Summary
AvePoint closed fiscal 2021 with fourth-quarter revenue of $53.84 million, up 16.7% from the prior-year quarter. Full-year revenue reached $191.91 million, up 26.6%. Gross profit was $38.89 million in the quarter, up 9.5%, and $139.24 million for the full year, up 25.2%. Gross margin told a different story: 72.2% in the fourth quarter, down 4.8 percentage points from the prior-year quarter, and 72.6% for the full year, down 0.9 percentage points. Operating loss improved to $7.67 million in the quarter, up 28.9% from the prior-year quarter, but the full-year operating loss widened to $53.49 million. Net loss improved to $8.05 million in the quarter, up 33.6% from the prior-year quarter, while the full-year net loss widened to $35.22 million. Diluted EPS for the full year was -$0.48, up $0.09 from the prior year.
The fourth quarter closed with annual recurring revenue of $159.2 million, up 34% year over year. Core trailing-twelve-month dollar-based net retention rose to 110%, up 3 percentage points. The cloud user base expanded to 9.4 million, up 34% from 7.0 million at December 31, 2020. AvePoint passed 2,800 total channel partners, with roughly three quarters of them managed service providers. Its channel reach includes more than 100 cloud marketplaces and distributors across 7 continents. The company also was named a Leader in The Forrester New Wave: SaaS Application Data Protection, Q4 2021 Report, and it was the only vendor to receive a differentiated rating in all three criteria. Those metrics show a business that is adding users and partners while keeping existing customers.
Operating cash flow was $9.00 million in the fourth quarter, up 12.6% from the prior-year quarter. For the full year, operating cash flow fell to $5.03 million, down 73.7%. Capital expenditures were $1.02 million in the quarter, up 43.3%, and $2.46 million for the full year, up 140.6%. Deferred revenue stood at $82.33 million at December 31, 2021, up 10.2% from the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -14.3% in the quarter, up 9.2 percentage points from the prior-year quarter, but -27.9% for the full year, down 17.7 percentage points. The quarterly cash flow and margin improvements occurred against a full-year backdrop of heavier spending and a wider operating loss.
Management's outlook in the annual report points to a continued mix shift. SaaS and term license and support revenue should rise as a share of total revenue. Gross margin is expected to fluctuate period to period but increase over the long term. Operating costs will keep rising as AvePoint invests in infrastructure, research and development, marketing, and geographic expansion. The company operates in one segment and sells through direct and indirect channels. Risks include intense competition, rapidly changing customer preferences, global macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions, and foreign exchange swings. The report also flags the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, including sanctions and possible cyberattacks, as a risk that could raise costs, disrupt the supply chain, reduce sales, and hurt earnings. Seasonality remains a factor: the third and fourth quarters have historically been the highest revenue quarters, though those results are not necessarily indicative of future quarterly revenue or full-year results. No numerical revenue or earnings guidance for the next quarter or the full fiscal year appears in the annual report.
Forecast
No forward guidance in this quarter's filings.
Reported figures
GAAP, from SEC filings| Metric | Q4 FY2021 | Q3 FY2021 | QoQ | Q4 FY2020 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $53.8M | $53.9M | -0.2% | — | — |
| Gross profit | $38.9M | $38.7M | +0.5% | — | — |
| Gross margin | 72.2% | 71.8% | +0.5 pp | — | — |
| Research & development | $4.1M | $19.6M | -79.0% | — | — |
| Sales & marketing | $27.0M | $25.2M | +7.3% | $4.7M | +472.0% |
| General & administrative | $15.0M | $22.2M | -32.4% | — | — |
| Total operating expenses | $46.6M | $67.4M | -30.9% | — | — |
| Operating income (loss) | -$7.7M | -$28.7M | +73.3% | -$4.8M | -60.6% |
| Operating margin | -14.3% | -53.2% | +38.9 pp | — | — |
| Net income (loss) | -$7.5M | -$9.8M | +23.2% | -$4.7M | -58.2% |
| Net margin | -13.9% | -18.1% | +4.2 pp | — | — |
| Diluted EPS | -$0.06 | -$0.05 | -$0.01 | -$0.26 | +$0.20 |
| Net retention rate | 110.0% | 100.0% | +10.0 pp | — | — |
Risks
The significant majority of customers integrate with Microsoft solutions such as Azure, SharePoint, and Office 365, and AvePoint depends on Microsoft for co-sell, preview access, and major offering categories. If Microsoft acquires competitors, launches native competing features, throttles APIs, or ends the partnership, customer acquisition and renewals could suffer.
Management identified material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting related to completeness and accuracy, nonroutine transactions, and segregation of duties. Although remediation is underway, failure to remediate could result in restatements, missed reporting obligations, and loss of investor confidence.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict and related sanctions, export controls, and retaliatory cyberactions could disrupt operations and raise costs. EMEA revenue increased 37.3% year over year to $58.3 million for FY2021, increasing exposure to European economic and currency volatility.
Most sales typically occur in the last three weeks of each quarter, and the fourth quarter has historically been the largest bookings quarter. Middle-market and large enterprise sales cycles are generally three to nine months and can extend up to twelve months, making revenue timing difficult to predict and vulnerable to delays.
FY2021 operating loss widened to $53.5 million from $15.4 million in FY2020, and FY2021 operating cash flow decreased 73.7% to $5.0 million, as public-company costs and growth investments increased. AvePoint may continue to incur operating losses and require additional capital.
Larger competitors may bundle products or sell at zero or negative margins, and Microsoft and other cloud providers may introduce competing functionality. This pressure is reflected in Q4 FY2021 gross margin declining 4.8 percentage points to 72.2% and FY2021 gross margin declining 0.9 percentage points to 72.6%.
AvePoint's success is highly dependent on attracting and retaining qualified employees globally, including sales, technical solutions, customer success, and engineering personnel. Failure to hire or retain talent could impair sales productivity, product development, and customer support.
Directors, executive officers, and their affiliates beneficially own approximately 55% of outstanding Common Stock. This concentration may limit other stockholders' ability to influence corporate matters and may delay or prevent a change in control.
SaaS KPIs
All quarters →Non-GAAP operating margin
Total ARR
Core TTM Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate
Summary, forecast, risks and KPIs are extracted from AvePoint, 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.