NICENICE’s first-quarter 2022 adjusted earnings of $1.80 per share beat Zacks’ consensus estimate by 5.88% and rose 16.9% year-over-year.
Non-GAAP revenue of $527.4 million exceeded the consensus mark of 3.29% and was up 15.4% year-over-year.
Revenue in the Americas was $426 million, up 14% year-over-year. Revenue in EMEA was $72 million in the current quarter, up 29%. APAC revenue grew 7% year-over-year to $29 million.
Front line details
Cloud revenue (55.9% of revenue) increased 29.2% year over year to $294.6 million. Product revenue (14.4% of revenue) increased 16.4% from the prior year quarter to $75.9 million.
Good price, consensus and surprise EPS
Nice price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Beautiful quote
Services revenue (29.8% of revenue) decreased 3% from the prior year quarter to $157 million.
Customer Engagement revenue grew 14% year-over-year to $421 million. Financial Crime & Compliance revenue increased 20% year over year to $106 million.
On a non-GAAP basis, gross margin was flat at 73% in the current quarter. The product margin contracted by 80 basis points (bps) to 91.6% in the current quarter. The services margin increased slightly by 20 basis points to 72.2%.
Cloud margin increased 100 basis points year over year to 68.6%.
Research and development (R&D) spending, as a percentage of revenue, rose 150 basis points year-over-year to 14.5%. Sales and marketing (S&M) expenses, as a percentage of revenue, increased 70 basis points to 28.9%.
General and administrative (G&A) expenses, as a percentage of revenue, decreased by 50 basis points on an annual basis to 11.2%.
On a non-GAAP basis, operating expenses as a percentage of revenue increased 10 basis points year over year to 44.8%.
The operating margin increased by 10 basis points on an annual basis to 28.3%.
Balance sheet and other details
As of March 31, 2022, NICE had cash and cash equivalents (including short-term investments) worth $1.49 billion.
Long-term debt, as of March 31, 2022, was $241.1 million.
The company’s operating cash flow in the first quarter was $192.7 million.
Orientation
For the second quarter of 2022, NICE projects non-GAAP revenue between $520 million and $530 million. Non-GAAP earnings are estimated in the range of $1.75 to $1.85 per share.
For the year 2022, non-GAAP revenue is expected between $2.16 billion and $2.18 billion. Non-GAAP earnings are expected between $7.25 and $7.45 per share.
Zacks ranking and key picks
NICE currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
The highest-ranking stocks in the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector are Analog devices ADI, Broadcom AVGO and Cisco Systems CSCO. All three stocks carry a Zacks rank of No. 2 (buy). You can see the full list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Shares of Analog Devices have outperformed the sector year-to-date, down 10.3%.
ADI is expected to release its second quarter fiscal 2022 results on May 18.
Broadcom shares have outperformed the sector year-to-date, down 12.3%.
AVGO is expected to report its second quarter fiscal 2022 results on June 2.
Shares of Cisco have outperformed the sector year-to-date, down 22.1%.
CSCO is scheduled to release its third quarter fiscal 2022 results on May 18.
Zacks names ‘only one best choice for doubling up’
From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts have each picked their favorite to skyrocket by +100% or more in the coming months. Of these 5, Research Director Sheraz Mian selects one to have the most explosive advantage of all.
It’s a little-known chemical company that’s up 65% year-on-year, but still very cheap. With relentless demand, rising earnings estimates for 2022 and $1.5 billion for stock buybacks, retail investors could jump in at any moment.
This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks stocks which are expected to double, such as Boston Beer Company which jumped +143.0% in just over 9 months and NVIDIA which jumped +175.9% in one. year.
Free: See our best stock and our 4 finalists >>
Click to get this free report
Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI): Free Inventory Analysis Report
Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO): Free Inventory Analysis Report
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO): Free Stock Analysis Report
Nice (NICE): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com, click here.
Zacks Investment Research
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
Comments are closed.