Stuart Miller
Analyst · Baird
I want to start by thanking all of my colleagues at Workiva, particularly Marty, the rest of the executive team and my team in accounting, finance and corporate development. I believe Workiva is in great hands with Jill Klindt as CFO, having worked closely with her for many years. Working with the extraordinarily talented people at this great company for the last seven years has been the highlight of my career. Turning to our results. We saw broad-based demand for our solutions in Q4. As a result, we’re raising guidance for 2021 revenue, which I will discuss later. As always, I will talk about our results and guidance on a non-GAAP basis. Refer to our press release for a reconciliation of our non-GAAP and GAAP results in guidance. I’ll address our performance against Q4 guidance first. We beat Q4 2020 revenue guidance at the midpoint by $3.4 million, higher subscription revenue accounted for all of the beat. We closed more deals early in the quarter, and we sold and delivered some capital markets deals within the quarter. We beat guidance on Q4 operating income by more than $4.5 million. The revenue beat, I just mentioned accounted for the majority of the swing. The remainder of the beat relative to guidance included lower travel and entertainment costs, reduced expenses from shifting marketing and internal events to a virtual format, higher PTO usage and decreased occupancy costs. Turning to Q4 2020 results versus Q4 the year before. We generated total revenue in the fourth quarter of $93.8 million, an increase of 16.9% from Q4 2019. Breaking out revenue by reporting line item. Subscription and support revenue was $81 million, up 22.4% from Q4 2019. New logos and new solutions helped drive strong revenue growth in Q4 2020. 56% of the increase in S&S revenue in Q4 came from new customers added in the last 12 months. Professional services revenue was $12.9 million in Q4 2020 down 8.9% from the same quarter last year. The decline in XBRL services revenue outpaced growth in setup and consulting. In Q4 2019, we had posted a one-time increase of $2.5 million in XBRL services revenue, due to a regulatory change. Turning to our supplemental metrics. We finished Q4 with 3,723 customers, a net increase of 213 customers from Q4 2019 and a net increase of 140 customers from Q3 2020. Our revenue retention rates remained strong. Our subscription and support revenue retention rate was 95% for the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to 94.7% for the same period last year. With ad-ons our subscription and support revenue retention rate was 109.5% for the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to 113% in Q4 2019. The number of larger subscription contracts continues to increase. In the fourth quarter of 2020 we counted 847 contracts valued at over $100,000 per year, up 30% from Q4 the prior year. The number of contracts valued at over $150,000 totaled 419 customers in the fourth quarter, up 47% from Q4 2019 results. Moving down the P&L. Gross profit total $71 million in Q4, up 22.2% from the same quarter a year ago. Consolidated gross margin was 75.6% in the latest quarter versus 72.3% in Q4 2019, a net expansion of 330 basis points. Breaking out gross profit, subscription and support gross profit total $68.1 million equating to a gross margin of 84.2% on S&S revenue, and expansion of 160 basis points compared to Q4 2019, driven by lower server costs related to the transition to our new platform and lower travel costs. Professional services gross profit in the fourth quarter was $2.8 million equating to a 22% gross margin. Research and development expense in Q4 total $22.1 million, up 4% from Q4 2019 due to higher compensation, partially offset by lower T&E expenses and occupancy costs. R&D expense as a percentage of revenue improved to 23.5% in Q4 2020 from 26.4% in Q4 2019. Sales and marketing expense for the quarter increased 12.8% from Q4 2019 to $35.1 million, driven by higher compensation, partially offset by lower T&E expense. General and Administrative expenses totaled $8.6 million in Q4, down $1.7 million compared to Q4 2019 due to reduce T&E expense, lower compensation and decrease professional services fees. G&A expense as a percentage of revenue improved 370 basis points to 9.1%. We posted an operating profit of $5.2 million in Q4 2020 compared to an operating loss of $4.6 million in Q4 2019, Turning to our balance sheet and cash-flow statement. At December 31, 2020. Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaled $530 million; an increase of $6.2 million compared to the balance at September 30, 2020 net cash provided from operating activities in Q4 2020 totaled $13.4 million, compared with cash provided a $2.1 million in the same quarter a year ago. Remaining performance obligations on subscription contracts continue to vary from deferred revenue as we implement multi-year contracts with annual billing terms for some customers. Turning to our guidance. We are factoring in the expected impact of COVID-19 pandemic on our business and results of operations based on information available to us today. For the first quarter of 2021, we expect total revenue to range from $100 million to $101 million. We expect subscription revenue to grow a faster rate than services revenue in Q1. We expect non-GAAP operating income to range from $4 million to $5 million. For full year 2021 we are raising guidance for revenue. We now expect total revenue to range from $409 million to $411 million. We expect non-GAAP operating loss to range from $12 million to $10 million. In the last three quarters of 2021 we are modeling higher travel costs and investment in growth opportunities. In 2021, we expect to post positive free cash flow for the fifth consecutive year. We will now take your questions. Operator, we are ready to begin the Q&A session.