatory authorities as a condition to or following the completion of a transaction, which may include divestitures, ownership or operational restrictions or other structural or behavioral remedies; and
•the failure of strategic acquisitions to perform as expected or to meet financial projections, which may be heightened due to recent macroeconomic events and market volatility.
In addition, a significant portion of the purchase price of companies we acquire may be allocated to acquired goodwill and other intangible assets, which must be assessed for impairment at least annually. In the future, if our acquisitions do not yield expected returns, we may be required to take charges to our operating results based on this impairment assessment process, which could adversely affect our operating results. Moreover, we may experience additional or unexpected changes in how we are required to account for our acquisitions pursuant to U.S. GAAP, including arrangements that we may assume in an acquisition.
Acquisitions could also result in use of substantial portions of our available cash, which may limit other potential uses of cash, and dilutive issuances of equity securities or the issuance of debt, which could adversely affect our operating results. If we finance acquisitions by issuing debt, we could face constraints related to the terms of and repayment obligation related to the incurrence of such indebtedness. In addition, if an acquired business fails to meet our expectations, our business, financial condition, and operating results may suffer.
If we are not able to realize a return on the investments we have made toward entering new markets and new lines of business, our business and operating results could be adversely affected.
We continue to seek opportunities to enter into new markets and/or new lines of business, some of which we may have very limited or no experience in. As an entrant to new markets and new lines of business, we may not be effective in convincing prospective customers that our solutions will address their needs, and we may not accurately estimate our infrastructure needs, human resource requirements, or operating expenses with regard to these new markets and new lines of business. We may also fail to accurately anticipate adoption rates of these new lines of business or their underlying technology. Also, we may not be able to properly price our solutions in these new markets, which could negatively affect our ability to sell to customers. Furthermore, customers in these new markets or of the new lines of business may demand more features and professional services, which may require us to devote even greater research and development, sales, support, and professional services resources to such customers. If we fail to generate adequate revenues from these new markets and lines of business, or if we fail to do so within the envisioned timeframe, it could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.
Catastrophic or climate-related events may disrupt our business.
Our corporate headquarters are located in Pleasanton, California, and we have data centers located in North America and Europe. The west coast of the United States contains active earthquake zones and the southeast is subject to seasonal hurricanes or other extreme weather conditions. Additionally, we rely on internal technology systems, our website, our network, and third-party infrastructure and enterprise applications, which are located in a wide variety of regions, for our development, marketing, operational support, hosted services, and sales activities. In the event of a major earthquake, hurricane, or other natural disaster, or a catastrophic event such as fire, power loss, telecommunications failure, vandalism, civil unrest, cyber-attack, geopolitical instability, war, terrorist attack, insurrection, pandemics or other public health emergencies, or the effects of climate change (such as drought, flooding, heat waves, wildfires, increased storm severity, and sea level rise), we may be unable to continue our operations and have, and may in the future, endure system interruptions, and may experience delays in our product development, lengthy interruptions in our services, breaches of data security, and loss of critical data, all of which could cause reputational harm or otherwise have an adverse effect on our business and operating results. In addition, the impacts of climate change on the global economy and our industry are rapidly evolving. We may be subject to increased regulations, reporting requirements, standards, or stakeholder expectations regarding climate change that may impact our business, financial condition, and operating results.
Our aspirations and disclosures related to ESG matters expose us to risks that could adversely affect our reputation and performance.
The positions we take on ESG matters, human capital management initiatives, and ethical issues from time to time may impact our brand, reputation, or ability to attract or retain customers. In particular, our brand and reputation are associated with our public commitments to environmental sustainability (including our science-based targets), strong corporate governance practices, equality, inclusivity, and ethical use, and any perceived changes in our dedication to these commitments could impact our relationships with potential and current customers, employees, stockholders, and other stakeholders. These commitments reflect our current plans and aspirations and are not guarantees that we will be able to achieve them. Our failure to accomplish or accurately track and report on these goals on a timely basis, or at all, could adversely affect our reputation, financial performance, and growth, and expose us to increased scrutiny from the investment community as well as enforcement authorities.
Our ability to achieve any ESG objective is subject to numerous risks, many of which are outside of our control. Examples of such risks include:
•the availability and cost of low- or non-carbon-based energy sources;
•the evolving regulatory requirements affecting ESG standards or disclosures;
•the ability of suppliers to meet our sustainability, diversity, and other ESG standards;
•our ability to recruit, develop, and retain diverse talent in our labor markets;
•the availability and cost of high-quality verified emissions reductions and renewable energy credits; and
•the ability to renew existing or execute on new virtual power purchase agreements.
Standards for tracking and reporting ESG matters continue to evolve. In addition, our processes and controls may not always comply with evolving standards for identifying, measuring, and reporting ESG metrics, including ESG-related disclosures that may be required of public companies by the SEC or other regulatory bodies, and such standards may change over time, which could result in significant revisions to our current goals, reported progress in achieving such goals, or ability to achieve such goals in the future. It is likely that increasing regulatory requirements and regulatory scrutiny related to ESG matters will continue to expand globally and result in higher associated compliance costs. Further, we may rely on data and calculations provided by third parties to measure and report our ESG metrics and if the data input or calculations are incorrect or incomplete, our brand, reputation, and financial performance may be adversely affected.
If our ESG practices do not align with or meet evolving investor or other stakeholder expectations and standards, then our reputation, our ability to attract or retain employees, and our attractiveness as an investment, business partner, acquirer, or service provider could be negatively impacted. Further, our failure or perceived failure to pursue or fulfill our goals and objectives or to satisfy various reporting standards on a timely basis, or at all, could have similar negative impacts or expose us to government enforcement actions and private litigation.
Risks Related to Cybersecurity, Data Privacy, and Intellectual Property
If our information technology systems are compromised or unauthorized access to customer or user data is otherwise obtained, our applications may be perceived as not being secure, our operations may be disrupted, our applications may become unavailable, customers and end users may reduce the use of or stop using our applications, and we may incur significant liabilities.
Our applications involve the storage and transmission of our customers’ and other users’ sensitive and proprietary information, including personal or identifying information regarding our customers, their employees, job candidates, customers, prospects, and suppliers, as well as financial, accounting, health, and payroll data. Additionally, our operations and the availability of the services we provide also depend on our information technology systems. As a result, a compromise of our applications or systems, or unauthorized access to, acquisition, use, tampering, release, alteration, theft, loss, or destruction of sensitive data, or unavailability of data or our applications, has and could disrupt our operations or impact the availability or performance of our applications; expose us and our customers to regulatory obligations and enforcement actions, litigation, investigations, remediation and indemnity obligations, or supplemental disclosure obligations; damage our reputation and brand; or result in loss of customer, consumer, and partner confidence in the security of our applications, an increase in our insurance premiums, loss of authorization under the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (“FedRAMP”) or other authorizations, impairment to our business, and other potential liabilities or related fees, expenses, or loss of revenues.
The financial and personnel resources we employ to implement and maintain security measures, including our information security risk insurance policy, may not be sufficient to address our security needs. The security measures we have in place vary in maturity across the organization and may not be sufficient to protect against security risks, preserve our operations and services and the integrity of customer and personal information, and prevent data loss, misappropriation, and other security breaches. Our logging may also not be sufficient to fully investigate the scope of an incident. Our information systems may be compromised by computer hackers, employees, contractors, or vendors, as well as software bugs, human error, technical malfunctions, or other malfeasance.
Cybersecurity threats and attacks are often targeted at companies such as ours and may take a variety of forms ranging from individuals or groups of security researchers, including those who appear to offer a solution to a vulnerability in exchange for some compensation, and insiders, to sophisticated hacker organizations, including state-sponsored actors who may launch coordinated attacks, such as retaliatory cyber attacks stemming from the Russia-Ukraine conflict or attacks motivated by the type of data that is processed by our customers, including our public sector customers, on our platform. In the normal course of business, we are and have been the target of malicious cyber-attack attempts and have experienced other security events. As our market presence grows, we face increased risks of cybersecurity attack or other security threats. Additionally, as AI technologies, including generative AI models, develop rapidly, threat actors are using these technologies to create sophisticated new attack methods that are increasingly automated, targeted, and coordinated and more difficult to defend against. Key cybersecurity risks range from viruses, worms, ransomware, and other malicious software programs, to phishing attacks, to credential theft or abuse, to exploitation of software bugs or other defects, to targeted attacks against cloud services and other hosted software, to exploitation of unmanaged software or systems, any of which can result in a compromise of our applications or systems and the data we store or process, disclosure of Workday confidential information and intellectual property, production downtimes, reputational harm, and an increase in costs to the business. As the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or sabotage systems change frequently, are becoming increasingly sophisticated and complex, and often are not identified until they are launched against a target, and because evidence of unauthorized activity may not have been captured or retained, or may be proactively destroyed by unauthorized actors, we may be unable to anticipate these attacks, assess the true impact they may have on our business and operations, or to implement adequate preventative measures. Future cyber-attacks and other security events may have a significant or material impact on our business and operating results.
There may also continue to be attacks targeting any vulnerabilities in our applications, internally built infrastructure, enhancements, and updates to our existing offerings, or in the many different underlying networks and services that power the internet that our products depend on, most of which are not under our control or the control of our vendors, partners, or customers. Systems and processes designed to protect our applications, systems, software, and data, as well as customer data and other user data, and to prevent data loss and detect security breaches, may not be effective against all cybersecurity threats or perceived threats. We have been subject to such incidents, including through third-party service providers and in connection with acquisitions we have made. In addition, our software development practices have not and may not identify all potential privacy or security issues, and inadvertent disclosures of data have occurred and may occur again.
Additionally, remote work and resource access, including our hybrid work model, has and may continue to result in an increased risk of cybersecurity-related events such as phishing attacks, exploitation of any cybersecurity flaws that may exist, an increase in the number cybersecurity threats or attacks, and other security challenges as a result of our employees and our service providers continuing to work remotely from non-corporate managed networks.
Furthermore, we have acquired or partnered with a number of companies, products, services, and technologies over the years, and incorporated third-party products, services, and technologies into our own products and services. Addressing security issues associated with acquisitions, partnerships, incorporated technologies, and our supply chain requires significant resources, and we have inherited and may in the future inherit additional risks upon integration with or use by Workday. In addition, if a high-profile security breach occurs with respect to an industry peer, our customers and potential customers may generally lose trust in the security of financial management, spend management, human capital management, planning, or analytics applications, or in cloud applications for enterprises in general. Any or all of these issues could negatively affect our ability to attract new customers, cause existing customers to elect to terminate or not renew their subscriptions, result in reputational damage, cause us to pay remediation and indemnity costs and/or issue service credits or refunds to customers for prepaid and unused subscription services, or result in lawsuits, regulatory fines, or other action or liabilities, any of which could adversely affect our business and operating results.
We rely on sophisticated information systems and technology, including those provided by third parties, for the secure collection, processing, transmission, and storage of confidential, proprietary, and personal information, and to support our business operations and the availability of our applications. In the past several years, supply chain attacks have increased in frequency and severity. As we are both a provider and consumer of information systems and technology, we are at higher risk of being impacted either directly or indirectly by these attacks. The control systems, cybersecurity program, infrastructure, physical facilities of, and personnel associated with third parties that we rely on or partner with are beyond our control. Our customers may authorize third-party technology providers to access their customer data and any unauthorized use of the third-party technology may result in unauthorized access to such data. The audits we periodically conduct of some of our third-party vendors do not guarantee the security of and may be unable to prevent security events impacting the information technology systems of third parties that are part of our supply chain or that provide valuable services to us, which have resulted and could result in the unauthorized access to data of Workday, our employees, our customers, our third-party partners, or other end users; acquisition, destruction, alteration, use, tampering, release, unavailability, theft or loss of confidential, proprietary, or personal data of Workday, our employees, our customers, our third party partners, or other end users; or the disruption of our operations and our ability to conduct our business or the availability of our applications; or could otherwise adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results, or reputation.
Privacy concerns, evolving regulation of cloud computing, cross-border data transfer, and other domestic or foreign laws and regulations may reduce the adoption of our applications, result in significant costs and compliance challenges, and adversely affect our business and operating results.
Legal requirements related to collecting, storing, handling, retaining, and transferring (collectively, “processing”) personal data are rapidly evolving at both the national and international level in ways that require our business to adapt to support customer compliance. As the complexity of our products grow, the regulatory focus on privacy intensifies worldwide, and jurisdictions increasingly consider and adopt privacy laws, the risks related to processing personal data by our business also grow. In addition, possible adverse interpretations of existing privacy-related laws and regulations by governments in countries where our customers operate, as well as the potential implementation of new legislation, could impose significant obligations in areas affecting our business or prevent us from offering certain services in jurisdictions where we operate.
Following the European Union’s (“EU”) passage of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), which became effective in May 2018, the global data privacy compliance landscape has grown increasingly complex, fragmented, and financially relevant to business operations. As a result, our data processing creates current and prospective risks related to increased regulatory compliance costs, government enforcement actions and/or financial penalties for non-compliance, and reputational harm. For example, a new EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (“DPF”) is in place under which EU data can legally be transferred to the United States. However, it is expected to face legal challenges. Until challenges to the DPF make their way through the court system, uncertainty may continue about the legal requirements for transferring customer personal data to and from Europe, an integral process of our business that remains governed by, and subject to, GDPR requirements. Failure to comply with the GDPR data processing requirements by either ourselves or our subcontractors could lead to regulatory enforcement actions, which can result in monetary penalties of up to 4% of worldwide revenue, private lawsuits, reputational damage, and loss of customers. Other countries such as Russia, China, and India have also passed laws imposing varying degrees of restrictive data residency requirements. Regulatory developments in the United States present additional risks. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) took effect on January 1, 2020, and the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”), which expands upon the CCPA, came into effect on January 1, 2023. The CCPA and CPRA give California consumers, including employees, certain rights similar to those provided by the GDPR, and also provide for statutory damages or fines on a per violation basis that could be very large depending on the severity of the violation. Numerous states have enacted, or are considering, privacy laws as well, creating a patchwork of state laws that may create compliance challenges. Furthermore, the U.S. Congress is considering numerous privacy bills, and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission continues to fine companies for unfair or deceptive data protection practices and may undertake its own privacy rulemaking exercise. In addition to government activity, privacy advocacy and other industry groups have established or may establish various new, additional, or different self-regulatory standards that customers may require us to adhere to and which may place additional burdens on us. Increasing sensitivity of individuals to unauthorized processing of personal data, whether real or perceived, and an increasingly uncertain trust climate has and may continue to create a negative public reaction to technologies, products, and services such as ours or otherwise expose us to liability.
Taken together, the costs of compliance with and other obligations imposed by data protection laws and regulations may require modification of our services, limit use and adoption of our services, reduce overall demand for our services, lead to significant fines, penalties, or liabilities for noncompliance, or slow the pace at which we close sales transactions, or otherwise cause us to modify our operations, any of which could harm our business. The data protection laws set forth requirements impacting how personal data must be stored, accessed, and deleted within the products. The perception of privacy concerns, whether or not valid, may inhibit the adoption, effectiveness, or use of our applications or otherwise impact our business. Compliance with applicable laws and regulations regarding personal data may require changes in services, business practices, or internal systems that result in increased costs, lower revenue, reduced efficiency, or greater difficulty competing with foreign-based firms which could adversely affect our business and operating results.
Any failure to protect our intellectual property rights domestically and internationally could impair our ability to protect our proprietary technology and our brand.
Our success and ability to compete depend in part upon our intellectual property. We rely on patent, copyright, trade secret and trademark laws, trade secret protection, and confidentiality or license agreements with our employees, customers, suppliers, partners, and others to protect our intellectual property rights. However, the steps we take to protect our intellectual property rights may be inadequate. We have patent applications pending in the United States and throughout the world, but we may be unable to obtain patent protection for the technology covered in our patent applications. In addition, any patents issued to us in the future may not provide us with competitive advantages or may be successfully challenged by third parties. Furthermore, legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability, and scope of protection of intellectual property rights are uncertain. Despite our precautions, it may be possible for unauthorized third parties, including those affiliated with state-sponsored actors, to copy or reverse engineer our applications, including with the assistance of insiders, and use information that we regard as proprietary to create products and services that compete with ours. Some license provisions protecting against unauthorized use, copying, transfer, and disclosure of our technology may be unenforceable under the laws of jurisdictions outside the United States. In addition, the laws of some countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States.
We enter into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our employees and consultants and enter into confidentiality agreements with the parties with whom we have strategic relationships and business alliances. These agreements may not be effective in controlling access to and distribution of our applications and proprietary information. Further, these agreements do not prevent our competitors or partners from independently developing technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to our applications.
We may be required to spend significant resources to monitor and protect our intellectual property rights. Litigation brought to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could be costly, time-consuming, and distracting to management and could result in the impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property. Furthermore, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims, and countersuits attacking the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights. Our failure to secure, protect, and enforce our intellectual property rights could have a serious adverse effect on our brand and business.
We may be sued by third parties for alleged infringement of their proprietary rights.
There is considerable patent and other intellectual property development activity in our industry. Our competitors, as well as a number of other entities and individuals, may own or claim to own intellectual property relating to our industry. From time to time, third parties may claim that our applications and underlying technology infringe or violate their intellectual property rights, even if we are unaware of the intellectual property rights that others may claim cover some or all of our technology or services, and we may be found to be infringing such rights. Any claims or litigation could cause us to incur significant expenses and, if successfully asserted against us, could require that we pay substantial damages or ongoing royalty payments, prevent us from offering our services, require us to change our products, technology, or business practices, or require that we comply with other unfavorable terms. We may also be obligated to indemnify our customers or business partners or pay substantial settlement costs, including royalty payments, in connection with any such claim or litigation and to obtain licenses, modify applications, or refund fees, which could be costly. In addition, we may be sued by third parties who seek to target us for actions taken by our customers, including through the use or misuse of our products. Even if we were to prevail in an intellectual property dispute, any litigation regarding our intellectual property could be costly and time-consuming and divert the attention of our management and key personnel from our business operations. Furthermore, from time to time we may introduce or acquire new products, including in areas where we historically have not competed, which could increase our exposure to patent and other intellectual property claims.
Our applications utilize open source software, and any failure to comply with the terms of one or more of these open source licenses could negatively affect our business.
Our applications include software covered by open source licenses, which may include, by way of example, GNU General Public License and the Apache License. Few terms used in open source licenses have been interpreted by United States courts, and there is a risk that such licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to market our applications. We attempt to comply with all open source licensing conditions that apply to our use of open source software. By the terms of certain open source licenses, we could be required to release the source code of our proprietary software, and to make our proprietary software available under open source licenses, if we combine our proprietary software with open source software in a certain manner. In the event that portions of our proprietary software are determined to be impacted by an open source license, we could be required to publicly release portions of our source code, re-engineer all or a portion of our technologies, or otherwise be limited in the use or licensing of our technologies, which could reduce or eliminate the value of our technologies, products, and services. In addition, the license terms for certain previously open source software that we use have changed and the license terms for future versions of open source software that we use might change, requiring us to pay for a commercial license or re-engineer all or a portion of our technologies. In addition to risks related to open source license requirements, usage of open source software can lead to greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or controls on the origin of the software. Many of the risks associated with usage of open source software cannot be eliminated and could negatively affect our business.
Risks Related to Legal and Regulatory Matters
Unfavorable laws, regulations, interpretive positions, or standards governing new and evolving technologies that we incorporate into our products and services, including those involving AI uses, could result in significant cost and compliance challenges and adversely affect our business and operating results.
Many of our products and services currently utilize or will utilize new and evolving technologies such as AI. The overall regulatory environment governing these types of technologies is likely to evolve as government interest in these technologies increases. Regulation of these technologies, as well as other technologies that we utilize in our products and services, also varies greatly among international, federal, state, and local jurisdictions and is subject to significant uncertainty. Governments and agencies domestic and abroad may in the future change or amend existing laws, or adopt new laws, regulations, or guidance, or take other actions which may severely impact the permitted uses of our technologies.
For example, the technologies underlying AI and its uses are subject to a variety of laws and regulations, including those governing intellectual property, privacy, data protection cybersecurity, consumer protection, competition, and equal opportunity, and are expected to be subject to new laws and regulations or new applications of existing laws and regulations. AI is the subject of ongoing review by various U.S. governmental and regulatory agencies, and various U.S. states and other foreign jurisdictions are applying, or are considering applying, their cybersecurity, data protection, and product safety laws to AI and its uses or are considering general legal frameworks for AI and its uses, such as the EU AI Act.
Any failure by us to comply with applicable laws, regulations, guidance, or other rules could result in costly litigation, penalties, or fines. In addition, these regulations and any related enforcement actions could establish and further expand our obligations to customers, individuals, and other third parties with respect to our products and services, limit the countries in which such products and services may be used, restrict the way we structure and operate our business, require us to divert development and other resources, and reduce the types of customers and individuals who can use our products and services. Furthermore, our customers may operate in foreign jurisdictions, including countries in which we don’t operate, and may be subject to additional laws and regulations outside the scope of our products. Increased regulation and oversight of products or services which utilize or rely on these technologies may result in costly compliance burdens or otherwise increase our operating costs, detrimentally affecting our business. These new technologies could subject us to additional litigation brought by private parties, which could be costly, time-consuming, and distracting to management and could result in substantial expenses and losses.
Adverse litigation results could have a material adverse impact on our business.
We are regularly involved with claims, suits, purported class or representative actions, and may be involved in regulatory and government investigations and other proceedings, involving competition, intellectual property, data security and privacy, bankruptcy, tax and related compliance, labor and employment, commercial disputes, and other matters. Such claims, suits, actions, regulatory and government investigations, and other proceedings can impose a significant burden on management and employees, could prevent us from offering one or more of our applications, services, or features to others, could require us to change our technology or business practices, or could result in monetary damages, fines, civil or criminal penalties, reputational harm, or other adverse consequences. Adverse outcomes in some or all of these claims may result in significant monetary damages or injunctive relief that could adversely affect our ability to conduct our business. The litigation and other claims are subject to inherent uncertainties and management’s view of these matters may change in the future. A material adverse impact in our consolidated financial statements could occur for the period in which the effect of an unfavorable outcome becomes probable and reasonably estimable.
We are subject to risks related to government contracts and related procurement regulations, which may adversely impact our business and operating results.
Our contracts with federal, state, local, and foreign government entities are subject to various procurement regulations and other requirements relating to their formation, administration, and performance, which could adversely impact our business and operating results. Government certification requirements applicable to our platform may change and, in doing so, restrict our ability to sell into the governmental sector until we have attained the authorization to use or certification. These laws and regulations provide public sector customers with various rights, many of which are not typically found in commercial contracts. For example, some federal contracts provide for delays, interruptions, or termination by the government at any time, with or without cause, which can adversely affect our business and operating results and impact other existing or prospective government contracts.
Additionally, we have obtained authorization under FedRAMP, which allows us to participate in the U.S. federal government market. Such authorization is subject to rigorous compliance and if we were to lose our authorization, it could inhibit or preclude our ability to contract with certain U.S. federal government customers. In addition, some customers may rely on our authorization under FedRAMP to help satisfy their own legal and regulatory compliance requirements. If we fail to maintain FedRAMP authorization, we may fail to retain existing customers or attract new customers that rely on our authorization under FedRAMP, which could subject us to liability, result in reputational harm, and adversely impact our financial condition or operating results.
We may be subject to additional audits and investigations relating to our government contracts, and any violations could result in various civil and criminal penalties and administrative sanctions, including termination of contracts, refunding or suspending of payments, forfeiture of profits, payment of fines, and suspension or debarment from future government business.
Unanticipated tax laws or any change in the application of existing tax laws to us or our customers and unanticipated changes in our effective tax rate may adversely impact our profitability and financial results.
We operate and are subject to taxes in the United States and numerous other jurisdictions throughout the world. Changes to federal, state, local, or international tax laws on income, sales, use, indirect, or other tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations, or ordinances on multinational corporations are currently being considered by the United States and other countries where we do business. These contemplated legislative initiatives include, but are not limited to, changes to transfer pricing policies and definitional changes to permanent establishment that could be applied solely or disproportionately to services provided over the internet. These contemplated tax initiatives, if finalized and adopted by countries, may ultimately impact our effective tax rate and could adversely affect our sales activity resulting in a negative impact on our operating results and cash flows.
In addition, existing tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations, or ordinances could be interpreted, changed, modified, or applied adversely to us (possibly with retroactive effect), which could require us to pay additional tax amounts, fines or penalties, and interest for past amounts. Existing tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations, or ordinances could also be interpreted, changed, modified, or applied adversely to our customers (possibly with retroactive effect), which could require our customers to pay additional tax amounts with respect to services we have provided, fines or penalties, and interest for past amounts. If we are unsuccessful in collecting such taxes from our customers, we could be held liable for such costs, thereby adversely impacting our operating results and cash flows. If our customers must pay additional fines or penalties, it could adversely affect demand for our services.
Significant judgment is often required in the determination of our worldwide provision for (benefit from) income taxes. Our effective tax rate could be impacted by changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities and our ability to utilize them. We are also subject to tax examinations and it is possible that the final determination of any examinations will have an adverse effect on our operating results or financial position.
Because we encounter long sales cycles when selling to large customers and we recognize subscription services revenues over the term of the contract, downturns or upturns in new sales will not be immediately reflected in our operating results and may be difficult to discern.
We generally recognize subscription services revenues over time as services are delivered to the customer, which typically occurs over a period of three years or longer. As a result, most of the subscription services revenues we report in each quarter are derived from the recognition of unearned revenue relating to subscriptions entered into during previous quarters. Consequently, a decline in new or renewed subscription contracts in any single quarter may not be reflected in our revenue results for that quarter but will negatively impact our revenue in future quarters. Additionally, because much of our sales efforts are targeted at large enterprise customers, we may face greater costs, longer sales cycles, less predictability in completing some of our sales, and varying deployment timeframes.
Our typical sales cycles for many new customers are six to twelve months but can extend for eighteen months or more, and we expect that this lengthy sales cycle may continue or expand as customers increasingly adopt applications across our platform. We have seen and may continue to see instances of increased scrutiny from existing and prospective customers and the lengthening of certain sales cycles. Longer sales cycles could cause our operating and financial results to suffer in a given period. Accordingly, the effect of significant downturns in sales and market acceptance of new applications, as well as potential changes in our pricing policies or rate of renewals, may not be fully reflected in our operating results until future periods. Additionally, we may be unable to adjust our cost structure to reflect any such changes in revenues. As a result, increased growth in the number of our customers could result in our recognition of more costs than revenues in the earlier periods of the terms of our agreements. Our subscription model also makes it difficult for us to rapidly increase our revenues through additional sales in any period, as subscription services revenues from new customers generally are recognized over the applicable subscription term. Furthermore, our subscription-based model is largely based on the size of our customers’ employee headcount. Therefore, the addition or loss of employees by our customers, including any significant reductions in force by our customers, or customer insolvencies resulting from severe economic hardship, could have an impact on our subscription services revenues in any given period. Should there be any prolonged decrease in our customers’ headcounts, we could experience reduced subscription services revenues upon renewal or potentially outside of the renewal period, which could materially impact our business and operating results in any given period.
We have a history of cumulative losses, and we may not sustain profitability on a GAAP basis in the future.
Until recently, we had incurred significant net losses on a GAAP basis since our inception in 2005 and our quarterly operating results may fluctuate in the future. We expect our operating expenses to increase in the future due to substantial investments we have made and continue to make to acquire new customers and develop our applications, anticipated increases in sales and marketing expenses, employee headcount growth expenses, product development expenses, operations costs, and general and administrative costs. If our revenue growth does not meet estimates, we may not be able to adjust our spending quickly enough to avoid an adverse impact on our financial results, and therefore we may incur losses on a GAAP basis in the future. Furthermore, to the extent we are successful in increasing our customer base, we may incur net losses in the acquisition period because some costs associated with acquiring customers are incurred up front, while subscription services revenues are generally recognized ratably over the terms of the agreements, which are typically three years or longer. You should not consider any prior period GAAP-profitability and growth in revenues as indicative of our future performance. We cannot ensure that we will continue to achieve or sustain GAAP profitability in the future.
Our current and future indebtedness may adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.
In April 2022, we issued $3.0 billion aggregate principal amount of senior notes, consisting of $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 3.500% notes due April 1, 2027, $750 million aggregate principal amount of 3.700% notes due April 1, 2029, and $1.25 billion aggregate principal amount of 3.800% notes due April 1, 2032. Additionally, in April 2022, we entered into a 2022 Credit Agreement which provides for a revolving credit facility in an aggregate principal amount of $1.0 billion. As of October 31, 2024, we had no outstanding revolving loans under the 2022 Credit Agreement.
We may incur substantial additional debt in the future, some of which may be secured debt. It is possible that we will not be able to repay this indebtedness when due or refinance this indebtedness on acceptable terms or at all.
In addition, our indebtedness could, among other things:
•make it difficult for us to pay other obligations;
•make it difficult to obtain favorable terms for any necessary future financing for working capital, capital expenditures, debt service requirements, or other purposes;
•adversely affect our liquidity and result in a material adverse effect on our financial condition upon repayment of the indebtedness;
•require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to service and repay the indebtedness, reducing the amount of cash flow available for other purposes;
•limit our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business;
•increase our vulnerability to the impact of adverse economic conditions, including rising interest rates (which can make refinancing existing indebtedness more difficult or costly); and
•negatively impact our credit rating, which could limit our ability to obtain additional financing in the future and adversely affect our business.
Our Senior Notes and 2022 Credit Agreement also impose restrictions on us and require us to maintain compliance with specified covenants. For example, our 2022 Credit Agreement includes a financial covenant that requires us to maintain a specific leverage ratio. Our ability to comply with these covenants may be affected by events beyond our control. If we breach any of the covenants and do not obtain a waiver from the lenders, then, subject to applicable cure periods, any outstanding indebtedness may be declared immediately due and payable. Any required repayment of our debt as a result of a fundamental change or other acceleration would lower our current cash on hand such that we would not have those funds available for use in our business.
We are subject to risks associated with our equity investments, including partial or complete loss of invested capital, and significant changes in the fair value of this portfolio could adversely impact our financial results.
We invest in early to late stage companies for strategic reasons and to support key business initiatives, and we may not realize a return on our equity investments. Many such companies generate net losses and the market for their products, services, or technologies may be slow to develop or never materialize. These companies are often dependent on the availability of later rounds of financing from banks or investors on favorable terms to continue their operations. The financial success of our investment in any company is typically dependent on a liquidity event, such as a public offering, acquisition, or other favorable market event reflecting appreciation to the cost of our initial investment. The capital markets for public offerings and acquisitions are dynamic and the likelihood of liquidity events for the companies we have invested in has and could further deteriorate, which could result in a loss of all or a substantial part of our investment in these companies. Additionally, instability in the global banking system has created bank-specific and broader financial institution liquidity risks and concerns, which may have an adverse impact on the companies we have invested or may invest in.
Further, valuations of non-marketable equity investments are inherently complex due to the lack of readily available market data and the anticipated valuation at the time of our investment may not meet our expectations. In addition, we may experience additional volatility to our results of operations due to changes in market prices of our marketable equity investments and the valuation and timing of observable price changes or impairments of our non-marketable equity investments. Volatility in the global market conditions, including recent economic disruptions, inflation, and ongoing volatility in the public equity markets, may impact our equity investments. This volatility could be material to our results in any given quarter and may cause our stock price to decline. In addition, our ability to mitigate this volatility and realize gains on investments may be impacted by our contractual obligations to hold securities for a set period of time. For example, to the extent a company we have invested in undergoes an initial public offering (“IPO”), we may be subject to a lock-up agreement that restricts our ability to sell our securities for a period of time after the public offering or otherwise impedes our ability to mitigate market volatility in such securities.
We may discover weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting, which may adversely affect investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and consequently the market price of our securities.
As a public company, we are required to design and maintain proper and effective internal controls over financial reporting and to report any material weaknesses in such internal controls. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires that we evaluate and determine the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting and provide a management report on the internal controls over financial reporting, which must be attested to by our independent registered public accounting firm. If we have a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting, we may not detect errors on a timely basis and our financial statements may be materially misstated.
The process of compiling the system and processing documentation necessary to perform the evaluation needed to comply with Section 404 is challenging and costly. As we grow our operations and personnel, we will need to continue to improve our operational, financial, and management controls as well as our reporting systems and procedures. In the future, we may not be able to complete our evaluation, testing, and any required remediation in a timely fashion. If we identify material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting, if we are unable to comply with the requirements of Section 404 in a timely manner, if we are unable to assert that our internal controls over financial reporting are effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and the market price of our securities could be negatively affected, and we could become subject to investigations by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the SEC, or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional financial and management resources. In addition, because we use Workday’s financial management application, any problems that we experience with financial reporting and compliance could be negatively perceived by prospective or current customers, and negatively impact demand for our applications.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Class A Common Stock
Our Co-Founders have control over key decision making as a result of their control of a majority of our voting stock.
As of October 31, 2024, our Co-Founder and CEO Emeritus David Duffield, together with his affiliates, held voting rights with respect to approximately 43 million shares of Class B common stock and 0.4 million shares of Class A common stock. As of October 31, 2024, our Co-Founder and Executive Chair, Aneel Bhusri, together with his affiliates, held voting rights with respect to approximately 8 million shares of Class B common stock and 0.4 million shares of Class A common stock. In addition, Mr. Bhusri holds 0.2 million RSUs, which will be settled in an equivalent number of shares of Class A common stock. Further, Messrs. Duffield and Bhusri have entered into a voting agreement under which each has granted a voting proxy with respect to certain Class B common stock beneficially owned by him effective upon his death or incapacity as described in our registration statement on Form S-1 filed in connection with our IPO. Messrs. Duffield and Bhusri have each initially designated the other as their respective proxies. Accordingly, upon the death or incapacity of either Mr. Duffield or Mr. Bhusri, the other would individually continue to control the voting of shares subject to the voting proxy. Collectively, the shares described above represent a substantial majority of the voting power of our outstanding capital stock. As a result, Messrs. Duffield and Bhusri have the ability to control the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors and any merger, consolidation, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. As stockholders, even as controlling stockholders, they are entitled to vote their shares in their own interests, which may not always be in the interests of our stockholders generally.
In addition, Mr. Bhusri has the ability to control the management and affairs of our company as a result of his position as a member of our Board of Directors and an officer of Workday. Mr. Bhusri, in his capacity as a board member and officer, however, owes a fiduciary duty to our stockholders and must act in good faith in a manner he reasonably believes to be in the best interests of our stockholders.
The dual class structure of our common stock has the effect of concentrating voting control with our Co-Founders, as well as with other executive officers, directors, and affiliates, which limits or precludes the ability of non-affiliates to influence corporate matters.
Our Class B common stock has 10 votes per share and our Class A common stock, which is the stock that is publicly traded, has one vote per share. Stockholders who hold shares of Class B common stock, including our executive officers, directors, and other affiliates, together hold a substantial majority of the voting power of our outstanding capital stock as of October 31, 2024. Because of the ten-to-one voting ratio between our Class B and Class A common stock, the holders of our Class B common stock collectively will continue to control a majority of the combined voting power of our common stock and therefore be able to control all matters submitted to our stockholders for approval until the conversion of all shares of all Class A and Class B shares to a single class of common stock on the date that is the first to occur of (i) October 17, 2032, (ii) such time as the shares of Class B common stock represent less than 9% of the outstanding Class A and Class B common stock, (iii) nine months following the death of both Mr. Duffield and Mr. Bhusri, or (iv) the date on which the holders of a majority of the shares of Class B common stock elect to convert all shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock into a single class of common stock. This concentrated control will limit or preclude the ability of non-affiliates to influence corporate matters for the foreseeable future.
Future transfers by holders of Class B common stock will generally result in those shares converting to Class A common stock, subject to limited exceptions, such as certain transfers effected for estate planning purposes. The conversion of Class B common stock to Class A common stock will have the effect, over time, of increasing the relative voting power of those holders of Class B common stock who retain their shares in the long term. If, for example, Mr. Duffield and Mr. Bhusri retain a significant portion of their holdings of Class B common stock for an extended period of time, they could, in the future, continue to control a majority of the combined voting power of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock.
Our stock price has been volatile in the past and may be subject to volatility in the future.
The trading price of our Class A common stock has historically been volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to the risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, and other risks which are beyond our control. The factors that have and may in the future affect the trading price of our securities include, but are not limited to:
•guidance regarding our operating results and other financial metrics that we provide to the public, differences between our guidance and market expectations, our failure to meet our guidance, any withdrawal of previous guidance or changes from our historical guidance;
•changes in investor and analyst valuation models for our Class A common stock;
•announcements of technological innovations, new applications or enhancements to services, acquisitions, strategic alliances, or significant agreements by us or by our competitors;
•disruptions in our services due to computer hardware, software, or network problems or any announcements related to security incidents;
•announcements of customer additions and customer cancellations or delays in customer purchases;
•recruitment or departure of key personnel;
•the economy as a whole, political and regulatory uncertainty, and market conditions in our industry and the industries of our customers;
•trading activity by directors, executive officers, and significant stockholders, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell their shares;
•any future issuances of our securities; and
•changes in the amounts or frequency of stock repurchases.
Additionally, the stock markets have at times experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and may in the future affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies. These fluctuations have, in some cases, been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of these companies. Further, the trading prices of publicly traded shares of companies in our industry have been particularly volatile and may be very volatile in the future.
In the past, some companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future. Securities litigation against us could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention from other business concerns, which could harm our business.
We may not realize the anticipated long-term stockholder value of our share repurchase programs.
In February 2024, our Board of Directors authorized a program under which we were authorized to repurchase up to $500 million of our outstanding shares of Class A common stock. As of October 31, 2024, we had completed the repurchase authorization under this program. In August 2024, our Board of Directors authorized the August 2024 Share Repurchase Program under which we may repurchase up to an additional $1.0 billion of our outstanding shares of Class A common stock. Such repurchases may be made through open market transactions, including through the use of trading plans intended to qualify under Rule 10b5-1, through privately negotiated transactions, or by other means, in each case in accordance with applicable securities laws and other restrictions. The August 2024 Share Repurchase Program has no expiration date, may be suspended or discontinued at any time, and does not obligate us to acquire any amount of Class A common stock.
Any failure to repurchase stock after we have announced our intention to do so may negatively impact our reputation and investor confidence in us and may negatively impact our stock price.
The existence of our share repurchase programs could cause our stock price to trade higher than it otherwise would and could potentially reduce the market liquidity for our stock. Our share repurchase programs may not enhance long-term stockholder value because the market price of our common stock may decline below the levels at which we repurchased shares and short-term stock price fluctuations could reduce the effectiveness of this program.
Repurchasing our common stock will reduce the amount of cash we have available to fund working capital, repayment of debt, capital expenditures, strategic acquisitions or business opportunities, and other general corporate purposes, and we may fail to realize the anticipated long-term stockholder value of our share repurchase programs. Furthermore, the timing and amount of any repurchases, if any, will be subject to liquidity, market and economic conditions, compliance with applicable legal requirements such as Delaware surplus and solvency tests, and other relevant factors.
Delaware law and provisions in our restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws could make a merger, tender offer, or proxy contest difficult, thereby depressing the market price of our Class A common stock.
Our status as a Delaware corporation and the anti-takeover provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”) may discourage, delay, or prevent a change in control by prohibiting us from engaging in a business combination with an interested stockholder for a period of three years after the person becomes an interested stockholder, even if a change of control would be beneficial to our existing stockholders. In addition, our restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws contain provisions that may make the acquisition of Workday more difficult, including the following:
•any transaction that would result in a change in control of our company requires the approval of a majority of our outstanding Class B common stock voting as a separate class;
•our dual class common stock structure, which provides our Co-Founders with the ability to control the outcome of matters requiring stockholder approval, even if they own significantly less than a majority of the shares of our outstanding Class A and Class B common stock;
•our Board of Directors is classified into three classes of directors with staggered three-year terms and directors are only able to be removed from office for cause;
•when the outstanding shares of our Class B common stock represent less than a majority of the combined voting power of common stock:
◦certain amendments to our restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws will require the approval of two-thirds of the combined vote of our then-outstanding shares of Class A and Class B common stock;
◦our stockholders will only be able to take action at a meeting of stockholders and not by written consent; and
◦vacancies on our Board of Directors will be able to be filled only by our Board of Directors and not by stockholders;
•only our chair of the board, chief executive officer, co-presidents, or a majority of our Board of Directors are authorized to call a special meeting of stockholders;
•certain litigation against us can only be brought in Delaware;
•we will have two classes of common stock until the date that is the first to occur of (i) October 17, 2032, (ii) such time as the shares of Class B common stock represent less than 9% of the outstanding Class A and Class B common stock, (iii) nine months following the death of both Mr. Duffield and Mr. Bhusri, or (iv) the date on which the holders of a majority of the shares of Class B common stock elect to convert all shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock into a single class of common stock;
•our restated certificate of incorporation authorizes undesignated preferred stock, the terms of which may be established, and shares of which may be issued, without the approval of the holders of Class A common stock; and
•advance notice procedures apply for stockholders to nominate candidates for election as directors or to bring matters before an annual meeting of stockholders.
In addition, Section 203 of the DGCL imposes certain restrictions on mergers, business combinations, and other transactions between us and holders of 15% or more of our common stock, which may discourage, delay, or prevent a change in control of our company.
Furthermore, the change in control repurchase event provisions of our Senior Notes may delay or prevent a change in control of our company, because those provisions allow note holders to require us to repurchase such notes upon the occurrence of a fundamental change or change in control repurchase event.
These anti-takeover defenses could discourage, delay, or prevent a transaction involving a change in control of our company. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for stockholders to elect directors of their choosing and to cause us to take other corporate actions they desire, any of which, under certain circumstances, could depress the market price of our securities.
The exclusive forum provision in our organizational documents may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims.
Our restated certificate of incorporation and our bylaws, to the fullest extent permitted by law, provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for: any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty; any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to the DGCL, our restated certificate of incorporation, or our amended and restated bylaws; or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. There is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this exclusive forum provision with respect to claims under the Securities Act. If a court were to find the choice of forum provisions contained in our restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, financial condition, and operating results.
Our bylaws include a provision providing that the federal district courts of the United States of America will, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act (“Federal Forum Provision”). Our decision to adopt a Federal Forum Provision followed a decision by the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware holding that such provisions are facially valid under Delaware law. Application of the Federal Forum Provision means that suits brought by our stockholders to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act must be brought in federal court and cannot be brought in state court.
In addition, neither the exclusive forum provision in our restated certificate of incorporation nor the Federal Forum Provision applies to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act. Accordingly, actions by our stockholders to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder must be brought in federal court, and our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the regulations promulgated thereunder.
Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring or holding any interest in any of our securities shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to our exclusive forum provisions, including the Federal Forum Provision. These provisions may limit a stockholders’ ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum of their choosing for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against us and our directors, officers, and other employees.
We do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future.
We have never declared nor paid cash dividends on our capital stock. We currently intend to retain any future earnings to finance the operation and expansion of our business, and we do not expect to declare or pay any dividends in the foreseeable future. Consequently, stockholders must rely on sales of their common stock after price appreciation as the only way to realize any future gains on their investment.
ITEM 2. UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
During the three months ended October 31, 2024, we closed our acquisition of Evisort, pursuant to which we issued a total of 24,210 shares of our Class A common stock which are subject to certain time-based vesting provisions. These shares of our Class A common stock were issued in reliance on one or more of the following exemptions or exclusions from the registration requirements of the Securities Act: Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act, Regulation D promulgated under the Securities Act, and Regulation S promulgated under the Securities Act.
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer
The table below sets forth information regarding our purchases of our Class A common stock during the three months ended October 31, 2024 (in millions, except number of shares which are reflected in thousands and per share data):
Period
Total Number of Shares Purchased (1)
Average Price Paid per Share
Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Program (1)
Approximate Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Program (1)
August 1, 2024 - August 31, 2024
30
$
219.07
30
$
1,053
September 1, 2024 - September 30, 2024
176
250.11
176
1,009
October 1, 2024 - October 31, 2024
443
240.93
443
902
Total
649
649
(1)In August 2024, our Board of Directors authorized the August 2024 Share Repurchase Program, under which we may repurchase up to $1.0 billion of our outstanding shares of Class A common stock. Prior to the August 2024 Share Repurchase Program, our Board of Directors authorized a $500 million share repurchase program in February 2024, which we completed in the third quarter of fiscal 2025, and a $500 million share repurchase program in November 2022, which we completed in the first quarter of fiscal 2025. For further information, see Note 14, Stockholders’ Equity, of the Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part I, Item 1 of this report.
ITEM 3. DEFAULTS UPON SENIOR SECURITIES
Not applicable.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
ITEM 5. OTHER INFORMATION
Insider Trading Arrangements
During the three months ended October 31, 2024, the following directors and/or officers of Workday adopted or terminated a “Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement,” as defined in item 408(a) of Regulation S-K intending to satisfy the affirmative defense of Rule 10b5-1(c):
Name and Title
Action
Total Shares of Class A Common Stock to be Sold
Adoption Date
Expiration Date
Sayan Chakraborty, Co-President
Adopt
54,543(1)
October 4, 2024
December 31, 2025
Carl Eschenbach, Chief Executive Officer and Director(2)
Adopt
25,000
October 7, 2024
December 31, 2025
Mark Garfield, Chief Accounting Officer
Adopt
7,595(1)
October 12, 2024
January 14, 2026
(1)Includes shares to be withheld by Workday in mandatory transactions to cover withholding taxes in connection with the settlement of equity awards.
(2)Adopted by the Eschenbach Family Trust dtd 4/15/2014, Carl Eschenbach Jr and Ana Eschenbach TTEE. The reporting person and his spouse are both trustees and beneficiaries of the trust.
Inline XBRL Instance Document (the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document)
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
