Pega Delivers Outstanding Cash Flow and Margin Expansion in Q1 2024

• Cash flow from operations and free cash flow both reach $180 million
• Annual contract value (ACV) grows 9% year over year
• Pega Cloud gross margin expands to 77%

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA), the leading enterprise AI decisioning and workflow automation platform provider, released its financial results for the first quarter of 2024.

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Backlog Growth (Graphic: Business Wire)

"In Q1, we released Pega GenAI Blueprint^TM, a revolutionary technology that massively changes the way we engage with our clients to help them re-imagine and evolve their business," said Alan Trefler, founder and CEO. "Hundreds of clients and partners have generated thousands of Blueprints, and those numbers are increasing every day. Blueprint highlights how Pega is uniquely leveraging GenAI to drive digital transformation for our clients."

"The strong cash generation in Q1 demonstrates the power of a SaaS business," said Ken Stillwell, Pega COO and CFO. "Given our financial strength and differentiated GenAI capabilities, we are in a great position to accelerate profitable growth."

Financial and performance metrics ⁽¹⁾

Reconciliation of ACV and ACV (constant currency)

¹ Refer to the schedules at the end of this release for additional information, including a reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP measures.

Quarterly conference call

A conference call and audio-only webcast will be conducted at 8:00 a.m. EDT on Thursday, April 25, 2024. Members of the public and investors are invited to join the call and participate in the question and answer session by dialing 1 (888) 596-4144 (domestic) or 1 (646) 968-2525 (international) and using conference ID 1559653, or via https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/436307495 by logging onto www.pega.com at least five minutes prior to the event's broadcast and clicking on the webcast icon in the Investors section.

Discussion of non-GAAP financial measures

Our non-GAAP financial measures should only be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. We believe that these measures help investors understand our core operating results and prospects, which is consistent with how management measures and forecasts our performance without the effect of often one-time charges and other items outside our normal operations. They are not a substitute for financial measures prepared under U.S. GAAP. Refer to the schedules at the end of this release for additional information, including a reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP measures.

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements in this press release may be "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Words such as expects, anticipates, intends, plans, believes, will, could, should, estimates, may, targets, strategies, intends to, projects, forecasts, guidance, likely, and usually or variations of such words and other similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. These statements represent our views only as of the date the statement was made and are based on current expectations and assumptions.

Forward-looking statements deal with future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict, including, but not limited to:

• our future financial performance and business plans;
• the adequacy of our liquidity and capital resources;
• the continued payment of our quarterly dividends;
• the timing of revenue recognition;
• variation in demand for our products and services, including among clients in the public sector;
• reliance on key personnel;
• reliance on third-party service providers, including hosting providers;
• compliance with our debt obligations and covenants;
• the potential impact of our convertible senior notes and Capped Call Transactions;
• foreign currency exchange rates;
• the potential legal and financial liabilities and damage to our reputation due to cyber-attacks;
• security breaches and security flaws;
• our ability to protect our intellectual property rights, costs associated with defending such rights, intellectual property rights claims, and other related claims by third parties against us, including related costs, damages, and other relief that may be granted against us;
• our ongoing litigation with Appian Corp.;
• our client retention rate; and
• management of our growth.

These risks and others that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements are described further in Part I of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and other filings we make with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").

Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, and there are no assurances that the results included in such statements will be achieved. Although subsequent events may cause our view to change, except as required by applicable law, we do not undertake and expressly disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as the result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Any forward-looking statements in this press release represent our views as of April 24, 2024.

About Pegasystems

Pega provides a powerful platform that empowers the world's leading organizations to unlock business-transforming outcomes with real-time optimization. Clients use our enterprise AI decisioning and workflow automation to solve their most pressing business challenges - from personalizing engagement to automating service to streamlining operations. Since 1983, we've built our scalable and flexible architecture to help enterprises meet today's customer demands while continuously transforming for tomorrow. For more information on how Pega (NASDAQ:PEGA) empowers its clients to Build for Change®, visit www.pega.com.

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Our non-GAAP financial measures reflect the following adjustments:

• Stock-based compensation: We have excluded stock-based compensation from our non-GAAP operating expenses and profitability measures. Although stock-based compensation is a key incentive offered to our employees, and we believe such compensation contributed to our revenues recognized during the periods presented and is expected to contribute to our future revenues, we continue to evaluate our business performance, excluding stock-based compensation.
• Restructuring: We have excluded restructuring from our non-GAAP financial measures. Restructuring fluctuates in amount and frequency and is significantly affected by the timing and size of our restructuring activities. We believe excluding these amounts from our non-GAAP financial measures is useful to investors as these amounts are not representative of our core business operations and ongoing operational performance.
• Legal fees: Legal and related fees arising from proceedings outside the ordinary course of business. We believe excluding these amounts from our non-GAAP financial measures is useful to investors as the types of events giving rise to them are not representative of our core business operations and ongoing operational performance.
• Litigation settlement, net of recoveries: Accrued loss for the estimated cost to settle ongoing litigation arising from proceedings outside the ordinary course of business. See Note 15. Commitments and Contingencies in our Quarterly Report for the three months ended March 31, 2024 for additional information. We believe excluding these amounts from our non-GAAP financial measures is useful to investors as the types of events giving rise to them are not representative of our core business operations and ongoing operational performance.
• Amortization of intangible assets: We have excluded the amortization of intangible assets from our non-GAAP operating expenses and profitability measures. Amortization of intangible assets fluctuates in amount and frequency and is significantly affected by the timing and size of acquisitions. Investors should note that intangible assets contributed to our revenues recognized during the periods presented and are expected to contribute to future revenues. Amortization of intangible assets is likely to recur in future periods. We believe excluding these amounts provides a useful comparison of our operational performance in different periods.
• Interest on convertible senior notes: In February 2020, we issued convertible senior notes, due March 1, 2025, in a private placement. We believe that excluding the amortization of issuance costs provides a useful comparison of our operational performance in different periods.
• Capped call transactions: We have excluded gains and losses related to our capped call transactions held at fair value under U.S. GAAP. The capped call transactions are expected to reduce common stock dilution and/or offset any potential cash payments we must make, other than for principal and interest, upon conversion of the convertible senior notes. We believe excluding these amounts from our non-GAAP financial measures is useful to investors as the types of events giving rise to them are not representative of our core business operations and ongoing operational performance.
• Repurchases of convertible senior notes: We have excluded gains from the repurchases of Convertible Senior Notes. We believe excluding these amounts from our non-GAAP financial measures is useful to investors as the types of events giving rise to them are not representative of our core business operations and ongoing operational performance.
• Foreign currency transaction loss: We have excluded foreign currency transaction gains and losses from our non-GAAP profitability measures. Foreign currency transaction gains and losses fluctuate in amount and frequency and are significantly affected by foreign exchange market rates. Foreign currency transaction gains and losses are likely to recur in future periods. We believe excluding these amounts provides a useful comparison of our operational performance in different periods.
• Other: We have excluded gains and losses from our venture investments, and incremental expenses incurred integrating acquisitions. We believe excluding these amounts from our non-GAAP financial measures is useful to investors as the types of events giving rise to them are not representative of our core business operations and ongoing operational performance.
• Diluted weighted-average number of common shares outstanding:
  • Stock-based compensation: In periods of non-GAAP income, we have included the dilutive impact of stock-based compensation in our non-GAAP weighted-average shares. In periods of GAAP loss, these shares would have been excluded from our GAAP results as they would be anti-dilutive for GAAP. We believe including the dilutive effect of stock-based compensation in our non-GAAP financial measures in periods of income is helpful to investors as this provides a useful comparison of our operational performance in different periods.

(1) Stock-based compensation:

(2) Effective income tax rates:

Our GAAP effective income tax rate is subject to significant fluctuations due to several factors, including our stock-based compensation plans, research and development tax credits, gains and losses on our capped call transactions, and the valuation allowance on our deferred tax assets in the U.S. and U.K. We determine our non-GAAP income tax rate using applicable rates in taxing jurisdictions and assessing certain factors, including historical and forecasted earnings by jurisdiction, discrete items, and ability to realize tax assets. We believe it is beneficial for our management to review our non-GAAP results consistent with our annual plan's effective income tax rate as established at the beginning of each year, given tax rate volatility.

(1) Our non-GAAP free cash flow is defined as cash provided by operating activities less investment in property and equipment. Investment in property and equipment fluctuates in amount and frequency and is significantly affected by the timing and size of investments in our facilities. We provide information on free cash flow to enable investors to assess our ability to generate cash without incurring additional external financings. This information is not a substitute for financial measures prepared under U.S. GAAP.

(2) The supplemental information discloses items that affect our cash flows and are considered by management not to be representative of our core business operations and ongoing operational performance.

• Restructuring: Restructuring fluctuates in amount and frequency and is significantly affected by the timing and size of our restructuring activities.
• Legal fees: Legal and related fees arising from proceedings outside the ordinary course of business.
• Interest on convertible senior notes: In February 2020, we issued convertible senior notes, due March 1, 2025, in a private placement. The convertible senior notes accrue interest at an annual rate of 0.75%, payable semi-annually in arrears on March 1 and September 1.
• Income taxes: Direct income taxes paid net of refunds received. 

PEGASYSTEMS INC.

ANNUAL CONTRACT VALUE

(in thousands, except percentages)

Annual contract value ("ACV") - ACV represents the annualized value of our active contracts as of the measurement date. The contract's total value is divided by its duration in years to calculate ACV. ACV is a performance measure that we believe provides useful information to our management and investors.

PEGASYSTEMS INC.

BACKLOG

(in thousands, except percentages)

Remaining performance obligations ("Backlog") - Expected future revenue from existing non-cancellable contracts:

As of March 31, 2024:

As of March 31, 2023:

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