Summary
PagerDuty opened fiscal 2021 with first quarter revenue of $49.8 million, up 33.4% from the prior-year quarter. Gross profit was $42.8 million, up 34.5%. Gross margin was 86.0%, up 0.7 percentage points. The company still reported a GAAP operating loss of $12.6 million, but the loss narrowed from the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was negative 25.3%, up 8.8 percentage points. GAAP net loss was $11.5 million and diluted net loss per share was $0.15, both narrower than the prior-year quarter. Deferred revenue was $96.4 million, up 44.9% from the prior-year quarter, and remaining performance obligations were $75.2 million, up 54.7%.
Operationally, PagerDuty ended the quarter with 13,060 customers as of April 30, 2020, compared with 11,680 as of April 30, 2019. The company had 348 customers with annual recurring revenue over $100,000, up from 242 in the prior-year period, and the press release said that cohort grew 44% year over year. Dollar-based net retention rate for all customers was 121% for the last 12 months ended April 30, 2020, compared with 137% for the last 12 months ended April 30, 2019. Management highlighted new and expansion customers including LabCorp, Toyota Motor North America, NBCUniversal, SlingTV, Nextdoor Inc., Nvidia, CHANEL, Domino's Pizza, PGA Tour, Crocs, TD Bank and Sephora. Product updates included new automation and intelligence capabilities in Dynamic Service Directory, Business Response and Intelligent Triage, plus a Microsoft Teams integration and integrations with Pliant.io, Rundeck and Ayehu. PagerDuty also brought in Manjula Talreja as Chief Customer Officer and added several go-to-market leaders.
The loss improved alongside the top line. Non-GAAP operating loss was $4.3 million, or negative 8.6% of revenue, compared with a $7.9 million non-GAAP loss, or negative 21.2%, in the prior-year quarter. Non-GAAP net loss was $3.2 million, or $0.04 per share, compared with $7.3 million, or $0.22 per share, in the prior-year quarter. Non-GAAP gross margin was 86.7%, compared with 85.7% in the prior-year quarter. Operating cash flow was negative $0.2 million, up from the prior-year quarter. Capital expenditures were $2.7 million, up 128.0% from the prior-year quarter. Free cash flow, a separate non-GAAP measure, was negative $2.9 million, or 5.8% of revenue, compared with negative $8.8 million, or 23.5% of revenue, in the prior-year quarter.
Guidance points to slower growth than the first quarter delivered. For the second quarter of fiscal 2021, PagerDuty expects total revenue growth of 24% to 26% year over year and non-GAAP net loss per share of $0.07 to $0.06 assuming approximately 79 million shares. For the full fiscal year 2021, the company expects total revenue growth of 23% to 28% year over year and non-GAAP net loss per share of $0.30 to $0.25 assuming approximately 79 million shares. Management flagged COVID-19 as the main unknown. The filing says the extent of the pandemic's impact remains uncertain and that small and medium business demand may be more variable. PagerDuty also warned about possible user declines if customers make workforce reductions, reduced customer spend or contract duration, lengthened payment terms, and challenges from virtual events and sales interactions. Other listed risks include competition, dependence on a single product, the ability to attract and retain customers, and general market and economic conditions.
Forecast
Reported figures
GAAP, from SEC filings| Metric | Q1 FY2021 | Q4 FY2020 | QoQ | Q1 FY2020 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $49.8M | $45.9M | +8.4% | $37.3M | +33.4% |
| Gross profit | $42.8M | $39.6M | +8.2% | $31.8M | +34.5% |
| Gross margin | 86.0% | 86.2% | -0.2 pp | 85.3% | +0.7 pp |
| Research & development | $15.0M | $13.9M | +8.4% | $10.9M | +37.7% |
| Sales & marketing | $26.7M | $25.0M | +7.1% | $21.2M | +26.3% |
| General & administrative | $13.7M | $12.5M | +9.3% | $12.5M | +9.5% |
| Total operating expenses | $55.4M | $51.3M | +8.0% | $44.6M | +24.4% |
| Operating income (loss) | -$12.6M | -$11.8M | -7.2% | -$12.7M | +1.0% |
| Operating margin | -25.3% | -25.6% | +0.3 pp | -34.1% | +8.8 pp |
| Net income (loss) | -$11.5M | -$10.4M | -9.8% | -$12.1M | +5.0% |
| Net margin | -23.0% | -22.7% | -0.3 pp | -32.3% | +9.3 pp |
| Customers | 11,680 | 12,000 | -2.7% | 11,600 | +0.7% |
Risks
The COVID-19 pandemic and related shelter-in-place orders, travel restrictions, and mandated business closures have adversely affected workforces, customers, economies, and financial markets, and could harm revenue growth and financial condition. The filing states the effect may not be fully reflected in results of operations and overall financial performance until future periods.
Customers in transportation, hospitality, retail, and energy, as well as small and medium businesses, may reduce IT spending or delay digital transformation initiatives. The company may also see user declines if customers make workforce reductions, and may face reduced spend, shorter contract duration, and lengthened payment terms.
COVID-19 restrictions forced Summit and other customer, industry, and employee events to virtual-only formats. The company has relied on in-person events for customer sign-ups and lead generation and cannot predict whether virtual marketing events and phone or virtual sales interactions will be as successful, which could delay and lengthen sales cycles.
Dollar-based net retention rate for all customers was 121% for the last 12 months ended April 30, 2020, down from 137% for the last 12 months ended April 30, 2019. COVID-19 could further pressure customer retention or expansion, and the company may see reduced customer spend or contract duration.
SaaS KPIs
All quarters →Free Cash Flow Margin
Non-GAAP Operating Margin
Free Cash Flow
Non-GAAP Gross Margin
Customers > $100,000 ARR
Total Customers
Summary, forecast, risks and KPIs are extracted from PagerDuty, Inc.'s SEC filings for Q1 FY2021 (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.