Summary
LiveRamp opened fiscal 2022 with total revenue of $119.04 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2021, up 19.7% from $99.44 million a year earlier. Subscription revenue reached $97 million, up 16%, and supplied 81% of the total. Marketplace and Other revenue grew 36% on Data Marketplace volume growth. U.S. revenue rose 19.5%, while international revenue rose 21.7%. Management pointed to new logo deals, upsell into the existing base and higher variable revenue, and the company added 30 net new customers. It also closed the acquisition of Diablo.AI, a first-party data resolution platform, for approximately $9.7 million in cash.
Profitability improved sharply. Gross profit was $84.72 million, up 30.4%, while gross margin reached 71.2% from 65.3% in the prior-year quarter, a gain of 5.8 percentage points. Revenue grew while cost of revenue held flat. The GAAP operating loss was $17.60 million against a loss of $26.01 million in the prior-year quarter. Operating margin improved to negative 14.8% from negative 26.2%, up 11.4 percentage points.
The bottom line swung to a profit. Net income was $17.36 million compared with a net loss in the prior-year quarter. Diluted earnings per share were $0.25 against a loss of $0.33. Much of the swing came from a $30.1 million investment gain reported in other income, tied to a cash distribution from a retained profits interest in a previous disposition. On a non-GAAP basis, gross profit was $90 million with a 76% gross margin, non-GAAP operating income was $7 million, non-GAAP earnings per share were $0.09, and adjusted EBITDA was $8.758 million. Management said the company has now been profitable on a non-GAAP basis for five consecutive quarters.
Cash generation remains the weak spot. Operating cash flow was negative $17.24 million, an improvement from negative $23.61 million in the prior-year quarter. Free cash flow to equity was negative $17.668 million. Capital expenditures were $0.43 million, down from $0.83 million. Cash and cash equivalents totaled $541 million with no debt at quarter end. The company repurchased 0.6 million shares for $29.1 million under its repurchase program, leaving $297.4 million of remaining capacity. Days sales outstanding stretched to 92 days from 86 days at March 31, 2021.
Operating metrics held up. Customer count at quarter end was 855, up from 780 a year ago. LiveRamp counts 70 customers whose subscription contracts exceed $1 million in annual revenue, up 17%. Subscription net retention was 103% and platform net retention 108%. Deferred revenue was $11.20 million, up 88.6%, and remaining performance obligations were $374.90 million, up 10.6%. Current remaining performance obligations were $256 million, up 15%. The Authenticated Traffic Solution has been adopted by more than 450 publishers, including 75% of the U.S. comScore 50, and Safe Haven now has more than 55 customers. Connected television revenue rose 80%.
Guidance for the second quarter of fiscal 2022 calls for revenue growth of approximately 18% year over year and non-GAAP operating income of approximately $4 million, alongside a GAAP operating loss. For the full fiscal year, the raised outlook points to revenue growth of approximately 18% and non-GAAP operating income of approximately $15 million, again with a GAAP operating loss. The clearest headwind is the cookie transition. Management expects subscription revenue to be reduced by approximately $22 million over the remainder of fiscal 2022 as a few platform customers shift away from cookie-based components of the digital identity graph. COVID-19 variants, the timing of office reopenings, privacy regulation and the risk that clients tighten enterprise software budgets round out the risk list.
Forecast
Reported figures
GAAP, from SEC filings| Metric | Q1 FY2022 | Q4 FY2021 | QoQ | Q1 FY2021 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $119.0M | $119.2M | -0.1% | $99.4M | +19.7% |
| Gross profit | $84.7M | $81.6M | +3.8% | $65.0M | +30.4% |
| Gross margin | 71.2% | 68.5% | +2.7 pp | 65.3% | +5.8 pp |
| Research & development | $34.8M | $46.5M | -25.2% | $27.0M | +28.9% |
| Sales & marketing | $42.0M | $53.3M | -21.3% | $38.6M | +8.7% |
| General & administrative | $24.3M | $32.4M | -25.0% | $23.4M | +3.9% |
| Total operating expenses | $102.3M | $133.5M | -23.4% | $91.0M | +12.5% |
| Operating income (loss) | -$17.6M | -$51.9M | +66.1% | -$26.0M | +32.3% |
| Operating margin | -14.8% | -43.6% | +28.8 pp | -26.1% | +11.4 pp |
| Net income (loss) | $17.4M | -$32.8M | +152.9% | -$21.7M | +179.9% |
| Net margin | 14.6% | -27.6% | +42.1 pp | -21.9% | +36.4 pp |
| Diluted EPS | $0.25 | -$0.50 | +$0.75 | -$0.33 | +$0.58 |
| Net retention rate | 103.0% | — | — | 109.0% | -6.0 pp |
Risks
The company expects subscription revenue to be negatively impacted by approximately $22 million during the remainder of fiscal year 2022 as it transitions a small set of platform customers that license cookie-based components of its digital identity graph to alternative solutions. This transition weighs on overall subscription growth even as subscription revenue rose 16.4% in the quarter.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect workforces, customers, economies and financial markets, and the company specifically calls out variants such as the Delta variant. It states that the duration, spread and severity of the outbreak make the full impact on its business extremely difficult to predict.
Days sales outstanding increased to 92 days at June 30, 2021 from 86 days at March 31, 2021, and net accounts receivable rose $6.2 million to $120.4 million. The company notes it is continuing to evaluate the potential negative impact of COVID-19 on customers' ability to pay.
Net cash used in operating activities was $17.2 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2021, driven by $29.5 million of cash used by operating assets and liabilities, primarily unfavorable changes in accounts payable and other liabilities. Continued inability to collect from customers or raise capital could pressure liquidity.
SaaS KPIs
All quarters →Non-GAAP Operating Margin
Platform Net Retention
Subscription Net Retention
Current Remaining Performance Obligations (CRPO)
Free Cash Flow to Equity
Non-GAAP Gross Margin
Adjusted EBITDA
Net New Direct Subscription Customers
Summary, forecast, risks and KPIs are extracted from LiveRamp Holdings, Inc.'s SEC filings for Q1 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.