Summary
LiveRamp reported fourth quarter revenue of $148.6 million, up 4.9% from $141.7 million a year earlier. Subscription revenue contributed 81% of the total at $121 million and grew 5%, while Marketplace Other revenue reached $28 million, up 6%. GAAP gross profit was $105.2 million, up 2.8%, but gross margin slipped to 70.8% from 72.1%. The bottom line moved the other way. The GAAP operating loss widened to $47.1 million from $28.0 million, and operating margin fell to negative 31.7% from negative 19.7%. Net loss widened 6.7% to $31.4 million.
For the full fiscal year, revenue rose 12.8% to $596.6 million and gross profit of $426.5 million climbed 11.9%. Gross margin eased to 71.5% from 72.1%. The full-year GAAP operating loss widened 91.9% to $125.8 million from $65.5 million, and the full-year net loss widened 250.8% to $118.7 million from $33.8 million. Diluted loss per share for the year was $1.79, compared with $0.50 in fiscal 2022.
Cash generation thinned. Fourth quarter operating cash flow fell 48.0% to $30.7 million from $58.9 million, and full-year operating cash flow fell 55.9% to $34.4 million from $78.1 million. Capital expenditures were $0.1 million in the quarter, down 94.5% from $1.9 million, and $4.7 million for the year, up 4.4% from $4.5 million. Non-GAAP free cash flow to equity was $30.6 million for the quarter and $29.7 million for the year. One charge stands out. LiveRamp accelerated the vesting of time-vesting restricted stock units and booked $23 million of stock-based compensation expense plus $2 million of payroll tax expense in the quarter. The company said the accelerated vesting was not contemplated in its prior outlook and was done to capture cash tax savings. That payroll tax expense hit GAAP and non-GAAP operating income alike, while the stock compensation expense only hit the GAAP line.
Customer metrics held up better than the income statement. LiveRamp added 10 net new direct subscription customers in the quarter and ended with 920, up from 905 a year earlier. It counted 95 customers with subscription contracts above $1 million in annual revenue, up from 87. Subscription net retention was 97% and platform net retention was 99%. Remaining performance obligations were $470.9 million, up 19.5%, and current deferred revenue was $19.1 million, up 18.5%. Current remaining performance obligations, the contracted revenue expected to be recognized over the next 12 months, were $338 million, up 9%. The Authenticated Traffic Solution now connects to more than 165 supply-side and demand-side platforms and over 14,000 publisher domains, including 70% of the comScore 100 largest publishers, and reaches over 90% of consumer time spent online in the US. LiveRamp also announced integrations with Snowflake, Twilio and Adobe's Real-Time Customer Data Platform during the period.
Guidance points to a slower top line. For the first quarter of fiscal 2024, LiveRamp expects revenue growth of 3% year over year and non-GAAP operating income of approximately $15 million, with a GAAP loss from operations. For the full fiscal year 2024, the company guides to revenue growth of between 2% and 4% and non-GAAP operating income of between $90 million and $93 million, along with a return to GAAP operating income. Buybacks remain part of the story. In fiscal 2023 the company repurchased 6.1 million shares for $150 million, and so far in fiscal 2024 it repurchased 0.5 million shares for $12 million, leaving $206 million available under an authorization that expires on December 31, 2024. The forward-looking risk list is long: rising interest rates, cost increases, a possible recession, inflation, dependence on customer renewals and upsell, reliance on partners and data suppliers, competition, talent retention, data security breaches, the decline of third-party cookies and tracking technology, regulatory change and enterprise software budget tightening.
Forecast
Reported figures
GAAP, from SEC filings| Metric | Q4 FY2023 | Q3 FY2023 | QoQ | Q4 FY2022 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $148.6M | $158.6M | -6.3% | $141.7M | +4.9% |
| Gross profit | $105.2M | $115.3M | -8.8% | $102.2M | +2.8% |
| Gross margin | 70.8% | 72.7% | -2.0 pp | 72.2% | -1.4 pp |
| Research & development | $52.2M | $43.2M | +20.9% | $45.5M | +14.8% |
| Sales & marketing | $57.5M | $47.7M | +20.6% | $55.0M | +4.6% |
| General & administrative | $32.8M | $36.7M | -10.4% | $29.6M | +11.0% |
| Total operating expenses | $152.3M | $139.3M | +9.3% | $130.2M | +16.9% |
| Operating income (loss) | -$47.1M | -$23.9M | -96.8% | -$28.0M | -68.5% |
| Operating margin | -31.7% | -15.1% | -16.6 pp | -19.7% | -12.0 pp |
| Net income (loss) | -$31.4M | -$29.7M | -5.7% | -$29.4M | -6.7% |
| Net margin | -21.1% | -18.7% | -2.4 pp | -20.7% | -0.4 pp |
| Diluted EPS | -$0.47 | -$0.46 | -$0.01 | -$0.43 | -$0.04 |
Risks
The ten largest clients represented approximately 29% of revenues in fiscal year 2023, and one client, The Interpublic Group of Companies, accounted for 12%. The loss of or decrease in revenue from any significant client could materially adversely affect revenue and operating results.
LiveRamp licenses or purchases much of its data from third-party suppliers, which may withhold or limit data for competitive, legal, privacy, or contractual reasons. Enacted or proposed state data broker legislation applies to LiveRamp, potentially reducing available data and harming client offerings.
Evolving U.S. and foreign privacy regimes, including CCPA/CPRA effective January 1, 2023 and ten other state consumer privacy acts, plus GDPR and the proposed ePrivacy Regulation, may require changes to data practices and increase compliance costs. If opt-in models or restrictions spread, less data may be available at higher cost and demand could decline.
The business relies on third-party cookies and similar technologies, but Google stated it will deprecate third-party cookies in Chrome by mid-2024 and Safari already blocks some third-party cookies by default. This could impair platform effectiveness and require costly non-cookie alternatives.
Competition is intense and rapidly changing, and competitors may introduce superior products or lower pricing. Failure to keep pace with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning could make LiveRamp offerings less competitive or obsolete.
Customers have no obligation to renew their contracts, and renewal rates may decline due to pricing, competitor offerings, mergers and acquisitions, or reduced customer spending. The filing notes that declines in new or renewed subscriptions may not be immediately reflected in reported results but can reduce future revenue.
In November 2022 LiveRamp announced a reduction in force involving approximately 10% of full-time employees and a planned downsizing of its real estate footprint. These actions or future similar moves could negatively impact its ability to attract, integrate, retain, and motivate key executives and employees.
LiveRamp serves the majority of its platform functions from third-party data center hosting facilities operated by Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services. Interruptions, damage, or termination of these arrangements could disrupt delivery and harm customer relationships.
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
Summary, forecast, risks and KPIs are extracted from LiveRamp Holdings, Inc.'s SEC filings for Q4 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.