Summary
LiveRamp posted total revenue of $140.6 million for the fiscal third quarter ended December 31, 2021, up 17.4% from the prior-year quarter. Year to date, revenue of $386.9 million was up 19.5%. Subscription revenue drove the quarter and contributed 79% of total revenue, with growth attributed to new logo deals, upsell to existing customers and higher variable revenue. Marketplace and Other revenue also rose, helped by Data Marketplace volume growth.
Gross profit was $102.0 million for the quarter, up 23.4%, and gross margin climbed to 72.6% from 69.0%, a gain of 3.5 percentage points. Management credited revenue growth against relatively flat cost of revenue, backed by identity graph optimizations. Year-to-date gross profit of $279.0 million rose 28.3%, and the 72.1% margin was 5.0 percentage points higher. On a non-GAAP basis gross margin was 77% and expanded three percentage points, ahead of the company's long-term target.
The GAAP operating loss was $13.8 million for the quarter, narrower than the $15.8 million loss a year earlier, and operating margin of negative 9.8% improved 3.4 percentage points. Year to date the operating loss narrowed to $37.6 million from $68.6 million. Net loss for the quarter was $15.4 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, and it widened from $11.7 million, or $0.18. The year-to-date net loss narrowed to $4.4 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, helped by a gain on a cash distribution from a retained profits interest.
Cash trends strengthened. Operating cash flow was $25.5 million for the quarter, up 73.4% from $14.7 million a year earlier, and year-to-date operating cash flow of $19.1 million reversed the $2.7 million of cash used in the prior-year period. Capital expenditures rose 94.1% to $1.3 million for the quarter. Free cash flow to equity, a separate non-GAAP measure, was $24 million against $14 million a year earlier. The company repurchased about 115,000 shares for $5 million during the quarter.
Operationally, the customer count reached 890 direct subscription customers, up from 810 a year ago, with 20 net additions in the quarter. There are now 86 customers with subscription contracts above $1 million in annual revenue, up 32%. Subscription net retention was 110% and platform net retention 109%. Current remaining performance obligations, covering committed revenue expected to be recognized over the next 12 months, were $289 million, up 25%. Total remaining performance obligations were $380.0 million, up 14.1%, and deferred revenue rose 26.7% to $14.9 million. More than 125 supply-side and demand-side platforms are live or committed to bid on RampID and ATS, and more than 500 publishers, representing more than 11,000 deployed domains, have integrated ATS worldwide. Safe Haven now serves more than 60% of big box retail in the United States, a new Safe Haven agreement was signed with JD.com, and roughly 20% of ARR is now driven by Safe Haven.
Guidance points to non-GAAP operating income of approximately $2 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022 and approximately $41 million for the full fiscal year, with the company expecting to be operating cash flow positive for the year. Two items deserve attention. Management said a transition of a few platform customers away from cookie-based components of its digital identity graph will cut subscription revenue by approximately $6 million over the remainder of fiscal 2022, and the quarter ending March 31, 2022 is the last quarter of impact on year-over-year growth. Collection timing also stretched, with days sales outstanding at 103 days versus 86 days at March 31, 2021. The company lists COVID-19, reliance on customer renewals, competition for talent, tighter data regulation, the decline of third-party cookies and security breaches among its risks.
Forecast
Reported figures
GAAP, from SEC filings| Metric | Q3 FY2022 | Q2 FY2022 | QoQ | Q3 FY2021 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $140.6M | $127.3M | +10.5% | $119.8M | +17.4% |
| Gross profit | $102.0M | $92.2M | +10.7% | $82.7M | +23.4% |
| Gross margin | 72.6% | 72.4% | +0.1 pp | 69.0% | +3.5 pp |
| Research & development | $41.9M | $35.8M | +17.0% | $30.6M | +36.8% |
| Sales & marketing | $46.3M | $39.5M | +17.2% | $43.9M | +5.5% |
| General & administrative | $27.6M | $23.1M | +19.8% | $23.9M | +15.4% |
| Total operating expenses | $115.8M | $98.4M | +17.7% | $98.4M | +17.7% |
| Operating income (loss) | -$13.8M | -$6.2M | -123.0% | -$15.8M | +12.6% |
| Operating margin | -9.8% | -4.9% | -4.9 pp | -13.2% | +3.4 pp |
| Net income (loss) | -$15.4M | -$6.4M | -139.1% | -$11.7M | -31.1% |
| Net margin | -10.9% | -5.0% | -5.9 pp | -9.8% | -1.1 pp |
| Diluted EPS | -$0.23 | -$0.09 | -$0.14 | -$0.18 | -$0.05 |
| Net retention rate | 110.0% | 108.0% | +2.0 pp | 105.0% | +5.0 pp |
Risks
Subscription revenue will be negatively impacted by approximately $6 million during the remainder of fiscal 2022 as a few platform customers licensing cookie-based components of the digital identity graph transition to alternative solutions, with the quarter ending March 31, 2022 the final quarter of impact on year-over-year growth metrics.
Days sales outstanding increased to 103 days at December 31, 2021 from 86 days at March 31, 2021, and net accounts receivable rose $42.5 million to $156.8 million, with DSO negatively impacted by approximately 8 days from increased Data Marketplace gross accounts receivable.
International gross margins decreased to 50.8% in the quarter ended December 31, 2021 from 56.0% in the prior-year quarter, even as U.S. gross margins increased to 74.0% from 69.9%.
SaaS KPIs
All quarters →Non-GAAP Operating Margin
Platform Net Retention
Subscription Net Retention
Current Remaining Performance Obligations (CRPO)
Customers > $1M ARR
Direct Subscription Customers
Free Cash Flow to Equity
Non-GAAP Gross Margin
Non-GAAP Operating Income
Net New Direct Subscription Customers
Summary, forecast, risks and KPIs are extracted from LiveRamp Holdings, Inc.'s SEC filings for Q3 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.