Summary
GitLab reported first quarter fiscal year 2023 revenue of $87.4 million, up 75.1% from the prior-year quarter. Gross profit rose 78.3% to $77.6 million, and gross margin improved to 88.7%, up 1.6 percentage points. The company's dollar-based net retention rate remained above 130% as of April 30, 2022 and 2021, which signals that existing customers continue to expand their spending. Customers with more than $5,000 of ARR grew to 5,168, up 64% from the first quarter of fiscal year 2022. Customers with more than $100,000 of ARR reached 545, up 68%. GitLab also estimates it has 30 million registered users, which includes users of its free platform and provides a base of potential new customers. These metrics suggest the company is moving upmarket while keeping a broad base of smaller accounts.
Profitability remains the main challenge. The GAAP operating loss widened 64.7% to $42.9 million. That compares with a GAAP operating margin of negative 49.0%, which improved 3.1 percentage points from the prior-year quarter. The GAAP net loss narrowed to $26.1 million, and GAAP net loss per share narrowed to $0.18. Non-GAAP results show a smaller operating loss of $24.8 million and a non-GAAP net loss of $26.5 million, or $0.18 per share. Non-GAAP gross margin was 90%, and the release cited a non-GAAP operating margin improvement of 1,700 basis points year-over-year. The gap between GAAP and non-GAAP results mainly reflects stock-based compensation expense and other adjustments.
Cash generation and deferred revenue are worth watching. Operating cash flow was negative $28.16 million, down 30.8% from the prior-year quarter. Capital expenditures were $1.87 million, up from zero in the prior-year quarter. Deferred revenue, current portion, stood at $188.06 million at April 30, 2022. Remaining performance obligations were $336.20 million at the same date. The company also released GitLab versions 14.8, 14.9, and 14.10, marking 127 consecutive months of innovation as of April 30, 2022. It secured software licensing program reseller agreements with the State of California. These operational wins support the company's platform strategy, though cash burn remains a concern.
Guidance points to continued growth but wider losses. For the second quarter of fiscal year 2023, GitLab expects revenue of $93.5 million to $94.5 million. For the full fiscal year 2023, revenue guidance is $398.0 million to $402.0 million. Non-GAAP operating loss guidance is $34.0 million to $33.0 million for the second quarter and $130.5 million to $127.5 million for the full fiscal year. Non-GAAP net loss per share guidance is $0.24 to $0.23 for the second quarter and $0.93 to $0.89 for the full fiscal year. The company assumes approximately 147 million weighted average shares outstanding for the second quarter and 148 million for the full fiscal year. GitLab has not provided comparable GAAP guidance because certain items are out of its control or cannot be reasonably predicted.
Risks remain significant. GitLab operates in a competitive market and faces uncertainty around future revenue growth, customer renewals, and expansions. The company warns that the market for its services may not grow, that customers may stay on free or open-source offerings, and that security or privacy breaches could harm its business. Other risks include managing future growth, rapid technological changes, predicting long-term renewal rates, its hiring model, the armed conflict in Ukraine, changes in inflation rates, and slow or negative growth in its markets. GitLab also faces public company costs, tax examinations, and the need to maintain compliance. The deconsolidation of Meltano Inc. on April 4, 2022 and the consolidation of the JiHu variable interest entity add complexity to the financial statements. The company has a limited operating history, and its operating results may fluctuate. While GitLab sees strong momentum, these risks could pressure results in coming quarters.
Forecast
Reported figures
GAAP, from SEC filings| Metric | Q1 FY2023 | Q4 FY2022 | QoQ | Q1 FY2022 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $87.4M | $77.8M | +12.4% | — | — |
| Gross profit | $77.6M | $68.6M | +13.0% | — | — |
| Gross margin | 88.7% | 88.2% | +0.5 pp | — | — |
| Research & development | $31.8M | $28.6M | +11.3% | — | — |
| Sales & marketing | $66.7M | $57.2M | +16.6% | — | — |
| General & administrative | $21.9M | $23.4M | -6.4% | — | — |
| Total operating expenses | $120.4M | $109.2M | +10.3% | — | — |
| Operating income (loss) | -$42.9M | -$40.6M | -5.7% | — | — |
| Operating margin | -49.0% | -52.1% | +3.1 pp | — | — |
| Net income (loss) | -$26.1M | -$45.8M | +43.0% | — | — |
| Net margin | -29.9% | -58.9% | +29.0 pp | — | — |
| Diluted EPS | -$0.18 | -$0.57 | +$0.39 | — | — |
| Net retention rate | 130.0% | 152.0% | -22.0 pp | — | — |
Risks
Base Customers grew to 5,168 as of April 30, 2022 from 3,142 as of April 30, 2021, and headcount increased significantly with expected further growth, placing strain on management, operational, financial, and compliance systems.
Net losses were approximately $192.2 million in fiscal 2021, $155.1 million in fiscal 2022, and $26.1 million in the three months ended April 30, 2022, with an accumulated deficit of approximately $579.4 million; operating loss widened to $42.9 million in FY2023 Q1 from $26.0 million in FY2022 Q1.
GitLab competes across ten stages of the software development lifecycle with well-established providers such as Atlassian and Microsoft, many of which are significantly larger and have more capital, and pricing pressures could reduce sales, margins, or market share.
Total revenue grew 75.1% to $87.4 million for the three months ended April 30, 2022 from $49.9 million in the prior-year period, but the company cautions that this growth rate may not be indicative of future performance and revenue could decline or growth could slow.
The company discontinued starter and bronze tier offerings and in Q1 FY2023 announced a user limit for its SaaS Free tier; users may switch to the free product or discontinue, and limited historical data on free-to-paid conversion makes future purchasing trends difficult to predict.
As an all-remote open-source company, GitLab maintains a public Handbook and emphasizes transparency, which may expose confidential information to competitors, lead to litigation or reputational harm, and create Regulation FD disclosure-control risk.
The One DevOps Platform is built using open-source technology and incorporates substantial open-source code, which may be a vector for supply-chain cyber-attacks and may be perceived as leaving GitLab more vulnerable; the company has previously been and may in the future become a target of cyber-attacks.
GitLab relies on channel partners for sales and support, particularly enterprise, governmental, and international sales; partners may deliver poor service, prioritize competing products, or fail to comply with contractual obligations, harming brand and growth.
Customer and performance metrics are tracked with internal tools and data models and are not independently verified; algorithmic or technical errors could cause reported metrics to be inaccurate and harm reputation or invite regulatory action.
The company may need additional equity or debt financing to support growth, acquisitions, and infrastructure; financing may be dilutive or on unfavorable terms, and technology stock prices have been volatile due to COVID-19, interest rates, inflation, and the armed conflict in Ukraine.
Class B common stock has ten votes per share, and as of April 30, 2022 holders of Class B, including directors, executive officers, and 5% holders, held 65.8% of voting power, limiting other stockholders' ability to influence corporate matters.
Tax laws are unsettled and OECD transfer pricing guidelines require functional analysis; competent authorities could challenge intercompany pricing, requiring corrections, fines, penalties, or interest and adversely impacting operating results and cash flows.
GitLab processes personal data and is subject to GDPR and UK GDPR, with penalties up to €20 million or 4% of worldwide annual revenue and parallel enforcement risk; actual or perceived noncompliance could cause significant liability and reputational harm.
The company may pursue acquisitions or joint ventures, which could divert management attention, disrupt operations, dilute stockholders, and expose it to liabilities of acquired companies; integration may fail to strengthen competitive position.
MD&A states COVID-19 has caused a lengthening in the sales cycle for some prospective customers and delays in professional services and trainings, and risk factors cite global economic downturn, inflation, interest rates, and the armed conflict in Ukraine as factors that could reduce customer spending or delay purchasing decisions.
SaaS KPIs
All quarters →Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate
Customers with more than $100,000 of ARR
Non-GAAP Gross Margin
Non-GAAP Operating Margin
Registered Users
Summary, forecast, risks and KPIs are extracted from Gitlab Inc.'s SEC filings for Q1 FY2023 (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.