Summary
SS&C Technologies closed fiscal 2024 with fourth quarter revenue of $1,529.7 million, up 8.4 percent from the prior-year quarter, and full-year revenue of $5,882.0 million, up 6.9 percent. Adjusted revenue for the quarter was $1,530.7 million, also up 8.4 percent. The mix leaned recurring. Adjusted organic revenue grew 7.0 percent in Q4, and financial services recurring revenue grew 7.4 percent. Adjusted consolidated EBITDA attributable to SS&C was $599.1 million in the quarter, up 6.5 percent, at a 39.1 percent margin. Chairman and CEO Bill Stone credited lift outs, geographic expansion, and the Battea and FPS Trust acquisitions for momentum going into 2025.
Profitability improved below the top line. Quarterly operating income rose 7.1 percent to $357.9 million, and full-year operating income reached $1,343.5 million, up 11.1 percent. Gross profit for the quarter was $753.9 million, up 4.8 percent, but the gross margin was 49.3%, down 1.7 percentage points. The operating margin was 23.4%, down 0.3 percentage points. Net income attributable to SS&C climbed 27.7 percent to $248.2 million in the quarter. For the year, net income was $760.5 million, up 25.3 percent, and diluted earnings per share were $3.00, up 25.5 percent. Adjusted diluted earnings per share for the quarter was $1.58, up 25.4 percent.
Cash generation remained a strength. Operating cash flow was $486.6 million for the quarter, up 25.3 percent, and $1,388.6 million for the full year, up 14.3 percent. Capital expenditures were $19.7 million in the quarter, up 23.9 percent, and $61.4 million for the year, up 8.5 percent. Capital returns were heavy. SS&C repurchased 4.9 million shares for $365.7 million in Q4 at an average price of $74.46 and paid $62.3 million in common stock dividends. It also paid down $195.0 million of debt, finishing with a net leverage ratio of 2.89 times and a net secured leverage ratio of 1.69 times. Cash and cash equivalents ended the year at $567.1 million, against $7,048.7 million in gross debt.
The balance sheet carries a couple of watch items. Current deferred revenue was $486.1 million, up 3.4 percent. Remaining performance obligations fell 1.6 percent to $997.3 million. By business, healthcare organic growth turned positive at 8.7 percent in Q4 after declines in the prior three quarters, though it still finished the year down 4.3 percent.
Guidance for the first quarter of 2025 sets adjusted revenue at $1,474.0 million to $1,514.0 million and adjusted diluted earnings per share at $1.37 to $1.43. For the full year 2025, the company guided adjusted revenue to $6,085.0 million to $6,245.0 million and adjusted diluted earnings per share to $5.64 to $5.96. It expects cash from operating activities of $1,448.0 million to $1,548.0 million and capital expenditures at 4.1 to 4.5 percent of revenue. Organic growth is guided to a 4.0 percent midpoint for Q1 and 5.0 percent for the full year, a step down from the 7.0 percent booked in Q4.
Risks are familiar but real. SS&C flagged ongoing macroeconomic conditions, including changes in interest rates, inflation, and foreign currency exchange rates, as uncertain and largely outside its control. Its risk disclosures also point to customer consolidation, intense competition, litigation exposure, privacy concerns, evolving regulation and increased regulatory scrutiny, delays in product development, and substantial indebtedness. The credit agreements add financial covenants, and any default could let lenders accelerate payments.
Forecast
Reported figures
GAAP, from SEC filings| Metric | Q4 FY2024 | Q3 FY2024 | QoQ | Q4 FY2023 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1.53B | $1.47B | +4.4% | $1.41B | +8.4% |
| Gross profit | $753.9M | $704.2M | +7.1% | $719.3M | +4.8% |
| Gross margin | 49.3% | 48.0% | +1.2 pp | 51.0% | -1.7 pp |
| Research & development | $136.8M | $131.3M | +4.2% | $118.3M | +15.6% |
| Sales & marketing | $156.6M | $144.1M | +8.7% | $139.3M | +12.4% |
| General & administrative | $102.6M | $103.7M | -1.1% | $127.5M | -19.5% |
| Total operating expenses | $396.0M | $379.1M | +4.5% | $385.1M | +2.8% |
| Operating income (loss) | $357.9M | $325.1M | +10.1% | $334.2M | +7.1% |
| Operating margin | 23.4% | 22.2% | +1.2 pp | 23.7% | -0.3 pp |
| Net income (loss) | $248.4M | $164.6M | +50.9% | $194.9M | +27.4% |
| Net margin | 16.2% | 11.2% | +5.0 pp | 13.8% | +2.4 pp |
| Diluted EPS | $0.98 | $0.65 | +$0.33 | $0.77 | +$0.21 |
Risks
As of December 31, 2024, SS&C had total indebtedness of $7,045.0 million and estimated annual interest payments of approximately $431.1 million. Interest expense decreased to $463.0 million in 2024 from $476.3 million in 2023, but restrictive covenants and leverage ratio requirements remain material obligations.
Demand is tied to financial services and healthcare clients and to securities market participation, assets under management and transaction volumes. MD&A notes ongoing macroeconomic conditions, including changes in interest rates, inflation rates and foreign currency exchange rates, could have uncertain impacts on results.
SS&C completed the Battea-Class Action Services acquisition in September 2024 and continues to evaluate acquisitions, which may create integration difficulties, contingent liabilities and client or employee retention risks. In 2024, investing activities included $647.1 million paid for business acquisitions, net of cash acquired and asset acquisitions.
SS&C develops and incorporates machine learning and AI into products, services and operations, but AI outputs may be inaccurate, insufficient or biased, and competitors may deploy AI faster, at lower cost or more effectively. Evolving global AI regulations, including in the European Economic Area, add compliance uncertainty.
Significant revenues come from asset management, administration and distribution contracts whose fees depend on assets under management, assets under administration and number of transactions processed. Declines in market value, redemptions or shifts among funds could reduce these revenues.
Failures, mergers or consolidations among banks and financial institutions could reduce the number of clients and potential clients, and larger consolidated clients may have greater leverage or move services in-house. This could adversely affect revenues even if aggregate market activity does not decline.
SS&C depends on attracting, training and retaining highly skilled employees and senior management, and as of December 31, 2024, approximately 7,500 employees were located in India. Indian regulatory, economic and political uncertainties could affect the company's ability to recruit and retain qualified personnel.
The business faces evolving regulations and increased scrutiny, including as a fund administrator, and privacy and data protection laws such as GDPR, UK GDPR, CCPA and HIPAA impose compliance costs and litigation risk. Failure to comply could lead to fines, sanctions or reputational harm.
An increase in subaccounting services performed by brokerage firms has and will continue to adversely impact revenues because subaccounting fees are generally lower than traditional shareowner accounting fees. Such conversions have begun to extend to tax-advantaged accounts, including retirement and Section 529 accounts.
SS&C maintains and manages large client funds as agent and operational funds, and balances could exceed FDIC or SIPC insurance limits, exposing the company to loss. Market conditions or investment choices affecting returns on cash balances could reduce revenues from cash balance deposit investments.
SaaS KPIs
All quarters →Adjusted Operating Income Margin
Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA Margin
Adjusted Revenue
Adjusted Organic Revenue Growth
Financial Services Recurring Revenue Growth
Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA attributable to SS&C
Adjusted Operating Income attributable to SS&C
Cash Flow Conversion
Summary, forecast, risks and KPIs are extracted from SS&C Technologies Holdings Inc's SEC filings for Q4 FY2024 (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 6, 2026.