Summary
Tenable closed fiscal 2021 with fourth quarter revenue of $149.0 million, up 26.2% from the prior-year quarter. Full year revenue reached $541.1 million, up 22.9% year over year. Calculated current billings, a non-GAAP measure, rose 29% to $194.0 million in the fourth quarter and 25% to $617.2 million for the full year. The company added 562 new enterprise platform customers and 100 net new six-figure enterprise platform customers in the quarter. For the full year, it added 1,882 new enterprise platform customers, and customers with $100,000 and greater in annual contract value totaled 1,095 at December 31, 2021. Recurring revenue represented 95% of fourth quarter and full year 2021 revenue, compared with 94% in 2020.
Profitability was mixed. Gross profit rose 20.9% to $118.2 million in the fourth quarter and 19.9% to $434.7 million for the full year. Gross margin slipped to 79.3% in the quarter, down 3.5 percentage points, and full year gross margin was 80.3%, down 2.0 percentage points. The fourth quarter operating loss widened to $12.9 million, and operating margin fell to -8.6%, down 8.0 percentage points. For the full year, the operating loss widened to $41.8 million, though operating margin improved to -7.7%, up 0.6 percentage points. Net loss widened to $11.0 million in the quarter and $46.7 million for the full year. Full year diluted EPS was -$0.44, a wider loss per share. On a non-GAAP basis, income from operations was $11.9 million in the quarter versus $15.4 million a year earlier, while full year non-GAAP income from operations was $51.0 million versus $25.8 million. Non-GAAP net income was $5.9 million in the quarter and $38.9 million for the full year, and non-GAAP diluted EPS was $0.05 in the quarter and $0.34 for the full year.
Cash generation improved. Fourth quarter operating cash flow was $22.0 million, up 22.5%, and full year operating cash flow was $96.8 million, up 50.6%. Capital expenditures were $2.8 million in the quarter, up 131.9%, and $6.6 million for the full year, down 67.6%. Free cash flow, which subtracts purchases of property and equipment from operating cash flow, was $90.2 million for the full year, while unlevered free cash flow, which adds back cash paid for interest and other financing costs, was $95.2 million. In the fourth quarter, unlevered free cash flow was $22.4 million. The company finished the year with current deferred revenue of $407.5 million, up 23.9%, and remaining performance obligations of $559.0 million, up 26.1%.
The backlog and customer metrics point to durable demand. The dollar-based net expansion rate for 2021 exceeded 110% on a last twelve months basis, and the company said an alternative calculation that excludes prior period multi-year sales would have been two to five percentage points higher in 2020 and 2021. Tenable continued to expand the platform. It agreed to acquire Cymptom, a provider of attack path management, with the deal expected to close in the first quarter of 2022. It launched Tenable.cs for cloud-native security and added Tenable.ot to the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation Program Approved Product List. Forrester named Tenable a Leader in its Industrial Control Systems Security Solutions report for Q4 2021, with the highest possible scores in seven criteria.
For the first quarter of 2022, Tenable expects non-GAAP income from operations of $10.0 million to $11.0 million, non-GAAP net income of $5.2 million to $6.2 million, and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.04 to $0.05, with 117.5 million diluted weighted average shares. For the full year 2022, the company guides to calculated current billings of $750.0 million to $760.0 million, non-GAAP income from operations of $40.0 million to $45.0 million, non-GAAP net income of $18.2 million to $23.2 million, and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.15 to $0.19, with 119.5 million diluted weighted average shares. Management expects to keep investing in sales and marketing and research and development, and it noted that gross margin may decline over time as cloud subscriptions become a larger part of revenue. Risks include a very competitive and rapidly changing cybersecurity market, the uncertain impact of COVID-19, integration of Alsid, Accurics and Cymptom, reliance on channel partners, and the need to sustain positive cash flow while continuing to incur operating losses in the near term.
Forecast
Reported figures
GAAP, from SEC filings| Metric | Q4 FY2021 | Q3 FY2021 | QoQ | Q4 FY2020 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $149.0M | $138.7M | +7.5% | $118.1M | +26.2% |
| Gross profit | $118.2M | $111.6M | +5.9% | $97.8M | +20.9% |
| Gross margin | 79.3% | 80.5% | -1.2 pp | 82.8% | -3.5 pp |
| Research & development | $30.7M | $30.7M | +0.1% | $24.4M | +25.8% |
| Sales & marketing | $77.5M | $68.4M | +13.3% | $55.9M | +38.5% |
| General & administrative | $22.8M | $23.8M | -3.9% | $18.1M | +25.9% |
| Total operating expenses | $131.0M | $122.8M | +6.7% | $98.5M | +33.1% |
| Operating income (loss) | -$12.9M | -$11.2M | -14.7% | -$731.0K | -1660.2% |
| Operating margin | -8.6% | -8.1% | -0.5 pp | -0.6% | -8.0 pp |
| Net income (loss) | -$11.0M | -$16.2M | +32.0% | -$1.9M | -470.5% |
| Net margin | -7.4% | -11.7% | +4.3 pp | -1.6% | -5.8 pp |
| Diluted EPS | -$0.10 | -$0.15 | +$0.05 | — | — |
| Customers | 40,000 | 322,139 | -87.6% | 30,000 | +33.3% |
Risks
The cybersecurity market is intensely competitive, and larger rivals such as Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike and Qualys may bundle competing products or cut prices. Tenable also depends on public cloud providers to allow access to their environments, and a provider could favor its own cloud security product.
Fiscal 2021 net loss widened to $46.7 million from $42.7 million in fiscal 2020, and operating loss widened to $41.8 million from $36.4 million. At December 31, 2021, the accumulated deficit was $654.5 million, and costs are expected to increase.
In 2021, 92% of revenue came from subscriptions and perpetual licenses sold through channel partners, and Ingram Micro alone accounted for 39% of revenue and 32% of accounts receivable at December 31, 2021. The Ingram Micro agreement can be terminated on 30 days' written notice.
Fiscal 2021 revenue was $541.1 million, up 22.9% from fiscal 2020, but management says it may not sustain that growth rate due to renewal declines, failure to attract new customers or other factors. The dollar-based net expansion rate for 2021 exceeded 110% on an LTM basis.
Gross margin declined to 80.3% in fiscal 2021 from 82.4% in fiscal 2020, due in part to a $17.8 million increase in third-party cloud infrastructure costs. Management expects gross margin to decrease over time as cloud-based subscriptions increase as a percentage of revenue.
The average enterprise sales cycle is approximately four months and may lengthen with larger deals, and COVID-19 related budget controls and additional approvals could further delay purchases. Longer or unsuccessful sales efforts could increase expenses without offsetting revenue.
Tenable.io is hosted on AWS, and the AWS agreement allows AWS to terminate with two years' written notice and in some cases temporarily restrict access without prior notice. Because AWS limits its liability, Tenable may not recover a material portion of customer liabilities if AWS is breached.
Tenable processes personal and sensitive information subject to CCPA, CPRA, GDPR and other laws, with fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of annual global revenue under GDPR and up to $7,500 per violation under CCPA. Failure or perceived failure to comply could lead to investigations, fines, litigation and loss of customers.
A portion of revenue is from U.S. and foreign government entities and highly regulated organizations subject to FAR, audits, termination for convenience and FCPA compliance. Contract termination or downward price adjustments could adversely affect results.
Tenable paid $98.5 million for Alsid in April 2021, $160.0 million for Accurics in October 2021, and approximately $23 million for Cymptom in February 2022. Integrating these businesses and technologies may divert management attention, increase expenses and lead to goodwill impairment.
The company relies on highly skilled personnel, especially in engineering, professional services, sales and technology, and plans to expand sales and marketing and R&D headcount. Failure to hire, train and retain these employees could impair growth.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to create uncertainty; while Tenable reported no significant adverse impact as of December 31, 2021, future variants or restrictions could reduce technology spending, delay customer purchases and increase costs for hybrid work and travel.
SaaS KPIs
All quarters →Non-GAAP Operating Margin
Calculated Current Billings
New Enterprise Platform Customers Added
Unlevered Free Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow
Non-GAAP Gross Margin
Recurring Revenue % of Revenue
Non-GAAP Income from Operations
Summary, forecast, risks and KPIs are extracted from Tenable Holdings, Inc.'s SEC filings for Q4 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 6, 2026.