EX-99.1 2 crnc-ex991_6.htm EX-99.1 crnc-ex991_6.htm

Exhibit 99.1

 

Cerence Announces First Quarter Fiscal Year 2022 Results

Headlines

BURLINGTON, Mass., February 7, 2022 – Cerence Inc. (NASDAQ: CRNC), AI for a world in motion, today reported its first quarter fiscal year 2022 results for the quarter ended December 31, 2021.

 

Results Summary ⁽¹⁾

(in millions, except per share data)

 

Stefan Ortmanns, Chief Executive Officer at Cerence commented, “We had a strong start to the fiscal year. Our results underscore the strength of our business and reinforces Cerence as the global leader in unique, moving experiences for the mobility world. We’ve delivered important innovations and leading AI mobility solutions to customers in key markets, and our employees have demonstrated great commitment to supporting our customers and each other.”

Ortmanns continued, “We remain focused on the markets, customers, and products that will deliver long-term sustainable growth and that everything we do reinforces our vision of leadership in AI for mobility. We are intensely focused on bold innovation and executing at speed for our customers.”

 

 

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Cerence Key Performance Indicators

To help investors gain further insight into the Cerence business and its performance, management provides a set of key performance indicators that includes:

Second Quarter and Full Year Fiscal 2022 Outlook

With recent changes in leadership, year-to-date performance, and further analysis of the business and market conditions, the company is providing guidance for Q2 2022 and updated guidance for the full fiscal year.

 

Key factors include:

For the fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2022, revenue is expected to be in the range of $82 million to $86 million.  Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of approximately $22 million to $26 million.  The adjusted EBITDA guidance excludes acquisition-related costs, amortization of acquired intangible assets, stock-based compensation, and restructuring and other costs.

 

The full-year guidance is for revenue to be in the range of $365 million to $385 million representing a 9% decrease at the midpoint compared to the initial FY22 guidance provided on November 22, 2021, and a 3% decrease at the mid-point compared to last year’s actual revenue of $387 million. Adjusted EBITDA for the full year is expected to be in the range of approximately $119 million to $139 million. The adjusted EBITDA

 

 

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guidance excludes acquisition-related costs, amortization of acquired intangible assets, stock-based compensation, and restructuring and other costs.

 

Additional details regarding guidance will be provided on the earnings call.

 

First Quarter Conference Call

The company will host a live conference call and webcast with slides to discuss the results today at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time/5:30 a.m. Pacific Time. Interested investors and analysts are invited to dial into the conference call by using 844.467.7116 (domestic) or +1.409.983.9838 (international) and entering the pass code 8094176. Webcast access will be available on the Investor Information section of the company’s website at https://www.cerence.com/investors/events-and-resources.

 

The teleconference replay will be available through February 14, 2022. The replay dial-in number is 1.855.859.2056 (domestic) or +1.404.537.3406 (international) using pass code 8094176. A replay of the webcast can be accessed by visiting our web site 90 minutes following the conference call at https://www.cerence.com/investors/events-and-resources.

Forward Looking Statements

Statements in this presentation regarding Cerence’s future performance, results and financial condition, expected growth, business and market trends, and innovation and our management’s future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or prospects constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words “believes,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends” or “estimates” or similar expressions) should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. Although we believe forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, such statements involve known and unknown risk, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results or performance of the company to be materially different from any future results or performance expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements including but not limited to: impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our and our customer’s businesses; the highly competitive and rapidly changing market in which we operate; adverse conditions in the automotive industry, the related supply chain, or the global economy more generally; our ability to control and successfully manage our expenses and cash position; our strategy to increase cloud offerings; escalating pricing pressures from our customers; our failure to win, renew or implement service contracts; the loss of business from any of our largest customers; effects of customer defaults; our inability to successfully introduce new products, applications and services; the inability to recruit and retain qualified personnel; cybersecurity and data privacy incidents; fluctuating currency rates; and the other factors discussed in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this document.

 

Discussion of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We believe that providing the non-GAAP information in addition to the GAAP presentation, allows investors to view the financial results in the way management views the operating results. We further believe that providing this information allows investors to not only better understand our financial performance, but more

 

 

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importantly, to evaluate the efficacy of the methodology and information used by management to evaluate and measure such performance. The non-GAAP information should not be considered superior to, or a substitute for, financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP.

 

We utilize a number of different financial measures, both GAAP and non-GAAP, in analyzing and assessing the overall performance of the business, for making operating decisions and for forecasting and planning for future periods. While our management uses these non-GAAP financial measures as a tool to enhance their understanding of certain aspects of our financial performance, our management does not consider these measures to be a substitute for, or superior to, the information provided by GAAP financial statements.

Consistent with this approach, we believe that disclosing non-GAAP financial measures to the readers of our financial statements provides such readers with useful supplemental data that, while not a substitute for GAAP financial statements, allows for greater transparency in the review of our financial and operational performance. In assessing the overall health of the business during the three months ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, our management has either included or excluded the following items in general categories, each of which is described below.

Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income attributable to Cerence Inc. before net income (loss) attributable to income tax (benefit) expense, other income (expense) items, net, depreciation and amortization expense, and excluding acquisition-related costs, amortization of acquired intangible assets, stock-based compensation, and restructuring and other costs, net or impairment charges related to fixed and intangible assets and gains or losses on the sale of long-lived assets, if any. From time to time we may exclude from Adjusted EBITDA the impact of events, gains, losses or other charges (such as significant legal settlements) that affect the period-to-period comparability of our operating performance. Other income (expense) items, net include interest expense, interest income, and other income (expense), net (as stated in our Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations). Our management and Board of Directors use this financial measure to evaluate our operating performance. It is also a significant performance measure in our annual incentive compensation programs. 

Restructuring and other costs, net.

Restructuring and other charges, net include restructuring expenses as well as other charges that are unusual in nature, are the result of unplanned events, and arise outside the ordinary course of our business such as employee severance costs, costs for consolidating duplication facilities, and separation costs directly attributable to the Cerence business becoming a standalone public company.

 

Acquisition-related costs, net.
In the past, we have completed a number of acquisitions, which result in operating expenses, which would not otherwise have been incurred. We provide supplementary non-GAAP financial measures, which exclude certain transition, integration and other acquisition-related expense items resulting from acquisitions, to allow more accurate comparisons of the financial results to historical operations, forward looking guidance and the financial results of less acquisitive peer companies. We consider these types of costs and adjustments, to a great extent, to be unpredictable and dependent on a significant number of factors that are outside of our control. Furthermore, we do not consider these acquisition-related costs and adjustments to be related to the

 

 

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organic continuing operations of the acquired businesses and are generally not relevant to assessing or estimating the long-term performance of the acquired assets. In addition, the size, complexity and/or volume of past acquisitions, which often drives the magnitude of acquisition related costs, may not be indicative of the size, complexity and/or volume of future acquisitions. By excluding acquisition-related costs and adjustments from our non-GAAP measures, management is better able to evaluate our ability to utilize our existing assets and estimate the long-term value that acquired assets will generate for us. We believe that providing a supplemental non-GAAP measure, which excludes these items allows management and investors to consider the ongoing operations of the business both with, and without, such expenses.

These acquisition-related costs fall into the following categories: (i) transition and integration costs; (ii) professional service fees and expenses; and (iii) acquisition-related adjustments. Although these expenses are not recurring with respect to past acquisitions, we generally will incur these expenses in connection with any future acquisitions. These categories are further discussed as follows:

Amortization of acquired intangible assets.

We exclude the amortization of acquired intangible assets from non-GAAP expense and income measures. These amounts are inconsistent in amount and frequency and are significantly impacted by the timing and size of acquisitions. Providing a supplemental measure which excludes these charges allows management and investors to evaluate results “as-if” the acquired intangible assets had been developed internally rather than acquired and, therefore, provides a supplemental measure of performance in which our acquired intellectual property is treated in a comparable manner to our internally developed intellectual property. Although we exclude amortization of acquired intangible assets from our non-GAAP expenses, we believe that it is important for investors to understand that such intangible assets contribute to revenue generation. Amortization of intangible assets that relate to past acquisitions will recur in future periods until such intangible assets have been fully amortized. Future acquisitions may result in the amortization of additional intangible assets.

 

Non-cash expenses.

We provide non-GAAP information relative to the following non-cash expenses: (i) stock-based compensation; and (ii) non-cash interest. These items are further discussed as follows:

 

 

 

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Other expenses.

We exclude certain other expenses that result from unplanned events outside the ordinary course of continuing operations, in order to measure operating performance and current and future liquidity both with and without these expenses. By providing this information, we believe management and the users of the financial statements are better able to understand the financial results of what we consider to be our organic, continuing operations. Included in these expenses are items such as other charges (credits), net, losses from extinguishment of debt, and changes in indemnification assets corresponding with the release of pre-spin liabilities for uncertain tax positions.

 

Bookings.

Bookings is defined as the amount of revenue we expect to earn from an agreement with our customers for products and services. To count as a booking, we expect there to be persuasive evidence of an arrangement, which may be evidenced by a legally binding document or documents, and that the collectability of the amounts payable under the arrangement are reasonably assured. The revenue we may actually recognize from our estimated bookings is subject to multiple factors, including but not limited to the timing of satisfying performance obligations, potential terminations, or changes in the scope of programs utilizing our technology and currency fluctuations. There is no comparable GAAP financial measure.

Key performance indicators

We believe that providing key performance indicators (“KPIs”), allows investors to gain insight into the way management views the performance of the business. We further believe that providing KPIs allows investors to better understand information used by management to evaluate and measure such performance. KPIs should not be considered superior to, or a substitute for, operating results prepared in accordance with GAAP. In assessing the performance of the business during the three months ended December 31, 2021, our management has reviewed the following KPIs, each of which is described below:

 

 

 

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See the tables at the end of this press release for non-GAAP reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures.

To learn more about Cerence, visit www.cerence.com, and follow the company on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Cerence Inc.

Cerence (NASDAQ: CRNC) is the global industry leader in creating unique, moving experiences for the mobility world. As an innovation partner to the world’s leading automakers and mobility OEMs, it is helping advance the future of connected mobility through intuitive, powerful interaction between humans and their cars, two-wheelers, and even elevators, connecting consumers’ digital lives to their daily journeys no matter where they are. Cerence’s track record is built on more than 20 years of knowledge and more than 400 million cars shipped with Cerence technology. Whether it’s connected cars, autonomous driving, e-vehicles, or buildings, Cerence is mapping the road ahead. For more information, visit www.cerence.com.

 

Contact Information

Rich Yerganian

Cerence Inc.

Tel: 617-987-4799

Email: richard.yerganian@cerence.com

 

 

 

 

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CERENCE INC.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

(in thousands, except per share data)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CERENCE INC.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(in thousands, except per share amounts)

 

 

 

 

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CERENCE INC.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(in thousands)

 

 

 

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CERENCE INC.

Reconciliations of GAAP Financial Measures to Non-GAAP Financial Measures

(unaudited - in thousands)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CERENCE INC.

Reconciliations of GAAP Financial Measures to Non-GAAP Financial Measures (cont.)

(unaudited - in thousands, except per share data)

 

 

 

 

 

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CERENCE INC.

Reconciliations of GAAP Financial Measures to Non-GAAP Financial Measures (cont.)

(unaudited - in thousands)

 

 

 

 

 

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CERENCE INC.

Reconciliations of GAAP Financial Measures to Non-GAAP Financial Measures (cont.)

(unaudited - in thousands)

 

 

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CERENCE INC.

Reconciliations of GAAP Financial Measures to Non-GAAP Financial Measures (cont.)

(unaudited - in thousands, except per share data)