Summary
Asana closed fiscal 2021 with record fourth-quarter revenue of $68.37 million, up 57.3% from the prior-year quarter. Full-year revenue was $227.00 million, up 59.2%. Gross profit rose 59.8% to $60.18 million in the quarter and 61.6% to $198.26 million for the year. Gross margin improved to 88.0% in the fourth quarter from 86.7% a year earlier, and full-year gross margin reached 87.3%.
Operating loss widened to $50.96 million in the quarter from $25.30 million, and operating margin fell to negative 74.5% from negative 58.2%. For fiscal 2021, operating loss widened to $175.57 million from $119.63 million, while full-year operating margin improved to negative 77.3% from negative 83.9%. GAAP net loss widened to $61.51 million in the quarter and $211.71 million for the year, from $25.24 million and $118.59 million, respectively. Diluted net loss per share for fiscal 2021 was $1.99, compared with $1.69 in fiscal 2020.
Asana ended the quarter with over 93,000 paying customers, compared with over 75,000 a year earlier. Customers spending $5,000 or more on an annualized basis grew to 10,174, up 55% year over year. Customers spending $50,000 or more grew to 397, up 92%. Overall dollar-based net retention was over 115%, down from over 120% a year earlier, which management attributed to COVID-19 pressure on smaller businesses. Net retention for $5,000-plus customers was 125%, and for $50,000-plus customers it was over 140%. Customers spending $5,000 or more contributed about 58% of fiscal 2021 revenue, compared with 50% in fiscal 2020.
Cash use remained heavy. Operating cash flow was negative $18.16 million in the quarter, compared with negative $16.10 million a year earlier. Full-year operating cash flow was negative $92.87 million, compared with negative $40.14 million. Capital expenditures rose to $22.19 million in the quarter and $57.34 million for the year, up from $5.02 million and $6.88 million. Free cash flow, a non-GAAP measure, was negative $17.5 million in the quarter and negative $76.0 million for the year, compared with negative $19.2 million and negative $44.6 million in the prior-year periods. Deferred revenue rose 65.2% to $105.90 million, and remaining performance obligations stood at $122.30 million.
For the first quarter of fiscal 2022, Asana expects revenue of $69.5 million to $70.5 million, representing year-over-year growth of 46% to 48%. It guides to a non-GAAP operating loss of $44.0 million to $42.0 million and a non-GAAP net loss per share of $0.27 to $0.26, assuming basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding of approximately 161 million. For the full fiscal year 2022, revenue guidance is $309.0 million to $314.0 million, representing year-over-year growth of 36% to 38%. The company says these forward-looking statements involve risks, including its ability to sustain growth, attract and retain customers, develop and release new products, scale its platform, maintain strategic partner relationships, expand internationally, and manage the impact of COVID-19. The filing also notes a highly competitive and rapidly evolving market. Asana has contractual commitments, including $103.5 million remaining on a 60-month Amazon Web Services hosting contract and about $404.1 million of future minimum payments and capital commitments, net of tenant improvement receivables. Management believes current cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, and amounts available under its term loan facility will meet working capital and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 12 months.
Forecast
Reported figures
GAAP, from SEC filings| Metric | Q4 FY2021 | Q3 FY2021 | QoQ | Q4 FY2020 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $68.4M | $58.9M | +16.1% | — | — |
| Gross profit | $60.2M | $51.6M | +16.7% | — | — |
| Gross margin | 88.0% | 87.6% | +0.5 pp | — | — |
| Research & development | $39.8M | $33.0M | +20.6% | — | — |
| Sales & marketing | $53.5M | $48.0M | +11.4% | — | — |
| General & administrative | $17.8M | $32.5M | -45.2% | — | — |
| Total operating expenses | $111.1M | $113.5M | -2.1% | — | — |
| Operating income (loss) | -$51.0M | -$61.9M | +17.7% | — | — |
| Operating margin | -74.5% | -105.1% | +30.6 pp | — | — |
| Net income (loss) | -$61.5M | -$73.3M | +16.1% | — | — |
| Net margin | -90.0% | -124.4% | +34.5 pp | — | — |
| Net retention rate | 115.0% | 115.0% | ±0.0 pp | — | — |
Risks
COVID-19 disproportionately affected smaller businesses, contributing to a decline in overall dollar-based net retention rate to over 115% as of January 31, 2021 from over 120% as of January 31, 2020, while rates for customers spending over $50,000 remained over 140%. The pandemic also caused longer sales cycles, customers seeking lower prices or more favorable terms, and reduced renewal rates in small and medium-sized customers.
Revenue growth was 59% for fiscal 2021, down from 86% for fiscal 2020, and the company expects its revenue growth rate to decline in future periods. Operating expenses increased 54% to $373.8 million in fiscal 2021, and if revenue growth does not offset these increases, financial condition will be harmed.
Net loss widened to $211.7 million in fiscal 2021 from $118.6 million in fiscal 2020, and operating loss widened to $175.6 million from $119.6 million. The company had an accumulated deficit of $541.4 million as of January 31, 2021 and expects losses to increase as it invests in sales and marketing, research and development, and infrastructure.
Substantially all revenues derive from a single work management solution, so any decline in demand for or market acceptance of that platform would have a disproportionately greater impact than if the company offered multiple products. Some larger organizations may also develop or acquire their own tools, reducing demand.
As Asana focuses on larger organizations, sales efforts require greater costs, longer sales cycles, and less predictability, and larger enterprises may demand more customization, integration, and support. COVID-19 has already interrupted in-person sales activity and could continue to lengthen sales cycles or reduce expected spending from new customers.
Asana issued two 3.5% senior mandatory convertible promissory notes in January and June 2020 to a trust affiliated with its CEO for an aggregate principal amount of $450.0 million, with $534.5 million due upon settlement. Interest expense increased $36.1 million in fiscal 2021 primarily due to these notes, and conversion could dilute existing stockholders by 17.0 million to 27.2 million Class B shares.
In January 2021 Asana entered a 60-month contract with Amazon Web Services requiring minimum spending of $103.5 million, including $18.0 million in the first year. Any significant disruption, price increase, or termination of AWS services could harm operations and platform delivery.
Future minimum lease and capital commitments total approximately $404.1 million net of tenant improvement receivables as of January 31, 2021, including $363.7 million of net lease payments. Capital expenditures were $57.3 million for fiscal 2021, up 733.7% year over year, and the CEO acts as personal guarantor on the San Francisco headquarters lease.
The loss of co-founder, President, CEO, and Chair Dustin Moskovitz or other key personnel would disrupt operations, and the company has no key person insurance. Competition for executive officers, software engineers, and sales personnel in the San Francisco Bay Area and other locations is intense.
The risk of security breaches is increased because most employees and service providers work remotely on non-corporate-managed networks, and the filing specifically cites the reported SolarWinds cybersecurity attack. A breach could lead to legal and financial exposure, adverse publicity, and loss of customer confidence.
SaaS KPIs
All quarters →Free cash flow
Non-GAAP operating margin
Net Revenue Retention
Paying Customers
Paid Users
Summary, forecast, risks and KPIs are extracted from Asana, Inc.'s SEC filings for Q4 FY2021 (10-Q / 10-K and the 8-K earnings release); GAAP figures in the summary are checked against the reported XBRL data. They can contain errors; the filings are authoritative. Processed Oct 2, 2026.