LivePerson Announces Fourth Quarter 2023 Financial Results

-- Total Revenue of $95.5M, above the midpoint of our guidance range --

-- Adjusted EBITDA above the midpoint of our guidance range  --

NEW YORK, Feb. 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ: LPSN) ("LivePerson" the "Company", "we" or "us"), the enterprise leader in digital customer conversations, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2023.

Fourth Quarter Highlights

Total revenue was $95.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2023, above the midpoint of our prior guidance and a decrease of 22.1% as compared to the same period last year driven by our exit of lower-margin and non-core business lines.

LivePerson signed 62 deals in total for the fourth quarter, consisting of 16 new and 46 existing customer contracts, including 3 seven-figure deals. Trailing-twelve-months average revenue per enterprise and mid-market customer increased 11.9% for the fourth quarter to $610,000, up from approximately $545,000 for the comparable prior-year period. Beginning with the second quarter of 2022, in order to provide a more consistent and meaningful measure of ARPC, we started calculating this metric using only B2B Core recurring revenue, which is consistent with the revenue base for calculating Net Revenue Retention.

"This is a critical time in LivePerson's history, and I'm honored to be leading the company through its transformation by driving results through improved commercial and operational execution," said CEO John Sabino. "There is a multi-billion dollar market opportunity ahead of us as we execute on our go-to-market strategy, lean into our product's integration and orchestration capabilities, and strengthen our capital structure. I am excited to share that these operational initiatives are already underway, and I am confident they will place LivePerson on a path to profitable growth."

"I'm excited to partner with John on the path ahead and I share the board's confidence in his leadership," said CFO and COO John Collins. "The rapid growth in our market, coupled with repeated validation of our product by customers, investors, and third party research, makes it clear that LivePerson has a compelling growth opportunity following the rebuild of its sales and customer success motion."

Customer Expansion

During the fourth quarter, the Company signed 62 total deals for the quarter, including 3 seven-figure deals, 46 expansion & renewals and 16 new logo deals. New logo deals included:

• A globally recognized designer;
• A major telecom services provider in Southeast Asia, through a partnership; and
• A leading personal loan provider, through a partnership.

The Company also expanded/renewed business with:

• Several financial services companies including one of the world's largest banks, a large U.K. financial services provider, a growing U.S. credit card issuer, a major U.S. credit union, and a large Australian retail bank; as well as
• A leading U.K. connectivity provider;
• A large U.S. luxury jewelry company; and
• A leading technology company.

Net Loss and Adjusted Operating Loss

Net loss for the fourth quarter of 2023 was $40.5 million or $0.48 per share, as compared to a net loss of $41.7 million or $0.55 per share for the fourth quarter of 2022.  Adjusted operating loss, a non-GAAP financial metric, for the fourth quarter of 2023 was $4.0 million, as compared to a $16.1 million adjusted operating loss for the fourth quarter of 2022. Adjusted operating loss excludes amortization of purchased intangibles and finance leases, stock-based compensation expense, other litigation, consulting and other employee costs, restructuring costs, impairment of goodwill, impairment of intangibles and other assets, gain on divestiture, leadership transition costs, contingent earn-out adjustments, IT transformation costs, acquisition and divestiture costs, interest (income) expense, and other (income) expense.

Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, for the fourth quarter of 2023 was $3.7 million as compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $5.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2022. Adjusted EBITDA excludes amortization of purchased intangibles and finance leases, stock-based compensation expense, depreciation, other litigation, consulting and other employee costs, restructuring costs, impairment of goodwill, impairment of intangibles and other assets, leadership transition costs, IT transformation costs, gain on divestiture, contingent earn-out adjustments, provision for income taxes, acquisition and divestiture costs, interest (income) expense, and other (income) expense.

A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP measures has been provided in the financial tables included in this press release. An explanation of the non-GAAP financial measures and how they are calculated is included below under the heading "Non-GAAP Financial Measures."

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company's cash balance was $210.8 million at December 31, 2023, as compared to $391.8 million at December 31, 2022.

Financial Expectations

The following forward-looking measures and the underlying assumptions involve significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties, and actual results may vary materially from these forward-looking measures. The Company does not present a quantitative reconciliation of the forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures (or otherwise present such forward-looking GAAP measures) because it is impractical to forecast certain items without unreasonable efforts due to the uncertainty and inherent difficulty of predicting, within a reasonable range, the occurrence and financial impact of and the periods in which such items may be recognized. In particular, these non-GAAP financial measures exclude certain items, including amortization of purchased intangibles and finance leases, stock-based compensation expense, depreciation, other litigation, consulting and other employee costs, restructuring costs, impairment of goodwill, impairment of intangibles and other assets, leadership transition costs, gain on divestiture, contingent earn-out adjustments, provision for income taxes, IT transformation costs, acquisition and divestiture costs, interest (income) expense, and other (income) expense, which depend on future events that the Company is unable to predict. Depending on the size of these items, they could have a significant impact on the Company's GAAP financial results.

For the full year 2024, we expect total revenue to range from $300M - $315M or (24)% to (20)% year over year (excluding $7.2M of Kasamba revenue generated in Q1 2023). In addition, we expect B2B Core recurring revenue to represent 92% of total revenue. For the full year 2024, we expect adjusted EBITDA to range from $15M to $26M, or a margin of 5.0% to 8.3%.

For the first quarter, we expect total revenue to range from $79M - $83M or (21)% to (17)% year over year (excluding $7.2M of Kasamba revenue generated in Q1 2023). We expect B2B Core recurring revenue to represent   92% of total revenue. For the first quarter, we expect adjusted EBITDA to range from $(2) to $2M, or a margin of (2.5)% to 2.4%.

For the tables below, year-over-year growth rates are on a like-for-like basis (excluding $7.2M of Kasamba contribution from Q1 2023). 

Disaggregated Revenue

Included in the accompanying financial results are revenues disaggregated by revenue source, as follows:

Stock-Based Compensation

Included in the accompanying financial results are expenses related to stock-based compensation, as follows:

Amortization of Purchased Intangibles and Finance Leases 

Included in the accompanying financial results are expenses related to the amortization of purchased intangibles and finance leases, as follows:

Supplemental Fourth Quarter 2023 Presentation

LivePerson will post a presentation providing supplemental information for the fourth quarter 2023 on the investor relations section of the Company's web site at www.ir.liveperson.com.

Earnings Teleconference Information

The Company will discuss its fourth quarter of 2023 financial results during a teleconference today, February 28, 2024, at 5:00 PM ET. To participate via telephone, callers should dial in five to ten minutes prior to the 5:00 p.m. Eastern start time; domestic callers (U.S. and Canada) should dial 1-877-407-0784, while international callers should dial 1-201-689-8560, and both should reference the conference ID "13743243."

The conference call will also be simulcast live on the Internet and can be accessed by logging onto the investor relations section of the Company's web site at www.ir.liveperson.com.

If you are unable to participate in the live call, the teleconference will be available for replay approximately two hours after the call. To access the replay, please call 1-844-512-2921 (U.S. and Canada) or 1-412-317-6671 (international). Please reference the conference ID "13743243." A replay will also be available on the investor relations section of the Company's web site at www.ir.liveperson.com.

About LivePerson, Inc.

LivePerson (NASDAQ: LPSN)  is the enterprise leader in digital customer conversations. The world's leading brands — including HSBC, Chipotle, and Virgin Media — use our award-winning Conversational Cloud platform to connect with millions of consumers. We power nearly a billion conversational interactions every month, providing a uniquely rich data set and AI-powered solutions to accelerate contact center transformation, supercharge agent productivity, and deliver more personalized customer experiences. Fast Company named us the #1 Most Innovative AI Company in the world. To talk with us or our AI, please visit liveperson.com.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Investors are cautioned that the following financial measures used in this press release and on our earnings call are "non-GAAP financial measures": (i) adjusted EBITDA, or loss before provision for income taxes, interest (income) expense, other (income) expense, depreciation, amortization of purchased intangibles and finance leases, stock-based compensation expense, contingent earn-out adjustments, restructuring costs, impairment of goodwill, impairment of intangibles and other assets, leadership transition costs, IT transformation costs, gain on divestiture, acquisition and divestiture costs and other litigation, consulting and other employee costs; (ii) adjusted EBITDA margin, or loss before provision for income taxes, interest (income) expense, other (income) expense, depreciation, amortization of purchased intangibles and finance leases, stock-based compensation expense, contingent earn-out adjustments, restructuring costs, impairment of goodwill, impairment of intangibles and other assets, leadership transition costs, IT transformation costs, gain on divestiture, acquisition and divestiture costs and other litigation, consulting and other employee costs divided by revenue; (iii) adjusted operating loss, or operating loss excluding interest (income) expense, other (income) expense, amortization of purchased intangibles and finance leases, stock-based compensation expense, contingent earn-out adjustments, restructuring costs, impairment of goodwill, impairment of intangibles and other assets, leadership transition costs, IT transformation costs, gain on divestiture, acquisition and divestiture costs, and other litigation, consulting and other employee costs and (iv) free cash flow, or net cash provided by operating activities less purchases of property and equipment, including capitalized software.

Non-GAAP financial information should not be construed as an alternative to any other measures of performance determined in accordance with GAAP, or as an indicator of our operating performance, liquidity or cash flows generated by operating, investing and financing activities as there may be significant factors or trends that it fails to address. We present non-GAAP financial information because we believe that it is helpful to some investors as one measure of our operations.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release and on our earnings call regarding LivePerson that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future events or results to differ materially from such statements. Any such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to financial guidance, are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. It is routine for our internal projections and expectations to change as the quarter and year progress, and therefore it should be clearly understood that the internal projections and beliefs upon which we base our expectations may change. Although these expectations may change, we are under no obligation to inform you if they do. Some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein include, without limitation: strain on our personnel resources and infrastructure from supporting our customer base; our ability to retain existing customers and cause them to purchase additional services and to attract new customers; our ability to retain key personnel, attract new personnel and to manage staff attrition; our ability to successfully integrate past or potential future acquisitions; our ability to refinance our substantial indebtedness before it becomes due or to secure necessary additional financing on commercially reasonable terms, or at all; lengthy sales cycles; delays in our implementation cycles; payment-related risks; potential fluctuations in our quarterly revenue and operating results; limitations on the effectiveness of our controls; non-payment or late payment of amounts due to us from a significant number of customers; volatility in the capital markets; recognition of revenue from subscriptions; customer retention and engagement; our ability to develop and maintain successful relationships with partners, service partners, social media and other third-party consumer messaging platforms and endpoints; our ability to effectively operate on mobile devices; the highly competitive markets in which we operate; general economic conditions; failures or security breaches in our services, those of our third party service providers, or in the websites of our customers; regulation or possible misappropriation of personal information belonging to our customers' Internet users; US and international laws and regulations regarding privacy data protection and AI and increased public scrutiny of privacy,security and AI issues that could result in increased government regulation and other legal obligations; ongoing litigation and legal matters; new regulatory or other legal requirements that could materially impact our business; governmental export controls and economic sanctions; industry-specific regulation and unfavorable industry-specific laws, regulations or interpretive positions; future regulation of the Internet or mobile devices; technology-related defects that could disrupt the LivePerson services; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights or potential infringement of the intellectual property rights of third parties; the use of AI in our product offerings or by our vendors; the presence of, and difficulty in correcting, errors, failures or "bugs" in our products; our ability to license necessary third party software for use in our products and services, and our ability to successfully integrate third party software; potential adverse impact due to foreign currency and cryptocurrency exchange rate fluctuations; additional regulatory requirements, tax liabilities, currency exchange rate fluctuations and other risks if and as we expand; risks related to our operations in Israel; potential failure to meeting service level commitments to certain customers; legal liability and/or negative publicity for the services provided to consumers via our technology platforms; technological or other defects that could disrupt or negatively impact our services; our ability to maintain our reputation; changes in accounting principles generally accepted in the United States; natural catastrophic events and interruption to our business by man-made problems; potential limitations on our ability to use net operating losses to offset future taxable income; and risks related to our common stock being traded on more than one securities exchange. This list is intended to identify only certain of the principal factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Readers are referred to the Company's reports and documents filed from time to time by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a discussion of these and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in forward-looking statements.

Investor Relations contact
[email protected]

SOURCE LivePerson