Pure Storage Announces Second Quarter Fiscal 2024 Financial Results
Record sales quarter for FlashBlade portfolio
Doubled subscription sales year-over-year for Evergreen//One
Increased operating margin annual guidance
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – August 30, 2023 – Today Pure Storage (NYSE: PSTG), the IT pioneer that delivers the world's most advanced data storage technology and services, announced financial results for its second quarter fiscal 2024 ended August 6, 2023.
"Customers have responded enthusiastically to Pure’s new ability to satisfy all of their data storage needs on a single, consistent, flash data storage and management platform," said Charles Giancarlo, Chairman and CEO, Pure Storage. "With the introduction of Pure’s //E family of products, customers can now store cost sensitive bulk data with the benefits of all flash.”
Second Quarter Financial Highlights
•Revenue $688.7 million, an increase of 6.5% year-over-year
•Subscription services revenue $288.9 million, up 24% year-over-year
•Subscription annual recurring revenue (ARR) $1.2 billion, up 27% year-over-year
•Remaining performance obligations (RPO) $1.9 billion, up 26% year-over-year
•Operating cash flow $101.6 million; free cash flow $46.5 million
•Total cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities $1.2 billion
•Returned approximately $22.0 million in Q2 to stockholders through share repurchases of 0.6 million shares
"We were very pleased with record sales across our FlashBlade portfolio, and doubling sales of our Evergreen//One subscription offering this quarter,” said Kevan Krysler, CFO, Pure Storage. "With our Purity software working directly with raw flash, we have established substantial differentiated advantages and business value for our customers, while at the same time expanding our margins."
Second Quarter Company Highlights
•Platform Innovation: Pure expanded the Pure//E™ family of products with the all-new FlashArray//E™, meeting the needs of the secondary storage market at prices competitive to 7200 RPM hard disk systems, with a fraction of the power, space, and operational costs. Pure introduced a new ransomware SLA guarantee for Evergreen//One™ and enhanced AIOps capabilities, offering customers advanced data resilience, enabling organizations to benefit from a comprehensive data protection strategy. In addition, Pure introduced the next generation FlashArray//X™ and FlashArray//C™ models, delivering the largest ever performance, efficiency, and security advancements to customers.
•Awards in AI and Cloud-Native Software: AIRI//S, Pure’s next-gen AI-ready infrastructure, was recognized by AI Breakthrough Awards as the Best AI Solution for Big Data. Portworx by Pure Storage was recognized as a leader in kubernetes storage by GigaOm for the fourth consecutive year.
•New Global Headquarters: Pure opened its new global corporate headquarters in Santa Clara, California to provide state-of-the-art support to employees and customers as the company’s industry-leading innovations continue to drive strong growth. Pure was also recognized by Fortune’s Best Workplaces in the Bay Area and was again certified as a Great Place to Work®.
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Third Quarter and FY24 Guidance
Q3FY24
FY24
Revenue
$760M
Mid to High Single Digit Y/Y Growth
Non-GAAP Operating Income
$135M
Non-GAAP Operating Margin
17.8%
15.5%
These statements are forward-looking and actual results may differ materially. Refer to the Forward Looking Statements section below for information on the factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from these statements. Pure has not reconciled its guidance for non-GAAP operating income and non-GAAP operating margin to their most directly comparable GAAP measures because certain items that impact these measures are not within Pure’s control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted. Accordingly, reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures guidance to the corresponding GAAP measures are not available without unreasonable effort.
Conference Call Information
Pure will host a teleconference to discuss the second quarter fiscal 2024 results at 2:00 pm PT today, August 30, 2023. A live audio broadcast of the conference call will be available at the Pure Storage Investor Relations website, investor.purestorage.com. Pure will also post its earnings presentation to this website in advance of the call and post its prepared remarks to this website within 24 hours following completion of the call.
A replay will be available following the call on the Pure Storage Investor Relations website or for two weeks at 1-800-770-2030 (or +44 647 362 9199 for international callers) with passcode 5667482.
Additionally, Pure is scheduled to participate at the following investor conference or event:
The presentation will be webcast live and archived on Pure's Investor Relations website at investor.purestorage.com.
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About Pure Storage
Pure Storage (NYSE: PSTG) uncomplicates data storage, forever. Pure delivers a cloud experience that empowers every organization to get the most from their data while reducing the complexity and expense of managing the infrastructure behind it. Pure’s commitment to providing true storage as-a-service gives customers the agility to meet changing data needs at speed and scale, whether they are deploying traditional workloads, modern applications, containers, or more. Pure believes it can make a significant impact in reducing data center emissions worldwide through its environmental sustainability efforts, including designing products and solutions that enable customers to reduce their carbon and energy footprint. And with the highest Net Promoter Score in the industry, Pure's ever-expanding list of customers are among the happiest in the world. For more information, visit www.purestorage.com.
Analyst Recognition
Leader in the 2022 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Primary Storage
Leader in the 2022 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Distributed File Systems & Object Storage
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Pure Storage, the Pure P Logo, Portworx, and the marks on the Pure Trademark List at www.purestorage.com/legal/productenduserinfo.html are trademarks of Pure Storage, Inc. Other names are trademarks of their respective owners.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding our products, business and operations, including but not limited to our views relating to future period financial results, our technology and product strategy, specifically customer priorities around sustainability, the benefits to our customers of using our products, our ability to adjust to current macro conditions and expand market share, our sustainability goals and benefits, the timing and magnitude of large orders, the impact of inflation, economic or supply chain disruptions, demand for our products and subscription services, including Evergreen//One, our expectations regarding our product and technology differentiation, including FlashBlade//E, new customer acquisition, the continued success of the Portworx technology, and other statements regarding our products, business, operations and results. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on potentially inaccurate assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expected or implied by the forward-looking statements.
Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. The potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from the results predicted include, among others, those risks and uncertainties included under the caption "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our filings and reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available on our Investor Relations website at investor.purestorage.com and on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Additional information is also set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended February 5, 2023. All information provided in this release and in the attachments is as of August 30, 2023, and Pure undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.
Key Business Metric
Subscription ARR is a key business metric that refers to total annualized contract value of all active subscription agreements on the last day of the quarter, plus on-demand revenue for the quarter multiplied by four.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
To supplement our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, Pure uses the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating income (loss), non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net income (loss), non-GAAP net income (loss) per share, and free cash flow.
We use these non-GAAP financial measures for financial and operational decision-making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. Our management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding our performance and liquidity by excluding certain expenses and expenditures such as stock-based compensation expense, payments to former shareholders of acquired companies, payroll tax expense related to stock-based activities, amortization of debt issuance costs related to debt, amortization of intangible assets acquired from acquisitions, acquisition-related transaction and integration expenses, and costs associated with the exit of certain operations and closing of certain leased facilities that may not be indicative of our ongoing core business operating results. Pure believes that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing our performance and when analyzing historical performance and liquidity and planning, forecasting, and analyzing future periods. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for our financial results prepared in accordance with GAAP, and our non-GAAP measures may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies.
For a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP measures, please see the tables captioned "Reconciliations of non-GAAP results of operations to the nearest comparable GAAP measures" and "Reconciliation from net cash provided by operating activities to free cash flow," included at the end of this release.
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Contacts
Paul Ziots -- Investor Relations, Pure Storage
ir@purestorage.com
Rena Fallstrom -- Global Communications, Pure Storage
pr@purestorage.com
###
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PURE STORAGE, INC.
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(in thousands, unaudited)
At the End of
Second Quarter of Fiscal 2024
Fiscal 2023
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents
$
408,900
$
580,854
Marketable securities
819,777
1,001,352
Accounts receivable, net of allowance of $1,062 and $1,057
525,260
612,491
Inventory
47,498
50,152
Deferred commissions, current
71,344
68,617
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
168,283
161,391
Total current assets
2,041,062
2,474,857
Property and equipment, net
325,783
272,445
Operating lease right-of-use-assets
133,066
158,912
Deferred commissions, non-current
184,073
177,239
Intangible assets, net
40,906
49,222
Goodwill
361,427
361,427
Restricted cash
9,960
10,544
Other assets, non-current
37,645
38,814
Total assets
$
3,133,922
$
3,543,460
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable
$
98,008
$
67,121
Accrued compensation and benefits
165,394
232,636
Accrued expenses and other liabilities
128,842
123,749
Operating lease liabilities, current
41,697
33,707
Deferred revenue, current
769,871
718,149
Debt, current
—
574,506
Total current liabilities
1,203,812
1,749,868
Long-term debt
100,000
—
Operating lease liabilities, non-current
132,191
142,473
Deferred revenue, non-current
667,172
667,501
Other liabilities, non-current
44,419
42,385
Total liabilities
2,147,594
2,602,227
Stockholders’ equity:
Common stock and additional paid-in capital
2,610,513
2,493,799
Accumulated other comprehensive loss
(12,607)
(15,504)
Accumulated deficit
(1,611,578)
(1,537,062)
Total stockholders' equity
986,328
941,233
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity
$
3,133,922
$
3,543,460
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PURE STORAGE, INC.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
(in thousands, except per share data, unaudited)
Second Quarter of Fiscal
First Two Quarters of Fiscal
2024
2023
2024
2023
Revenue:
Product
$
399,738
$
414,603
$
708,701
$
815,764
Subscription services
288,933
232,169
569,277
451,413
Total revenue
688,671
646,772
1,277,978
1,267,177
Cost of revenue:
Product (1)
120,605
134,292
216,818
259,776
Subscription services (1)
81,473
68,912
161,220
137,407
Total cost of revenue
202,078
203,204
378,038
397,183
Gross profit
486,593
443,568
899,940
869,994
Operating expenses:
Research and development (1)
182,492
165,690
367,823
326,963
Sales and marketing (1)
232,732
206,836
465,178
424,989
General and administrative (1)
60,831
56,679
128,215
108,246
Impairment and other (2)
16,766
—
16,766
—
Total operating expenses
492,821
429,205
977,982
860,198
Income (loss) from operations
(6,228)
14,363
(78,042)
9,796
Other income (expense), net
6,686
585
18,435
(5,596)
Income (loss) before provision for income taxes
458
14,948
(59,607)
4,200
Income tax provision
7,573
4,026
14,909
4,813
Net income (loss)
$
(7,115)
$
10,922
$
(74,516)
$
(613)
Net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders, basic
$
(0.02)
$
0.04
$
(0.24)
$
(0.00)
Net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders, diluted
$
(0.02)
$
0.03
$
(0.24)
$
(0.00)
Weighted-average shares used in computing net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders, basic
309,510
297,475
307,687
296,659
Weighted-average shares used in computing net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders, diluted
309,510
312,720
307,687
296,659
(1) Includes stock-based compensation expense as follows:
Cost of revenue -- product
$
2,958
$
2,607
$
5,613
$
4,470
Cost of revenue -- subscription services
6,851
5,808
12,498
11,164
Research and development
44,085
41,575
82,317
78,092
Sales and marketing
19,493
17,954
36,674
36,299
General and administrative
16,060
15,620
30,175
28,110
Total stock-based compensation expense
$
89,447
$
83,564
$
167,277
$
158,135
(2) Lease impairment and abandonment charges associated with cease-use of our former corporate headquarters
6
PURE STORAGE, INC.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(in thousands, unaudited)
Second Quarter of Fiscal
First Two Quarters of Fiscal
2024
2023
2024
2023
Cash flows from operating activities
Net income (loss)
$
(7,115)
$
10,922
$
(74,516)
$
(613)
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization
30,223
23,886
59,913
46,549
Stock-based compensation expense
89,447
83,564
167,277
158,135
Lease impairment and abandonment charges
16,766
—
16,766
—
Other
(1,225)
2,084
(3,029)
3,031
Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of effect of acquisition:
Accounts receivable, net
(133,974)
(56,122)
87,231
140,007
Inventory
4,152
(10,793)
4,460
(12,492)
Deferred commissions
(7,229)
(4,683)
(9,560)
10,626
Prepaid expenses and other assets
5,737
(3,821)
(358)
(15,563)
Operating lease right-of-use assets
8,634
9,071
19,635
16,820
Accounts payable
30,304
890
26,311
(6,529)
Accrued compensation and other liabilities
31,558
51,139
(57,524)
(37,824)
Operating lease liabilities
(7,033)
(12,962)
(13,133)
(21,442)
Deferred revenue
41,373
66,205
51,392
98,807
Net cash provided by operating activities
101,618
159,380
274,865
379,512
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchases of property and equipment (1)
(55,105)
(25,184)
(106,529)
(57,994)
Acquisition, net of cash acquired
—
(1,989)
—
(1,989)
Purchases of marketable securities
(117,829)
—
(246,617)
(17,251)
Sales of marketable securities
5,708
—
48,748
—
Maturities of marketable securities
98,330
124,818
386,703
240,993
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities
(68,896)
97,645
82,305
163,759
Cash flows from financing activities
Net proceeds from exercise of stock options
25,218
3,859
29,848
15,264
Proceeds from issuance of common stock under employee stock purchase plan
—
—
21,219
19,396
Principal payments on borrowings and finance lease obligations
(287)
(182)
(577,067)
(251,577)
Proceeds from borrowings
—
—
100,000
—
Tax withholding on vesting of equity awards
(5,068)
(2,793)
(11,827)
(12,987)
Repurchases of common stock
(21,970)
(60,579)
(91,881)
(126,999)
Net cash used in financing activities
(2,107)
(59,695)
(529,708)
(356,903)
Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash
30,615
197,330
(172,538)
186,368
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period
388,245
465,781
591,398
476,743
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period
$
418,860
$
663,111
$
418,860
$
663,111
(1) Includes capitalized internal-use software costs of $5.3 million and $3.9 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2024 and 2023 and $10.6 million and $6.8 million for the first two quarters of fiscal 2024 and 2023.
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Reconciliations of non-GAAP results of operations to the nearest comparable GAAP measures
The following table presents non-GAAP gross margins by revenue source before certain items (in thousands except percentages, unaudited):
Second Quarter of Fiscal 2024
Second Quarter of Fiscal 2023
GAAP results
GAAP gross margin (a)
Adjustment
Non- GAAP results
Non- GAAP gross margin (b)
GAAP results
GAAP gross margin (a)
Adjustment
Non- GAAP results
Non- GAAP gross margin (b)
$
2,958
(c)
$
2,607
(c)
135
(d)
64
(d)
402
(e)
—
3,306
(f)
3,252
(f)
Gross profit --product
$
279,133
69.8
%
$
6,801
$
285,934
71.5
%
$
280,311
67.6
%
$
5,923
$
286,234
69.0
%
$
6,851
(c)
$
5,808
(c)
481
(d)
265
(d)
413
(e)
—
5
(g)
24
(g)
Gross profit -- subscription services
$
207,460
71.8
%
$
7,750
$
215,210
74.5
%
$
163,257
70.3
%
$
6,097
$
169,354
72.9
%
$
9,809
(c)
$
8,415
(c)
616
(d)
329
(d)
815
(e)
—
3,306
(f)
3,252
(f)
5
(g)
24
(g)
Total gross profit
$
486,593
70.7
%
$
14,551
$
501,144
72.8
%
$
443,568
68.6
%
$
12,020
$
455,588
70.4
%
(a) GAAP gross margin is defined as GAAP gross profit divided by revenue.
(b) Non-GAAP gross margin is defined as non-GAAP gross profit divided by revenue.
(c) To eliminate stock-based compensation expense.
(d) To eliminate payroll tax expense related to stock-based activities.
(e) To eliminate duplicate lease costs during the transition of our corporate headquarters.
(f) To eliminate amortization expense of acquired intangible assets.
(g) To eliminate payments to former shareholders of acquired company.
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The following table presents certain non-GAAP consolidated results before certain items (in thousands, except per share amounts and percentages, unaudited):
Second Quarter of Fiscal 2024
Second Quarter of Fiscal 2023
GAAP results
GAAP operating margin (a)
Adjustment
Non- GAAP results
Non- GAAP operating margin (b)
GAAP results
GAAP operating margin (a)
Adjustment
Non- GAAP results
Non- GAAP operating margin (b)
$
89,447
(c)
$
83,564
(c)
876
(d)
1,780
(d)
4,507
(e)
2,518
(e)
3,837
(f)
3,785
(f)
2,617
(g)
—
16,766
(h)
—
Operating income (loss)
$
(6,228)
-0.9
%
$
118,050
$
111,822
16.2
%
$
14,363
2.2
%
$
91,647
$
106,010
16.4
%
$
89,447
(c)
$
83,564
(c)
876
(d)
1,780
(d)
4,507
(e)
2,518
(e)
3,837
(f)
3,785
(f)
2,617
(g)
—
16,766
(h)
—
153
(i)
802
(i)
—
(1,767)
(j)
Net income (loss)
$
(7,115)
$
118,203
$
111,088
$
10,922
$
90,682
$
101,604
Net income (loss) per share -- diluted
$
(0.02)
$
0.34
$
0.03
$
0.32
Weighted-average shares used in per share calculation -- diluted
309,510
17,060
(k)
326,570
312,720
—
312,720
(a) GAAP operating margin is defined as GAAP operating loss divided by revenue.
(b) Non-GAAP operating margin is defined as non-GAAP operating income divided by revenue.
(c) To eliminate stock-based compensation expense.
(d) To eliminate payments to former shareholders of acquired company.
(e) To eliminate payroll tax expense related to stock-based activities.
(f) To eliminate amortization expense of acquired intangible assets.
(g) To eliminate duplicate lease costs during the transition of our corporate headquarters.
(h) To eliminate lease impairment and abandonment charges associated with cease-use of our former corporate headquarters.
(i) To eliminate amortization expense of debt issuance costs related to our debt.
(j) To eliminate net gain from legal settlements in connection with facilities abandoned in the second quarter of fiscal 2021.
(k) To include effect of dilutive securities (employee stock options, restricted stock, and shares from employee stock purchase plan).
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Reconciliation from net cash provided by operating activities to free cash flow (in thousands except percentages, unaudited):
Second Quarter of Fiscal
2024
2023
Net cash provided by operating activities
$
101,618
$
159,380
Less: purchases of property and equipment (1)
(55,105)
(25,184)
Free cash flow (non-GAAP)
$
46,513
$
134,196
(1) Includes capitalized internal-use software costs of $5.3 million and $3.9 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2024 and 2023.