FactSet Reports Solid Results for Second Quarter 2021
Second Quarter Fiscal 2021 Highlights
- Revenue increased 6.0%, or
$22.0 million , to$391.8 million compared with$369.8 million for the same period in fiscal 2020. The increase is primarily due to higher sales of analytics and content and technology solutions (CTS). Organic revenues grew 4.9% to$389.2 million during the second quarter of fiscal 2021 from the prior year period. - Annual Subscription Value (ASV) plus professional services was
$1.6 billion atFebruary 28, 2021 , compared with$1.5 billion atFebruary 29, 2020 . The organic ASV plus professional services growth rate, which excludes the effects of acquisitions, dispositions, and foreign currency movements, was 5.5%. The primary contributors to this growth were higher sales of research and CTS solutions offset by lower sales of analytics solutions. Please see the “ASV + Professional Services” section of this press release for details. - Operating margin increased to 29.6% compared with 28.7% for the same period last year. Adjusted operating margin improved to 32.6% compared with 31.8% in the prior year period primarily as a result of reduced employee-related operating expenses due to the coronavirus pandemic.
- Diluted earnings per share (EPS) increased 8.7% to
$2.50 compared with$2.30 for the same period in fiscal 2020. Adjusted diluted EPS rose 6.7% to$2.72 compared with$2.55 in the prior year period primarily driven by an improvement in operating results partially offset by a higher tax rate. - The Company’s effective tax rate for the second quarter increased to 15.7% compared with 14.0% a year ago, primarily due to lower windfall tax benefits from stock-based compensation compared with the three months ended
February 29, 2020 . - The Board of Directors of FactSet approved an increase of
$206 million to the Company's existing share repurchase program onMarch 23, 2021 , bringing the total amount available for repurchase under this program to$350 million . - FactSet has increased the lower end of its organic ASV plus professional services outlook to
$70 million from$55 million . FactSet reaffirms other metrics of its annual outlook for fiscal 2021. Please see the “Annual Business Outlook” section of this press release for details.
“I am proud of how we executed this quarter, resulting in a solid first half of our fiscal 2021,” said
Key Financial Measures*
(Condensed and Unaudited) | Three Months Ended | |||||||
(In thousands, except per share data) | 2021 | 2020 | Change | |||||
GAAP revenues | $ | 391,788 | $ | 369,780 | 6.0 | % | ||
Organic revenues | $ | 389,167 | $ | 370,968 | 4.9 | % | ||
Operating income | $ | 116,133 | $ | 106,257 | 9.3 | % | ||
Adjusted operating income | $ | 127,843 | $ | 117,922 | 8.4 | % | ||
Operating margin | 29.6 | % | 28.7 | % | ||||
Adjusted operating margin | 32.6 | % | 31.8 | % | ||||
Net income | $ | 96,643 | $ | 88,686 | 9.0 | % | ||
Adjusted net income | $ | 105,080 | $ | 98,348 | 6.8 | % | ||
Diluted EPS | $ | 2.50 | $ | 2.30 | 8.7 | % | ||
Adjusted diluted EPS | $ | 2.72 | $ | 2.55 | 6.7 | % |
* See reconciliation of
“Our sustained cost discipline, productivity and continued execution of our investment plan have resulted in solid operating results and allow us to raise the lower end of our full-year organic ASV range to
Annual Subscription Value (ASV) + Professional Services
ASV at any given point in time represents the forward-looking revenues for the next twelve months from all subscription services currently supplied to clients. Professional services are revenues derived from project-based consulting and implementation.
ASV plus professional services was
Buy-side and sell-side ASV growth rates for the second quarter of fiscal 2021 were 5.5% and 6.3%, respectively. Buy-side clients accounted for approximately 84% of organic ASV while the remainder was derived from sell-side firms that perform mergers and acquisitions advisory work, capital markets services, and equity research. Supplementary tables covering organic buy-side and sell-side ASV growth rates may be found on the last page of this press release.
Segment Revenue and ASV
ASV from the
ASV from the EMEA region was
ASV from the
Segment ASV does not include professional services, which totaled
Operational Highlights – Second Quarter Fiscal 2021
- Client count as of
February 28, 2021 was 6,103, a net increase of 164 clients in the past three months, primarily driven by an increase in wealth management and corporate clients. The count includes clients with ASV of$10,000 and above. - User count increased by 6,659 to 153,355 in the past three months, primarily driven by an increase in wealth advisory users. The Company has changed the methodology for its user count. FactSet now includes users across all its products including workstations,
StreetAccount and other workflow solutions. Revised historical user counts have been provided on the last page of this press release. - Annual ASV retention was greater than 95%. When expressed as a percentage of clients, annual retention improved to 90%, year over year.
- Employee count was 10,660 as of
February 28, 2021 , up 7.8% over the last twelve months. Excluding theTruvalue Labs acquisition, headcount grew by 7.4%, primarily driven by increased hiring in the Company's content and product development organizations. - Net cash provided by operating activities increased to
$140.7 million compared with$99.7 million for the second quarter of 2020. Quarterly free cash flow increased to$130.2 million compared with$74.6 million a year ago, an increase of 74.7%, primarily due to improved working capital from timing of tax payments and lower capital expenditures. - Capital expenditures decreased to
$10.4 million , compared with$25.1 million a year ago, primarily due to reduced capital outlay for construction costs. - A regular quarterly dividend of
$29.1 million , or$0.77 per share, was paid onMarch 18, 2021 , to holders of record of FactSet’s common stock at the close of business onFebruary 26, 2021 . - FactSet was selected by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) as their primary market and technology provider for their entire wealth management organization. The Company will deploy its web-based wealth workstation and a suite of leading content sets to over 8,000 RBC wealth management professionals.
- The Company continued to make inroads in the environmental, social and governance (ESG) market through enhanced offerings. FactSet launched the Truvalue Labs® SDG Monitor, designed to enable investors and other interested parties to view the alignment of corporations around the globe to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in real time. Additionally, FactSet announced a joint offering with Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China for investors considering ESG metrics for companies incorporated in
China . - FactSet expanded its open and connected data solutions by integrating its exclusive FactSet Concordance Service into Snowflake's cloud, allowing clients to connect FactSet, third party, and proprietary data. Additionally, the Company developed an application for financial news and data for Microsoft Teams, the business communications and collaboration platform developed by Microsoft.
- To further its diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives, FactSet hired
Vinay Kapoor as the Company's Global Chief DE&I officer. - For the sixth consecutive year, FactSet scored 100% on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index for LGBTQ-inclusive workplace policies and practices.
Share Repurchase Program
FactSet repurchased 221,959 shares of its common stock for
Annual Business Outlook
FactSet provided its outlook for fiscal 2021 on
Fiscal 2021 Expectations
- Organic ASV plus professional services is now expected to increase in the range of
$70 million and$85 million over fiscal 2020. - GAAP revenue is expected to be in the range of
$1,570 million and$1,585 million . - GAAP operating margin is expected to be in the range of 29.5% and 30.5%.
- Adjusted operating margin is expected to be in the range of 32.0% and 33.0%.
- FactSet's annual effective tax rate is expected to be in the range of 15.0% and 16.5%.
- GAAP diluted EPS is expected to be in the range of
$10.05 and$10.45 . Adjusted diluted EPS is expected to be in the range of$10.75 and$11.15 .
Both GAAP operating margin and GAAP diluted EPS guidance do not include certain effects of any non-recurring benefits or charges that may arise in fiscal 2021. Please see the back of this press release for a reconciliation of GAAP to adjusted metrics.
Conference Call
The Company will host a conference call today,
833.726.6487 | |
International Participants: | 830.213.7677 |
Passcode: | 3491610 |
An archived webcast with the accompanying slides will be available at FactSet Investor Relations for one year after the conclusion of the live event. The earnings call transcript will also be available via the FactSet workstation or web. An audio replay of this conference will also be available until
Forward-looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements based on management's current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about industries in which FactSet operates and the beliefs and assumptions of management. All statements that address expectations, guidance, outlook or projections about the future, including statements about the Company's strategy for growth, product development, revenues, future financial results, anticipated growth, market position, subscriptions, expected expenditures, trends in FactSet’s business and financial results, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "expects," "believes, " "anticipates," "plans," "intends, " "estimates, " "projects," "should," "indicates," "continues," "may" and similar expressions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors, including those discussed more fully elsewhere in this release and in FactSet's filings with the
About Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Financial measures in accordance with
FactSet uses these adjusted financial measures both in presenting its results to stockholders and the investment community and in its internal evaluation and management of the business. The Company believes that these adjusted financial measures and the information they provide are useful to investors because they permit investors to view the Company’s performance using the same tools that management uses to gauge progress in achieving its goals. Investors may benefit from referring to these adjusted financial measures in assessing the Company’s performance and when planning, forecasting and analyzing future periods and may also facilitate comparisons to its historical performance. The presentation of this financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP.
Organic revenues exclude the effects of acquisitions and dispositions completed in the last 12 months and foreign currency movements in all periods presented. Adjusted operating income and margin, adjusted net income and adjusted diluted earnings per share exclude intangible asset amortization, deferred revenue and non-recurring items. The Company believes that these adjusted financial measures better reflect the underlying economic performance of FactSet.
The GAAP financial measure, cash flows provided by operating activities, has been adjusted for capital expenditures to report non-GAAP free cash flow. FactSet uses this financial measure both in presenting its results to stockholders and the investment community and in the Company’s internal evaluation and management of the business. Management believes that this financial measure is useful to investors because it permits investors to view the Company’s performance using the same metric that management uses to gauge progress in achieving its goals and is an indication of cash flow that may be available to fund further investments in future growth initiatives.
About FactSet
FactSet (NYSE:FDS | NASDAQ:FDS) delivers superior content, analytics, and flexible technology to help more than 153,000 users see and seize opportunity sooner. We give investment professionals the edge to outperform with informed insights, workflow solutions across the portfolio lifecycle, and industry-leading support from dedicated specialists. We're proud to have been recognized with multiple awards for our analytical and data-driven solutions and repeatedly scored 100 by the Human Rights Campaign® Corporate Equality Index for our LGBTQ+ inclusive policies and practices. Subscribe to our thought leadership blog to get fresh insight delivered daily at insight.factset.com. Learn more at www.factset.com and follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/factset.
FactSet
Media & Investor Relations Contact:
Rima Hyder
+1.857.265.7523
rima.hyder@factset.com
Consolidated Statements of Income (Unaudited) |
|||||||||||||||
Three Months Ended | Six Months Ended | ||||||||||||||
(In thousands, except per share data) | 2021 | 2020 | 2021 | 2020 | |||||||||||
Revenues | $ | 391,788 | $ | 369,780 | $ | 779,993 | $ | 736,438 | |||||||
Operating expenses | |||||||||||||||
Cost of services | 195,523 | 176,218 | 383,611 | 341,175 | |||||||||||
Selling, general and administrative | 80,132 | 87,305 | 159,219 | 175,820 | |||||||||||
Total operating expenses | 275,655 | 263,523 | 542,830 | 516,995 | |||||||||||
Operating income | 116,133 | 106,257 | 237,163 | 219,443 | |||||||||||
Other income (expense) | |||||||||||||||
Interest expense, net | (1,814 | ) | (2,661 | ) | (2,843 | ) | (5,792 | ) | |||||||
Other income (expense), net | 347 | (487 | ) | 578 | (1,801 | ) | |||||||||
Income before income taxes | 114,666 | 103,109 | 234,898 | 211,850 | |||||||||||
Provision for income taxes | 18,023 | 14,423 | 37,049 | 29,207 | |||||||||||
Net income | $ | 96,643 | $ | 88,686 | $ | 197,849 | $ | 182,643 | |||||||
Diluted earnings per common share | $ | 2.50 | $ | 2.30 | $ | 5.12 | $ | 4.73 | |||||||
Diluted weighted average common shares | 38,620 | 38,576 | 38,658 | 38,582 |
Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited) |
||||||
(In thousands) | ||||||
ASSETS | ||||||
Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 602,684 | $ | 585,605 | ||
Investments | 17,768 | 19,572 | ||||
Accounts receivable, net of reserves of |
171,574 | 155,011 | ||||
Prepaid taxes | 22,425 | 38,067 | ||||
Prepaid expenses and other current assets | 53,262 | 43,675 | ||||
Total current assets | 867,713 | 841,930 | ||||
Property, equipment and leasehold improvements, net | 132,871 | 133,102 | ||||
746,041 | 709,703 | |||||
Intangible assets, net | 130,897 | 121,095 | ||||
Lease right-of-use assets, net | 256,028 | 248,929 | ||||
Other assets | 29,957 | 28,629 | ||||
TOTAL ASSETS | $ | 2,163,507 | $ | 2,083,388 | ||
LIABILITIES | ||||||
Accounts payable and accrued expenses | $ | 80,606 | $ | 82,094 | ||
Current lease liabilities | 31,983 | 29,056 | ||||
Accrued compensation | 61,650 | 81,873 | ||||
Deferred revenue | 67,923 | 53,987 | ||||
Dividends payable | 29,141 | 29,283 | ||||
Total current liabilities | 271,303 | 276,293 | ||||
Long-term debt | 574,399 | 574,354 | ||||
Deferred taxes | 15,141 | 19,713 | ||||
Deferred revenue, non-current | 9,428 | 9,319 | ||||
Taxes payable | 29,789 | 27,739 | ||||
Long-term lease liabilities | 277,410 | 272,269 | ||||
Other non-current liabilities | 5,569 | 7,326 | ||||
TOTAL LIABILITIES | $ | 1,183,039 | $ | 1,187,013 | ||
STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | ||||||
TOTAL STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | $ | 980,468 | $ | 896,375 | ||
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | $ | 2,163,507 | $ | 2,083,388 |
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited) |
||||||||
Six Months Ended | ||||||||
(In thousands) | 2021 | 2020 | ||||||
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES | ||||||||
Net income | $ | 197,849 | $ | 182,643 | ||||
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities | ||||||||
Depreciation and amortization | 30,962 | 28,296 | ||||||
Amortization of lease right-of-use assets | 21,517 | 20,510 | ||||||
Stock-based compensation expense | 22,327 | 18,028 | ||||||
Deferred income taxes | (2,802 | ) | (3,091 | ) | ||||
Changes in assets and liabilities, net of effects of acquisitions | ||||||||
Accounts receivable, net of reserves | (15,421 | ) | (21,835 | ) | ||||
Accounts payable and accrued expenses | (724 | ) | 10,356 | |||||
Accrued compensation | (20,879 | ) | (23,518 | ) | ||||
Deferred fees | 12,445 | 10,775 | ||||||
Taxes payable, net of prepaid taxes | 16,688 | (12,182 | ) | |||||
Lease liabilities, net | (20,549 | ) | (13,924 | ) | ||||
Other, net | (11,477 | ) | (598 | ) | ||||
Net cash provided by operating activities | 229,936 | 195,460 | ||||||
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES | ||||||||
Purchases of property, equipment, leasehold improvements and internal-use software | (28,758 | ) | (51,899 | ) | ||||
Acquisition of business, net of cash and cash equivalents acquired | (41,916 | ) | — | |||||
Purchases of investments | (1,250 | ) | (2,236 | ) | ||||
Proceeds from maturity or sale of investments | 2,176 | 4,199 | ||||||
Net cash used in investing activities | (69,748 | ) | (49,936 | ) | ||||
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES | ||||||||
Repurchases of common stock | (114,640 | ) | (158,595 | ) | ||||
Dividend payments | (58,186 | ) | (54,363 | ) | ||||
Proceeds from employee stock plans | 28,526 | 50,487 | ||||||
Other financing activities | (2,359 | ) | (1,586 | ) | ||||
Net cash used by financing activities | (146,659 | ) | (164,057 | ) | ||||
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents | 3,550 | 2,222 | ||||||
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents | 17,079 | (16,311 | ) | |||||
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period | 585,605 | 359,799 | ||||||
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period | $ | 602,684 | $ | 343,488 |
Reconciliation of
Financial measures in accordance with
Revenues
The table below provides a reconciliation of revenue to adjusted revenue and organic revenue.
(Unaudited) | Three Months Ended | ||||||||
(In thousands) | 2021 | 2020 | Change | ||||||
GAAP revenues | $ | 391,788 | $ | 369,780 | 6.0 | % | |||
Deferred revenue fair value adjustment (a) | 181 | 1,188 | |||||||
Adjusted revenues | 391,969 | 370,968 | 5.7 | % | |||||
Acquired revenues (b) | (1,175 | ) | — | ||||||
Currency impact (c) | (1,627 | ) | — | ||||||
Organic revenues | $ | 389,167 | $ | 370,968 | 4.9 | % |
(a) The adjustment relates to deferred revenue fair value adjustments from purchase accounting.
(b) Acquired revenues from acquisitions completed within the last 12 months.
(c) The impact from foreign currency movements over the past 12 months.
Operating Income, Margin, Net Income and Diluted EPS
The table below provides a reconciliation of operating income, operating margin, net income and diluted EPS to adjusted operating income, adjusted operating margin, adjusted net income and adjusted diluted EPS.
(Unaudited) | Three Months Ended | |||||||||
(In thousands, except per share data) | 2021 | 2020 | Change | |||||||
Operating income | $ | 116,133 | $ | 106,257 | 9.3 | % | ||||
Deferred revenue fair value adjustment | 181 | 1,188 | ||||||||
Intangible asset amortization | 5,914 | 5,143 | ||||||||
Transformation costs (a) | 4,654 | 4,684 | ||||||||
Restructuring / severance | 961 | (418 | ) | |||||||
Real estate charges | — | 1,068 | ||||||||
Adjusted operating income | $ | 127,843 | $ | 117,922 | 8.4 | % | ||||
Operating margin | 29.6 | % | 28.7 | % | ||||||
Adjusted operating margin (b) | 32.6 | % | 31.8 | % | ||||||
Net income | $ | 96,643 | $ | 88,686 | 9.0 | % | ||||
Deferred revenue fair value adjustment | 148 | 966 | ||||||||
Intangible asset amortization | 4,843 | 4,183 | ||||||||
Transformation costs (a) | 3,813 | 4,138 | ||||||||
Restructuring / severance | 787 | (369 | ) | |||||||
Real estate charges | — | 943 | ||||||||
Non-core investment income | — | (199 | ) | |||||||
Income tax items (c) | (1,154 | ) | — | |||||||
Adjusted net income (d) | $ | 105,080 | $ | 98,348 | 6.8 | % | ||||
Diluted earnings per common share | $ | 2.50 | $ | 2.30 | 8.7 | % | ||||
Deferred revenue fair value adjustment | 0.00 | 0.03 | ||||||||
Intangible asset amortization | 0.13 | 0.11 | ||||||||
Transformation costs (a) | 0.10 | 0.10 | ||||||||
Restructuring / severance | 0.02 | (0.01 | ) | |||||||
Real estate charges | — | 0.02 | ||||||||
Non-core investment income | — | 0.00 | ||||||||
Income tax items (c) | (0.03 | ) | — | |||||||
Adjusted diluted earnings per common share (d) | $ | 2.72 | $ | 2.55 | 6.7 | % | ||||
Weighted average common shares (Diluted) | 38,620 | 38,576 |
(a) Costs primarily related to professional fees and software development associated with the ongoing multi-year investment plan.
(b) Adjusted operating margin is calculated as adjusted operating income divided by adjusted revenue as shown in the organic revenue table above.
(c) Income tax items for the three months ended
(d) For purposes of calculating adjusted net income and adjusted diluted earnings per share, intangible asset amortization, deferred revenue fair value adjustments and other items were taxed at the annual effective tax rates of 16.9% for fiscal 2021 and 14.1% for fiscal 2020.
Business Outlook Operating Margin, Net Income and Diluted EPS
(Unaudited) | ||||||
Annual Fiscal 2021 Guidance | ||||||
(In millions, except per share data) | Low end of range | High end of range | ||||
GAAP Revenue | $ | 1,585 | $ | 1,570 | ||
GAAP Operating Income | $ | 468 | $ | 479 | ||
GAAP Operating margin | 29.5 | % | 30.5 | % | ||
Intangible asset amortization (a) | 25 | 25 | ||||
Transformation costs (b) | 14 | 14 | ||||
Adjusted Operating Income | $ | 507 | $ | 518 | ||
Adjusted operating margin | 32.0 | % | 33.0 | % | ||
GAAP Net income | $ | 386 | $ | 402 | ||
Intangible asset amortization (a) | 21 | 21 | ||||
Transformation costs (b) | 12 | 12 | ||||
Discrete tax items | (5 | ) | (5 | ) | ||
Adjusted net income | $ | 415 | $ | 430 | ||
GAAP Diluted earnings per common share | $ | 10.05 | $ | 10.45 | ||
Intangible asset amortization | 0.55 | 0.55 | ||||
Transformation costs | 0.30 | 0.30 | ||||
Discrete tax items | (0.15 | ) | (0.15 | ) | ||
Adjusted diluted earnings per common share | $ | 10.75 | $ | 11.15 |
(a) The income tax effect related to intangible asset amortization is
(b) Costs primarily related to professional fees and software development associated with the ongoing multi-year investment plan. The income tax effect related to this item is
Free Cash Flow
(Unaudited) | Three Months Ended | |||||||||
(In thousands) | 2021 | 2020 | Change | |||||||
Net cash provided by operating activities | $ | 140,659 | $ | 99,669 | ||||||
Capital expenditures | (10,425 | ) | (25,119 | ) | ||||||
Free cash flow | $ | 130,234 | $ | 74,550 | 74.7 | % |
Supplementary Schedules of Historical ASV by Client Type
The following table presents the percentages and growth rates of organic ASV by client type, excluding the impact of currency movements, and may be useful to facilitate historical comparisons. Organic ASV excludes acquisitions and dispositions completed within the last 12 months and the effects of foreign currency movements. The numbers below do not include professional services.
Q2'21 | Q1'21 | Q4'20 | Q3'20 | Q2'20 | Q1'20 | Q4'19 | Q3'19 | |
% of ASV from buy-side clients | 84.0% | 84.0% | 83.8% | 84.1% | 84.1% | 83.9% | 83.7% | 84.2% |
% of ASV from sell-side clients | 16.0% | 16.0% | 16.2% | 15.9% | 15.9% | 16.1% | 16.3% | 15.8% |
ASV Growth rate from buy-side clients | 5.5% | 5.1% | 5.4% | 4.8% | 4.5% | 4.0% | 4.8% | 5.2% |
ASV Growth rate from sell-side clients | 6.3% | 4.4% | 4.6% | 5.6% | 2.9% | 4.0% | 6.3% | 6.8% |
The following table presents the calculation of organic ASV plus professional services.
(Details may not sum to total due to rounding)
(In millions) | Q2'21 | ||
As reported ASV plus Professional Services (a) | $ | 1,597.6 | |
Currency impact (b) | (0.1 | ) | |
Acquisition ASV (c) | (4.9 | ) | |
Organic ASV plus Professional Services total | $ | 1,592.6 | |
Total Organic ASV plus Professional Services growth rate | 5.5 | % |
(a) Includes
(b) The impact from foreign currency movements was excluded above to calculate total organic ASV.
(c) Acquired ASV from acquisitions completed within the last 12 months.
Revised Historical User Count
Q1'21 | Q4'20 | Q3'20 | Q2'20 | Q1'20 | Q4'19 | Q3'19 | Q2'19 | |
User count - Original | 138,238 | 133,051 | 131,095 | 128,896 | 126,785 | 126,822 | 122,951 | 122,063 |
User count - Revised | 146,696 | 141,136 | 139,121 | 137,290 | 135,097 | 134,534 | 130,463 | 128,378 |
Variance | 8,458 | 8,085 | 8,026 | 8,394 | 8,312 | 7,712 | 7,512 | 6,315 |