MLNK - MeridianLink Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Results

Fourth quarter revenue of $74.6 million grows 6% year-over-year driven by lending software solutions revenue of $59.5 million, reflecting growth of 8% year-over-year

MeridianLink, Inc. (NYSE: MLNK), a leading provider of modern software platforms for financial institutions and consumer reporting agencies, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.

“2023 was a solid year of execution, driven by robust demand and many innovative product and partner expansions,” said Nicolaas Vlok, chief executive officer of MeridianLink. “Our strong fourth quarter performance demonstrates our ability to execute in key strategic areas of the business that accelerate growth while also demonstrating cost discipline, which we see as a great achievement in the face of challenging macroeconomic conditions. I am proud of our team and am confident in our dedication to increasing the value of MeridianLink ^® One for our customers and stockholders.”

Quarterly Financial Highlights:

• Revenue of $74.6 million, an increase of 6% year-over-year
• Lending software solutions revenue of $59.5 million, an increase of 8% year-over-year
• Operating income of $6.8 million, or 9% of revenue, and non-GAAP operating income of $15.2 million, or 20% of revenue
• Net loss of $(29.6) million, or (40)% of revenue, which includes a one-time non-cash tax expense of $29.4 million recorded during the quarter for the recognition of a partial valuation allowance on certain deferred tax assets, and adjusted EBITDA of $31.1 million, or 42% of revenue
• Cash flows from operations of $12.5 million, or 17% of revenue, and free cash flow of $9.6 million, or 13% of revenue

2023 Fiscal Year Financial Highlights:

• Revenue of $303.6 million, an increase of 5% year-over-year
• Lending software solutions revenue of $232.2 million, an increase of 11% year-over-year
• Operating income of $15.5 million, or 5% of revenue, and non-GAAP operating income of $51.1 million, or 17% of revenue
• Net loss of $(42.5) million, or (14)% of revenue, which includes a one-time non-cash tax expense of $29.4 million recorded during the fiscal year for the recognition of a partial valuation allowance on certain deferred tax assets, and adjusted EBITDA of $113.0 million, or 37% of revenue
• Cash flows from operations of $68.0 million, or 22% of revenue, and free cash flow of $57.8 million, or 19% of revenue

Business and Operating Highlights:

• MeridianLink finished the year with strong software bookings, driven by the cross-sell momentum of MeridianLink One, which is evidence of the return on our Go-to-Market investment
• In the quarter, MeridianLink signed nine existing MeridianLink ^® Consumer customers on the MeridianLink ^® Mortgage solution and won multiple high-value platform deals, demonstrating the continued demand for MeridianLink One
• We expanded our capabilities through a new integration between MeridianLink ^® Engage and MeridianLink ^® Collect, allowing customers to automatically identify and optimize the debt wallet of pre-delinquent accounts
• MeridianLink enhanced its integration with Zest AI, a leader in automated underwriting, to provide multiple custom credit scores for decisioning MeridianLink Consumer loans, which increases cross-sell opportunities for customers
• We scaled our employment screening and background verification capabilities in our Data Verification Software Solutions by partnering with Workato, a leading Enterprise Automation platform
• In 2023, we signed more than 40 customers on MeridianLink ^® Access and MeridianLink ^® Mortgage Access, our new, highly configurable point-of-sale solutions
• MeridianLink announced the go-live of A+ Federal Credit Union, who doubled their instant approval rates on consumer loans after adding MeridianLink ^® Consulting, MeridianLink Engage, and MeridianLink ^® Insight to MeridianLink One

Business Outlook

Based on information as of today, March 5, 2024, the Company issues first quarter financial guidance and initiates full year 2024 financial guidance as follows:

First Quarter Fiscal 2024:

• Revenue is expected to be in the range of $75.0 million to $78.0 million
• Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $28.0 million to $31.0 million

Full Year 2024:

• Revenue is expected to be in the range of $313.0 million to $323.0 million
• Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $123.0 million to $130.0 million

Conference Call Information

MeridianLink will hold a conference call to discuss its fourth quarter results today, March 5, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time). The conference call can be accessed by dialing (888) 259-6580 from North America toll-free or the International number of (416) 764-8624 with Conference ID 63977161. A live webcast of the conference call can be accessed from the investor relations page of MeridianLink’s website at ir.meridianlink.com . An archived replay of the webcast will be available at the same website following the conclusion of the call. A telephonic replay will be available until 8:59 p.m. Pacific Time (11:59 p.m. Eastern Time) on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, by dialing (877) 674-7070 from North America or the International number of (416) 764-8692 with Playback Passcode 977161.

About MeridianLink

MeridianLink ^® (NYSE: MLNK) empowers financial institutions and consumer reporting agencies to drive efficient growth. MeridianLink’s cloud-based digital lending, account opening, background screening, and data verification software solutions leverage shared intelligence from a unified data platform, MeridianLink ^® One, to enable customers of all sizes to identify growth opportunities, effectively scale up, and support compliance efforts, all while powering an enhanced experience for staff and consumers alike.

For more than 25 years, MeridianLink has prioritized the democratization of lending for consumers, businesses, and communities. Learn more at www.meridianlink.com .

Internal Controls

While we are still completing our assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, we expect to report a material weakness in internal control over financial reporting in our Annual Report on Form 10-K as of December 31, 2023. We have identified multiple control deficiencies that aggregate to a material weakness related to the design and operating effectiveness of controls over revenue as of December 31, 2023. This was primarily caused by insufficient controls over the set-up of customer contracts for billing and maintaining complete contract support that were not operating effectively. We can confirm that there has been no restatement of prior period financial statements and no change to our previously released financial results as a result of these control deficiencies.

Remediation efforts are currently underway, which include designing and implementing additional review processes, enhanced procedures, and controls, including with respect to customer contracts, as well as system improvements and implementations, staffing and training.

Operational Measures Definitions

We reference bookings, which is an internal operational measure of the business. Bookings is defined as the total of the minimum annual contracted value for newly sold capabilities of our software-as-a-service, or SaaS, products over a given time period, inclusive of any corresponding vendor fees owed to Third Parties.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement the financial measures presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, we provide certain non-GAAP financial measures, such as adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin; non-GAAP operating income (loss); non-GAAP net income (loss); non-GAAP cost of revenue; non-GAAP sales and marketing expenses; non-GAAP research and development expenses; non-GAAP general and administrative expenses; and free cash flow. The presentation of these financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. Rather, we believe that these non-GAAP financial measures, when viewed in addition to and not in lieu of our reported GAAP financial results, provide investors with additional meaningful information to assess our financial performance and trends, enable comparison of financial results between periods, and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics utilized internally in analyzing and operating our business. The following definitions are provided:

• Non-GAAP operating income (loss): GAAP operating income (loss), excluding the impact of share-based compensation, employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions, restructuring related costs, and sponsor and third-party acquisition-related costs.
  
  
• Non-GAAP net income (loss): GAAP net income (loss), excluding the impact of share-based compensation, employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions, restructuring related costs, sponsor and third-party acquisition-related costs, and the effect of income taxes, including the partial valuation allowance, on non-GAAP items. The effects of income taxes on non-GAAP items reflect a fixed long-term projected tax rate of 24%.
  
  The Company employs a structural long-term projected non-GAAP income tax rate of 24% for greater consistency across reporting periods, eliminating effects of items not directly related to the Company's operating structure that may vary in size and frequency. This long-term projected non-GAAP income tax rate is determined by analyzing a mix of historical and projected tax filing positions, assumes no additional acquisitions during the projection period or include the impact from the partial deferred tax asset valuation allowance, and takes into account various factors, including the Company’s anticipated tax structure, its tax positions in different jurisdictions, and current impacts from key U.S. legislation where the Company operates. We will reevaluate this tax rate, as necessary, for significant events such as significant alterations in the U.S. tax environment, substantial changes in the Company’s geographic earnings mix due to acquisition activity, or other shifts in the Company’s strategy or business operations.
  
  
• Adjusted EBITDA: net income (loss) before interest expense, taxes, depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation expense, employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions, restructuring related costs, sponsor and third-party acquisition related costs, and deferred revenue reductions from purchase accounting for acquisitions prior to the adoption of ASU 2021-08, “Business Combinations (Topic 805): Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers,” which we early adopted on January 1, 2022 on a prospective basis. Deferred revenue from acquisitions prior to the adoption of ASU 2021-08 was recognized on a straight line basis through December 31, 2023.
  
  
• Non-GAAP cost of revenue: GAAP cost of revenue, excluding the impact of share-based compensation, employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions, and amortization of developed technology.
  
  
• Non-GAAP operating expenses: GAAP operating expenses, excluding the impact of share-based compensation, employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions, and depreciation and amortization, as applicable.
  
  
• Free cash flow: GAAP cash flow from operating activities less GAAP purchases of property and equipment (Capital Expenditures) and capitalized costs related to developed technology (Capitalized Software).

Reconciliations to comparable GAAP financial measures are available in the accompanying schedules, which are posted as part of this earnings release on our website. No reconciliation is provided with respect to certain forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures as the GAAP measures are not accessible on a forward-looking basis. We cannot reliably predict all necessary components or their impact to reconcile such financial measures without unreasonable effort. The events necessitating a non-GAAP adjustment are inherently unpredictable and may have a significant impact on our future GAAP financial results.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains, and our above-referenced conference call and webcast will contain, statements which are not historical facts and are considered forward-looking within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Generally, these statements can be identified by the use of words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “projects,” “seeks,” “should,” “will,” and variations of such words or similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Further, statements describing our strategy, outlook, guidance, plans, intentions, or goals are also forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect our predictions, expectations, or forecasts, including, but not limited to, statements regarding, and guidance with respect to, our strategy, our future financial and operational performance, future economic and market conditions, our strategic initiatives, including anticipated benefits and integration of an acquisition, our stock repurchase program, including the execution and amount of repurchases, our restructuring and realignment plans, including expected associated timing, benefits, and costs, a potential material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, including the sufficiency and timing of our remediation efforts relating thereto, our ability to retain and attract customers and product partners, the benefit to us and our customers of integrations with our product partners, potential losses related to any commercial disputes, our development or delivery of new or enhanced solutions and anticipated results of those solutions for our customers, our ability to effectively implement, integrate, and service our customers, our market size and growth opportunities, our competitive positioning, projected costs, technological capabilities and plans, and objectives of management. Actual results may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements and will be affected by a variety of risks and factors that are beyond our control including, without limitation, risks related to our business and industry, as well as those set forth in Item 1A. Risk Factors, or elsewhere, in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year, any updates in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed for periods subsequent to such Form 10-K, and our other SEC filings. These forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions as of the date hereof. The plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements may not be achieved, and you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. We undertake no obligation, other than as required by applicable law, to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.