RPX Announces First Quarter 2017 Financial Results

SAN FRANCISCO, May 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- 

• CFO Robert Heath becomes Chief Strategy Officer
• SVP David Anderson assuming CFO role

RPX Corporation (NASDAQ: RPXC), the leading provider of patent risk and discovery management solutions, today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017.

Highlights

Total revenue was $82.5 million, compared to $79.7 million in the first quarter of 2016.

• Subscription revenue from patent risk management services - including insurance - was $63.4 million, compared to $67.1 million in the prior year period.
• Discovery services revenue was $18.0 million, compared to $10.6 million in the prior year period.
• Fee-related revenue was $1.1 million.

"RPX made a solid start to 2017, with top and bottom line results in line with our expectations," said Martin Roberts, Chief Executive Officer. "The patent market continues to represent significant risk for operating companies and RPX has a variety of solutions to help them mitigate that risk. Importantly, as the nature of patent risk has evolved in recent years, we continue to develop new services to address that risk and increase the value we provide to our clients."

Summary Results

GAAP net income for the first quarter was $6.0 million or $0.12 per diluted share, compared to $4.2 million or $0.08 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2016.

Non-GAAP net income for the first quarter, which excludes stock-based compensation, the amortization of acquired intangibles, fair value adjustments on deferred payment obligations, gains on extinguishment of deferred payment obligations, realized losses on exchange of short-term investments, and their related tax effects, was $9.6 million or $0.19 per diluted share, compared to $7.8 million or $0.15 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2016.

Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA was $55.9 million for the first quarter of 2017, less net patent spend of $31.1 million, resulting in non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA less net patent spend, the Company's preferred measure of adjusted pre-tax free cash flow, of $24.8 million for the first quarter of 2017.

As of March 31, 2017, RPX's patent segment had more than 300 clients, consisting of patent risk management network members and insurance clients. The Company provides patent risk management services to more than 400 companies, including those insured under policies sold to venture funds and industry trade associations.

Net patent acquisition spend during the quarter totaled $31.1 million, and included 19 patent transactions.

As of March 31, 2017, RPX had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $226.6 million and long-term debt of $93.4 million.

Business Outlook

This outlook reflects the Company's current and preliminary view and may be subject to change. Please see the paragraph regarding "Forward-Looking Statements" at the end of this news release.

The Company provided the following business outlook for the second quarter of fiscal 2017:

The Company provided the following unchanged business outlook for the full year 2017:

The Company provided the following supplemental information regarding amortization expense for the full year 2017:

The above outlook is forward-looking. Actual results may differ materially. The Company is not able, at this time, to provide a forward-looking reconciliation to GAAP outlook for the non-GAAP financial metric outlook it has provided above for the second quarter and full year 2017 because of the difficulty of estimating certain items that are excluded from the non-GAAP financial metrics, including those items listed in "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information" below, the effect of which may be significant. Please refer to the information under the caption "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information" below.

Management Change

Separately the Company announced that Robert Heath, RPX's Chief Financial Officer, has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, effective May 15, 2017. David Anderson, currently Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, has been named Chief Financial Officer.

"We're delighted that Bob will now be able to devote 100% of his time to working with me on strategic initiatives, which are increasingly important as we develop new services to address an evolving market," Roberts said. "And Dave is a Company veteran with deep knowledge of our business model and operations. Both have been important contributors to RPX's success to date, and we look forward to continuing to benefit from their expertise."

Previous to joining RPX Corporation, Mr. Heath served as Head of Strategy and Acquisitions at Technicolor, a leading supplier of technology and services to media companies, where he oversaw an acquisition and divestiture program which focused the company on services and technology licensing. Mr. Heath also has extensive experience as an investment banker, focused on technology and growth companies as well as experience as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of an Internet service provider. Mr. Heath holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and an AB from Harvard University.

Since joining RPX in 2010, Mr. Anderson has managed groups in corporate development, new business initiatives, syndicated transactions, and patent market intelligence. He joined RPX from The Boston Consulting Group where he was a core member of the Technology and Healthcare practice areas. Mr. Anderson holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar, and an MA and BA from Stanford University.

Conference Call

RPX management will host a conference call and live webcast for analysts and investors at 2:00 p.m. PDT/5:00 p.m. EDT on May 2, 2017. Parties in the United States and Canada can access the call by dialing 1-888-471-3843, using conference code 3577470. International parties can access the call by dialing 1-719-457-2642, using conference code 3577470.

The conference call will be webcast and investors will be able to access the webcast and slide presentation from the "Investor Relations" section of the company's website at www.rpxcorp.com. A replay of the webcast will be available online at the aforementioned website following the conclusion of the conference call.

About RPX

RPX Corporation (NASDAQ: RPXC) is the leading provider of patent risk management and discovery management solutions. Since its founding in 2008, RPX has introduced efficiency to the patent market by providing a rational alternative to litigation. The San Francisco-based company's pioneering approach combines principal capital, deep patent expertise, and client contributions to generate enhanced patent buying power. By acquiring patents and patent rights, RPX helps to mitigate and manage patent risk for its growing client network.

As of March 31, 2017, RPX had invested over $2 billion to acquire more than 17,500 US and international patent assets and rights on behalf of over 300 clients in eight key sectors: automotive, consumer electronics and PCs, E-commerce and software, financial services, media content and distribution, mobile communications and devices, networking, and semiconductors.

RPX subsidiary Inventus is a leading international discovery management provider focused on reducing the costs and risks associated with the discovery process through the effective use of technology solutions. Inventus has been providing litigation support services to corporate legal departments, law firms and government agencies since 1991.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information

This news release dated May 2, 2017 contains non-GAAP financial measures. Tables are provided in this news release that reconcile the historical non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable financial measures prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). These non-GAAP financial measures include non-GAAP cost of revenue, non-GAAP selling, general and administrative expenses, non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP interest and other income (expense), net, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income per share, and non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA less net patent spend.

To supplement the Company's condensed consolidated financial statements presented on a GAAP basis, management believes that these non-GAAP measures provide useful information about the Company's core operating results and thus are appropriate to enhance the overall understanding of the Company's past financial performance and its prospects for the future. Management is excluding from some or all of its non-GAAP operating results (1) stock-based compensation expenses (inclusive of related employer payroll taxes), (2) the amortization of acquired intangible assets (other than patents), (3) fair value adjustments on deferred payment obligations, (4) gains on extinguishment of deferred payment obligations, (5) other-than-temporary impairment on short-term investments, (6) realized losses on exchange of short-term investments, and (7) their related tax effects.

Management uses these non-GAAP measures to evaluate the Company's financial results and trends, allocate internal resources, prepare and approve our annual budget, develop short- and long-term operating plans, assess the health of our business and determine company-wide incentive compensation. Management believes these non-GAAP measures may prove useful to investors who wish to consider the impact of certain items when comparing the Company's financial performance with that of other companies. The adjustments to the Company's GAAP results are made with the intent of providing both management and investors a more complete understanding of the Company's underlying operational results, trends and performance.

There are limitations in using non-GAAP financial measures because non-GAAP financial measures are not prepared in accordance with GAAP and may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. The non-GAAP financial measures are limited in value because they exclude certain items that may have a material impact on our reported financial results. In addition, they are subject to inherent limitations as they reflect the exercise of judgment by management about which items are adjusted to calculate our non-GAAP financial measures. Management compensates for these limitations by analyzing current and future results on a GAAP basis as well as a non-GAAP basis and also by providing GAAP measures in our public disclosures.

The presentation of additional information should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for or superior to financial results determined in accordance with GAAP. Investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measure and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release and its attachments contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements include the statements by management, statements regarding RPX's future financial performance as well as any statements regarding the Company's strategic and operational plans. The Company's actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Factors that may contribute to such differences include, among others, the Company's ability to maintain an adequate rate of growth, the success of the Company's new initiatives, the Company's ability to integrate and manage the acquisition of Inventus Solutions, Inc., and the Company's ability to attract new clients and retain existing clients. Forward-looking statements are often identified by the use of words such as, but not limited to, "anticipate," "believe," "can," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "seek," "should," "target," "will," "would," and similar expressions or variations intended to identify forward-looking statements.  More information about potential factors that could affect the Company's business and financial results is contained in the Company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K, its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and the Company's other filings with the SEC. The Company does not intend, and undertakes no duty, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

SOURCE RPX Corporation