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home / news releases / CFLT - Confluent Announces Second Quarter 2021 Financial Results


CFLT - Confluent Announces Second Quarter 2021 Financial Results

  • Total revenue of $88 million, up 64% year over year
  • Confluent Cloud revenue of $20 million, up 200% year over year
  • Remaining performance obligations of $327 million, up 72% year over year
  • 617 customers with $100,000 or greater in ARR, up 51% year over year

Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ: CFLT) , the platform for data in motion, today announced financial results for its second quarter 2021, ended June 30, 2021.

“Data within modern businesses is in constant motion, flowing across systems, environments, and applications each time a customer clicks, types or swipes,” said Jay Kreps, co-founder and CEO, Confluent. “Our strong second quarter shows our vision of helping every organization set their data in motion is resonating, reflected by the 104% year-over-year growth in total customers. Confluent is the central nervous system that connects all the applications, systems, and data layers for companies succeeding in today’s digital-first world.”

“The execution of our land and expand strategy drove accelerated top-line growth, including 72% year-over-year growth in remaining performance obligations and 64% year-over-year growth in total revenue,” said Steffan Tomlinson, CFO, Confluent. “Organizations are increasingly turning to Confluent Cloud to harness the power of data in motion. During the quarter, Confluent Cloud revenue growth accelerated to 200% year over year and revenue mix increased to 22% of total revenue.”

Second Quarter 2021 Financial Highlights
(In millions, except per share data)

Q2 2021

Q2 2020

Y/Y Change

Total Revenue

$88.3

$53.9

64%

Remaining Performance Obligations

$327.2

$190.6

72%

GAAP Operating Loss

$(86.0)

$(27.5)

$(58.5)

Non-GAAP Operating Loss

$(36.8)

$(20.4)

$(16.4)

GAAP Net Loss Per Share

$(0.74)

$(0.25)

$(0.49)

Non-GAAP Net Loss Per Share

$(0.31)

$(0.19)

$(0.12)

Net Cash Used in Operating Activities

$(43.2)

$(21.5)

$(21.7)

Free Cash Flow

$(45.4)

$(22.7)

$(22.7)

A reconciliation of each non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is provided in the financial statement tables included in this press release. For a description of these non-GAAP financial measures, including the reasons management uses each measure, please see the section titled “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Financial Outlook
For the third quarter and fiscal year 2021, Confluent expects:

Q3 2021 Outlook

Fiscal 2021 Outlook

Total Revenue

$89-$91 million

$347-$351 million

Non-GAAP Operating Loss

$(62)-$(60) million

$(199)-$(195) million

Non-GAAP Net Loss Per Share

$(0.24)-$(0.23)

$(1.07)-$(1.05)

A reconciliation of forward-looking non-GAAP operating loss and non-GAAP net loss per share to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is not available without unreasonable effort, as certain items cannot be reasonably predicted because of their high variability, complexity and low visibility. In particular, the measures and effects of our stock-based compensation expense specific to our equity compensation awards and employer payroll tax-related items on employee stock transactions are directly impacted by the timing of employee stock transactions and unpredictable fluctuations in our stock price, which we expect to have a significant impact on our future GAAP financial results.

Conference Call Information

Confluent will host a video webcast to discuss the company’s second quarter 2021 results as well as the financial outlook for its third quarter and fiscal year 2021 today at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time/1:30 p.m. Pacific Time. Open to the public, investors may access the webcast, earnings press release, supplemental financial information, and investor presentation on Confluent’s investor relations website at investors.confluent.io before the commencement of the webcast. A replay of the webcast will also be accessible from Confluent’s investor relations website a few hours after the conclusion of the live event.

Partial Early Lock-Up Release

As previously announced, beginning at the opening of trading on Monday, August 09, 2021, Confluent’s employees (including officers), third-party contractors and consultants, directors, investors and founders are permitted, pursuant to the terms of lock-up agreements they have entered into with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, as representatives of the underwriters for Confluent’s recent initial public offering, to sell up to 25% of their vested shares (including shares issuable upon exercise of vested options and settlement of RSUs), in addition to any shares that were eligible for sale pursuant to the initial lock-up agreement release on the date of Confluent’s initial public offering that have not yet been sold.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and the earnings call referencing this press release contain forward-looking statements including, among other things, statements regarding our GAAP and non-GAAP outlook for the third fiscal quarter and full fiscal 2021, increased adoption of our platform and growth in our remaining performance obligations and net retention rate, growth in Confluent Cloud revenue, our ability and position to capitalize on the shift to cloud and our market opportunity. The words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “seek,” “plan,” “project,” “target,” “looking ahead,” “look to,” “move into,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements represent our current beliefs, estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this press release and information contained in this press release should not be relied upon as representing our estimates as of any subsequent date. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. If the risks materialize or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. Risks include, but are not limited to: (i) the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on our business, as well as our customers, prospects, partners, and service providers, (ii) our ability to sustain and manage our rapid growth, (iii) our limited operating history, (iv) our ability to attract new customers and retain and sell additional features and services to our existing customers, (v) our ability to increase consumption of our offering, including by existing customers and through the acquisition of new customers, and successfully add new features and functionality to our offering, (vi) our ability to achieve or sustain profitability, (vii) the estimated addressable market opportunity for our offering, (viii) our ability to compete effectively in an increasingly competitive market, including achieving market acceptance over competitors and open source alternatives, (ix) breaches in our security measures or unauthorized access to our platform, our data, or our customers’ or other users’ personal data, (x) our reliance on third-party cloud-based infrastructure to host Confluent Cloud, and (xi) general market, political, economic, and business conditions. These risks are not exhaustive. Further information on these and other risks that could affect Confluent’s results is included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including our prospectus filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4), dated June 23, 2021, and our future reports that we may file from time to time with the SEC. Additional information will be made available in our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2021 that will be filed with the SEC, which should be read in conjunction with this press release and the financial results included herein. Confluent assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release includes the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP operating loss, non-GAAP net loss per share and free cash flow. We use these non-GAAP financial measures and other key metrics internally to facilitate analysis of our financial and business trends and for internal planning and forecasting purposes. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures, when taken collectively, may be helpful to investors because they provide consistency and comparability with past financial performance by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of our business, results of operations, or outlook. However, non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as an analytical tool and are presented for supplemental informational purposes only. They should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. In particular, other companies, including companies in our industry, may report non-GAAP operating loss, non-GAAP net loss per share, free cash flow or similarly titled measures but calculate them differently, which reduces their usefulness as comparative measures. Further, free cash flow is not a substitute for cash used in operating activities. The utility of free cash flow is limited as such measure does not reflect our future contractual commitments and does not represent the total increase or decrease in our cash balance for any given period. Investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, as presented below. We define non-GAAP operating loss and non-GAAP net loss per share as the respective GAAP balances, adjusted for, as applicable, stock-based compensation expense; employer taxes on employee stock transactions; common stock charitable donation expense; and income tax effects associated with these adjustments. We define free cash flow as net cash used in operating activities less capitalized internal-use software costs and capital expenditures. We believe that free cash flow is a useful indicator of liquidity that provides information to management and investors about the performance of core operations and future ability to generate cash that can be used for strategic opportunities or investing in our business.

Other Business Metrics

Remaining performance obligations (“RPO”) represent the amount of contracted future revenue that has not yet been recognized as of the end of each period, including both deferred revenue that has been invoiced and non-cancelable committed amounts that will be invoiced and recognized as revenue in future periods. RPO excludes pay-as-you-go arrangements. RPO may also fluctuate due to a number of factors, including the timing of renewals, average contract terms, seasonality, and dollar amount of customer contracts. RPO as a metric is not necessarily indicative of future revenue growth because it does not account for the timing of customers’ consumption or their consumption of more than their contracted capacity.

Customers with $100,000 or greater in annual recurring revenue (“ARR”) represent the number of customers that contributed $100,000 or more in ARR as of period end. ARR is the subscription revenue contractually expected to be received from customers over the following 12 months assuming no increases or reductions in subscriptions. ARR excludes services and pay-as-you-go arrangements. For purposes of determining our customer count, we treat all affiliated entities with the same parent organization as a single customer and include pay-as-you-go customers. Our customer count is subject to adjustments for acquisitions, consolidations, spin-offs, and other market activity.

About Confluent

Confluent is pioneering a fundamentally new category of data infrastructure focused on data in motion. Confluent’s cloud-native offering is the foundational platform for data in motion – designed to be the intelligent connective tissue enabling real-time data, from multiple sources, to constantly stream across the organization. With Confluent, organizations can meet the new business imperative of delivering rich, digital front-end customer experiences and transitioning to sophisticated, real-time, software-driven backend operations.

Confluent, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(in thousands)

(unaudited)

June 30, 2021

December 31, 2020

ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents

$

860,347

$

36,789

Marketable securities

183,526

251,756

Accounts receivable, net of allowance

117,176

105,971

Deferred contract acquisition costs

20,516

14,403

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

32,040

18,775

Total current assets

1,213,605

427,694

Property and equipment, net

9,060

6,718

Operating lease right-of-use assets

43,482

48,273

Deferred contract acquisition costs, non-current

41,848

33,196

Other assets, non-current

9,983

10,238

Total assets

$

1,317,978

$

526,119

LIABILITIES, REDEEMABLE CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCK, AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY (DEFICIT)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable

$

1,834

$

1,646

Accrued expenses and other liabilities

49,970

33,711

Operating lease liabilities

10,288

10,492

Deferred revenue

172,671

142,901

Liability for early exercise of unvested stock options

14,217

5,049

Total current liabilities

248,980

193,799

Operating lease liabilities, non-current

35,912

40,440

Deferred revenue, non-current

17,873

16,292

Other liabilities, non-current

11,668

7,203

Total liabilities

314,433

257,734

Redeemable convertible preferred stock

-

574,634

Stockholders’ equity (deficit):
Preferred stock

-

-

Common stock

-

1

Convertible founder stock

-

-

Class A common stock

-

-

Class B common stock

2

-

Additional paid-in capital

1,542,338

99,575

Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income

(46

)

228

Accumulated deficit

(538,749

)

(406,053

)

Total stockholders’ equity (deficit)

1,003,545

(306,249

)

Total liabilities, redeemable convertible preferred stock, and stockholders’ equity (deficit)

$

1,317,978

$

526,119

Confluent, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

(in thousands, except share and per share data)

(unaudited)

Three Months Ended June 30,
Six Months Ended June 30,

2021

2020

2021

2020

Revenue:
Subscription

$

78,516

$

46,973

$

146,508

$

90,916

Services

9,822

6,879

18,858

13,840

Total revenue

88,338

53,852

165,366

104,756

Cost of revenue:
Subscription (1)(2)

20,292

11,734

36,049

22,748

Services (1)(2)

9,717

5,956

17,798

12,755

Total cost of revenue

30,009

17,690

53,847

35,503

Gross profit

58,329

36,162

111,519

69,253

Operating expenses:
Research and development (1)(2)

33,225

18,875

57,538

38,617

Sales and marketing (1)(2)

73,206

36,447

131,715

74,764

General and administrative (1)(2)

37,943

8,334

53,455

16,749

Total operating expenses

144,374

63,656

242,708

130,130

Operating loss

(86,045

)

(27,494

)

(131,189

)

(60,877

)

Interest income

688

1,303

1,532

1,746

Other expense, net

(643

)

(211

)

(979

)

(518

)

Loss before income taxes

(86,000

)

(26,402

)

(130,636

)

(59,649

)

Provision for (benefit from) income taxes

2,170

(106

)

2,060

282

Net loss

$

(88,170

)

$

(26,296

)

$

(132,696

)

$

(59,931

)

Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted

$

(0.74

)

$

(0.25

)

$

(1.17

)

$

(0.56

)

Weighted-average shares used to compute net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted

118,648,655

105,532,865

113,717,546

106,964,953

(1) Includes stock-based compensation expense as follows:
Three Months Ended June 30,
Six Months Ended June 30,

2021

2020

2021

2020

Cost of revenue - subscription

$

2,172

$

524

$

3,147

$

986

Cost of revenue - services

1,055

312

1,599

662

Research and development

8,932

2,250

12,443

4,296

Sales and marketing

11,155

2,735

16,131

5,108

General and administrative

11,202

1,251

14,549

2,471

Total stock-based compensation expense

$

34,516

$

7,072

$

47,869

$

13,523

(2) Includes employer taxes on employee stock transactions as follows:
Three Months Ended June 30,
Six Months Ended June 30,

2021

2020

2021

2020

Cost of revenue - subscription

$

38

$

-

$

38

$

1

Cost of revenue - services

288

-

288

-

Research and development

277

-

398

9

Sales and marketing

610

-

713

22

General and administrative

222

5

261

49

Total employer taxes on employee stock transactions

$

1,435

$

5

$

1,698

$

81

Confluent, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(in thousands)

(unaudited)

Three Months Ended June 30,
Six Months Ended June 30,

2021

2020

2021

2020

CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES
Net loss

$

(88,170

)

$

(26,296

)

$

(132,696

)

$

(59,931

)

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to cash used in operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization

756

434

1,543

699

Net amortization of premiums or discounts on marketable securities

459

365

964

342

Amortization of deferred contract acquisition costs

6,048

3,254

11,583

6,128

Non-cash operating lease costs

2,748

2,996

5,604

6,102

Common stock charitable donation expense

13,290

-

13,290

-

Stock-based compensation, net of amounts capitalized

34,516

7,072

47,869

13,523

Deferred income taxes

2,297

(134

)

1,730

(132

)

Other

209

67

648

269

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable

(17,587

)

(16,259

)

(11,853

)

(25,337

)

Deferred contract acquisition costs

(15,482

)

(8,419

)

(26,348

)

(13,927

)

Prepaid expenses and other assets

(12,368

)

(917

)

(14,723

)

(148

)

Accounts payable

(468

)

63

371

(1,635

)

Accrued expenses and other liabilities

11,460

5,541

12,893

2,284

Operating lease liabilities

(2,661

)

(2,823

)

(5,382

)

(5,767

)

Deferred revenue

21,787

13,600

31,352

25,043

Net cash used in operating activities

(43,166

)

(21,456

)

(63,155

)

(52,487

)

CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Capitalization of internal-use software costs

(1,215

)

(1,105

)

(1,811

)

(2,097

)

Purchases of marketable securities

(14,283

)

(191,977

)

(55,971

)

(230,690

)

Sales of marketable securities

-

-

-

4,988

Maturities of marketable securities

66,211

16,743

122,974

36,760

Purchases of property and equipment

(1,030

)

(138

)

(1,673

)

(484

)

Other

-

-

9

-

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities

49,683

(176,477

)

63,528

(191,523

)

CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Proceeds from initial public offering, net of underwriting discounts and commissions

786,600

-

786,600

-

Proceeds from issuance of common stock upon exercise of vested options

12,490

931

18,705

2,587

Proceeds from issuance of common stock upon early exercise of unvested options, net of repurchases

11,145

469

18,543

838

Proceeds from issuance of redeemable convertible preferred stock, net of issuance costs

-

24,865

-

249,865

Payments of deferred offering costs

(767

)

-

(920

)

-

Net cash provided by financing activities

809,468

26,265

822,928

253,290

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash

(2

)

14

(10

)

(33

)

Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash

815,983

(171,654

)

823,291

9,247

Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at beginning of period

45,114

200,872

37,806

19,971

Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period

$

861,097

$

29,218

$

861,097

$

29,218

Reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash within the consolidated balance sheets to the amounts shown above:

Cash and cash equivalents

$

860,347

$

28,201

$

860,347

$

28,201

Restricted cash included in other assets, non-current

750

1,017

750

1,017

Total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash

$

861,097

$

29,218

$

861,097

$

29,218

Confluent, Inc.

Reconciliation of GAAP Measures to Non-GAAP Measures

(in thousands, except percentages, share and per share data)

(unaudited)

Three Months Ended June 30,

Six Months Ended June 30,

2021

2020

2021

2020

Reconciliation of GAAP total gross profit to non-GAAP total gross profit:
Total gross profit on a GAAP basis

$

58,329

$

36,162

$

111,519

$

69,253

Total gross margin on a GAAP basis

66.0

%

67.2

%

67.4

%

66.1

%

Add: Stock-based compensation expense

3,227

836

4,746

1,648

Add: Employer taxes on employee stock transactions

326

-

326

1

Non-GAAP total gross profit

$

61,882

$

36,998

$

116,591

$

70,902

Non-GAAP total gross margin

70.1

%

68.7

%

70.5

%

67.7

%

Reconciliation of GAAP operating expenses to non-GAAP operating expenses:
Research and development operating expense on a GAAP basis

$

33,225

$

18,875

$

57,538

$

38,617

Less: Stock-based compensation expense

8,932

2,250

12,443

4,296

Less: Employer taxes on employee stock transactions

277

-

398

9

Non-GAAP research and development operating expense

$

24,016

$

16,625

$

44,697

$

34,312

Non-GAAP research and development operating expense as a percentage of total revenue

27.2

%

30.9

%

27.0

%

32.8

%

Sales and marketing operating expense on a GAAP basis

$

73,206

$

36,447

$

131,715

$

74,764

Less: Stock-based compensation expense

11,155

2,735

16,131

5,108

Less: Employer taxes on employee stock transactions

610

-

713

22

Non-GAAP sales and marketing operating expense

$

61,441

$

33,712

$

114,871

$

69,634

Non-GAAP sales and marketing operating expense as a percentage of total revenue

69.6

%

62.6

%

69.5

%

66.5

%

General and administrative operating expense on a GAAP basis

$

37,943

$

8,334

$

53,455

$

16,749

Less: Stock-based compensation expense

11,202

1,251

14,549

2,471

Less: Employer taxes on employee stock transactions

222

5

261

49

Less: Common stock charitable donation expense

13,290

-

13,290

-

Non-GAAP general and administrative operating expense

$

13,229

$

7,078

$

25,355

$

14,229

Non-GAAP general and administrative operating expense as a percentage of total revenue

15.0

%

13.1

%

15.3

%

13.6

%

Three Months Ended June 30,
Six Months Ended June 30,

2021

2020

2021

2020

Reconciliation of GAAP operating loss to non-GAAP operating loss:
Operating loss on a GAAP basis

$

(86,045

)

$

(27,494

)

$

(131,189

)

$

(60,877

)

Add: Stock-based compensation expense

34,516

7,072

47,869

13,523

Add: Employer taxes on employee stock transactions

1,435

5

1,698

81

Add: Common stock charitable donation expense

13,290

-

13,290

-

Non-GAAP operating loss

$

(36,804

)

$

(20,417

)

$

(68,332

)

$

(47,273

)

Non-GAAP operating margin

(41.7

%)

(37.9

%)

(41.3

%)

(45.1

%)

Reconciliation of GAAP net loss to non-GAAP net loss:
Net loss on a GAAP basis

$

(88,170

)

$

(26,296

)

$

(132,696

)

$

(59,931

)

Add: Stock-based compensation expense

34,516

7,072

47,869

13,523

Add: Employer taxes on employee stock transactions

1,435

5

1,698

81

Add: Common stock charitable donation expense

13,290

-

13,290

-

Add: Income tax effects and adjustments

1,716

(438

)

1,045

(427

)

Non-GAAP net loss

$

(37,213

)

$

(19,657

)

$

(68,794

)

$

(46,754

)

Non-GAAP net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted

$

(0.31

)

$

(0.19

)

$

(0.17

)

$

(0.18

)

Weighted-average shares used to compute net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted

118,648,655

105,532,865

113,717,546

106,964,953

The following table presents a reconciliation of free cash flow to net cash used in operating activities, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, for each of the periods indicated (unaudited, in thousands):

Three Months Ended June 30,
Six Months Ended June 30,

2021

2020

2021

2020

Net cash used in operating activities

$

(43,166

)

$

(21,456

)

$

(63,155

)

$

(52,487

)

Capitalized internal-use software costs

(1,215

)

(1,105

)

(1,811

)

(2,097

)

Capital expenditures

(1,030

)

(138

)

(1,673

)

(484

)

Free cash flow

$

(45,411

)

$

(22,699

)

$

(66,639

)

$

(55,068

)

Free cash flow margin

(51.4

%)

(42.2

%)

(40.3

%)

(52.6

%)

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities

$

49,683

$

(176,477

)

$

63,528

$

(191,523

)

Net cash provided by financing activities

$

809,468

$

26,265

$

822,928

$

253,290

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005963/en/

Investor Contact
Shane Xie
investors@confluent.io

Media Contact
Taylor Jones
pr@confluent.io

Stock Information

Company Name: Confluent Inc.
Stock Symbol: CFLT
Market: NASDAQ
Website: confluent.io

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