Summary
GitLab reported fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2022 results. Revenue for the quarter ended January 31, 2022 was $77.80 million, up 68.6% from the prior-year quarter. Full-year revenue was $252.65 million, up 66.0%. Gross profit was $68.62 million for the quarter, up 71.9%, and $222.67 million for the full year, up 66.5%. Gross margin was 88.2% in the quarter, up 1.7 percentage points from the prior-year quarter, and 88.1% for the full year, up 0.3 percentage points.
The GAAP operating loss narrowed to $40.56 million in the quarter, and operating margin was -52.1%, up 226.2 percentage points from the prior-year quarter. For the full year, the GAAP operating loss narrowed to $128.96 million, with an operating margin of -51.0%, up 89.5 percentage points. GAAP net loss attributable to GitLab narrowed to $45.78 million for the quarter and to $155.14 million for the full year. Full-year diluted EPS was -$1.95, up $1.87 or 49.0%, as the loss narrowed. Operating cash flow was negative $1.09 million in the quarter, up 85.1% from the prior-year quarter, and negative $49.81 million for the full year, up 32.3%. Capital expenditures were $3.54 million for the quarter. Deferred revenue was $179.22 million, up 73.1%, and remaining performance obligations were $312.40 million, up 95.4%.
Operational metrics showed strong retention and expansion. The Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate was above 152% in the fourth quarter, compared with above 145% as of January 31, 2021. Customers with more than $5,000 of ARR increased to 4,593, up 67% from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021. Customers with more than $100,000 of ARR increased to 492, up 74%. Customers with more than $1 million of ARR increased to 39, up 95%. New and expansion customers included Deutsche Telekom, the US Army, and Travis Perkins. GitLab released versions 14.5, 14.6, and 14.7, marking 124 consecutive months of innovation as of January 31, 2022. The company achieved ISO IEC 27001 2013 certification and acquired Opstrace, a pre-revenue open source observability solution.
Management guided for the first quarter of fiscal year 2023 and for the full fiscal year 2023. Non-GAAP operating loss guidance is $(38.5) million to $(37.5) million for the first quarter and $(142.0) million to $(138.0) million for the full year. Non-GAAP net loss per share guidance is $(0.28) to $(0.27) for the first quarter and $(1.02) to $(0.97) for full fiscal year 2023. The guidance includes $6.5 million and $30.0 million in expenses for the first quarter and full year, respectively, for the China joint venture JiHu and Meltano. Non-GAAP guidance excludes stock-based compensation expense, amortization of acquired intangible assets, and foreign exchange gain or loss. The company stated that a reconciliation of non-GAAP guidance to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is not available without unreasonable effort.
The filings list several risks. They include intense competition and loss of market share, the company's revenue growth rate, the ability to achieve and sustain profitability, a decline in customer renewals and expansions, security and privacy breaches, customers staying on the open-source or free SaaS offering, fluctuations in operating results, limited operating history, the ability to manage growth effectively, rapid technological changes, predictions about customer subscription renewals or adoption, the hiring model, the effects of the armed conflict in Ukraine, general economic conditions, and slow or negative growth of the company's markets. The 10-K also notes uncertainty from COVID-19, including possible longer sales cycles, delays in professional services and training, customer losses, and collection issues. GitLab maintained a full valuation allowance against deferred tax assets in some jurisdictions, and it is under examination in the Netherlands for tax years 2015 and 2016.
The quarter showed broad-based demand for The DevOps Platform. Ultimate remained the fastest growing tier, and the company said the market is moving from DIY DevOps composed of different tools to a DevOps Platform. Non-GAAP operating loss was $27.4 million for the quarter, compared with $22.2 million in the prior-year quarter. Non-GAAP net loss attributable to GitLab was $23.2 million, compared with $24.0 million. Full-year non-GAAP operating loss was $98.3 million, compared with $101.8 million, and full-year non-GAAP net loss was $95.3 million, compared with $103.5 million. The company says it believes it is addressing a large and early stage market opportunity and remains focused on sustainable growth and improving profitability over the long term.
Forecast
Reported figures
GAAP, from SEC filings| Metric | Q4 FY2022 | Q3 FY2022 | QoQ | Q4 FY2021 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $77.8M | $66.8M | +16.5% | — | — |
| Gross profit | $68.6M | $59.6M | +15.1% | — | — |
| Gross margin | 88.2% | 89.2% | -1.0 pp | — | — |
| Research & development | $28.6M | $24.7M | +16.0% | — | — |
| Sales & marketing | $57.2M | $50.5M | +13.2% | — | — |
| General & administrative | $23.4M | $16.9M | +38.0% | — | — |
| Total operating expenses | $109.2M | $92.1M | +18.5% | — | — |
| Operating income (loss) | -$40.6M | -$32.5M | -24.6% | — | — |
| Operating margin | -52.1% | -48.7% | -3.4 pp | — | — |
| Net income (loss) | -$45.8M | -$41.2M | -11.1% | — | — |
| Net margin | -58.9% | -61.7% | +2.9 pp | — | — |
| Diluted EPS | -$0.57 | -$0.62 | +$0.05 | — | — |
| Net retention rate | 152.0% | 130.0% | +22.0 pp | — | — |
Risks
Base Customers grew to 4,593 as of January 31, 2022 from 2,745 as of January 31, 2021, and headcount increased significantly. The filing warns that rapid growth strains management, operational, financial, and security/compliance resources and could impair forecasting and controls.
GitLab competes across ten stages of the software development lifecycle with well-established providers such as Atlassian and Microsoft, many of which are larger and have more capital. Pricing pressure and aggressive competitor pricing could reduce sales, margins, or market share.
The business model depends on converting free users to paying customers, and GitLab has limited historical data on conversion, seat expansion, uptiering, downtiering, and churn. Discontinued starter and bronze tiers may cause users to stay on the free product or stop using GitLab, slowing revenue growth.
The DevOps Platform is built using open-source technology, and incorporating third-party code can become a vector for supply-chain cyber-attacks, ransomware, and other intrusions. GitLab has previously been and may again become a target of cyber-attacks.
GitLab's commitment to transparency includes a public Handbook and public use of The DevOps Platform, which may expose confidential information to competitors or bad actors. The filing also warns of Regulation FD and disclosure control risks if material information is disclosed improperly.
MD&A attributes the change in other income (expense), net primarily to net foreign currency exchange losses on intercompany loans to subsidiaries with non-U.S. dollar functional currencies, primarily Euro functional subsidiaries, a swing from prior-year gains.
GitLab is under examination in the Netherlands for tax years 2015 and 2016, and the outcome is uncertain. Tax authorities may challenge intercompany arrangements or tax positions, which could increase effective tax rates or require additional payments.
GitLab completed the acquisition of Opstrace, Inc. on December 3, 2021. The filing warns that acquisitions may disrupt the business, require significant management attention, dilute stockholders, and expose GitLab to unknown liabilities or control deficiencies.
Class B common stock has ten votes per share, and as of January 31, 2022 holders of Class B stock held approximately 98% of voting power, with directors, executives, and 5% holders holding about 65.8%. This concentrated control limits other stockholders' ability to influence corporate matters.
COVID-19 has lengthened sales cycles for some prospective customers and delayed professional services and trainings, and the filing also cites the recent and developing armed conflict in Ukraine as a factor in operating results and stock volatility. These conditions may reduce customer spending or delay purchasing decisions.
IPO lockup agreements expired as of March 16, 2022, making all such shares freely tradable, and the limited public float may increase trading price volatility. The dual-class structure may also prevent inclusion in certain indices and deter institutional investors.
MD&A states that as the SaaS offering makes up an increasing percentage of total revenue, GitLab expects increased cloud-related hosting and managing costs, which may adversely impact gross margins. Gross margin was 88.2% in FY2022 Q4, up 1.7 pp from 86.5% in FY2021 Q4, and 88.1% year to date, up 0.3 pp.
SaaS KPIs
All quarters →Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate
Customers with more than $100,000 of ARR
Customers with more than $5,000 of ARR
Summary, forecast, risks and KPIs are extracted from Gitlab Inc.'s SEC filings for Q4 FY2022 (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.