Summary
Tenable closed fiscal 2024 with a sharp turn toward profitability, even as some customer metrics softened. Fourth-quarter revenue was $235.73 million, up 10.5% from the prior-year quarter, and gross profit was $184.29 million, up 12.0%. Gross margin reached 78.2%, up 1.1 percentage points. Full-year revenue was $900.02 million, up 12.7%, and full-year gross margin was 77.8%, up 0.8 percentage points.
The quarter flipped the bottom line. Operating income of $12.98 million was a swing to a profit from a prior-year-quarter operating loss, and net income of $1.87 million also swung to a profit. Operating margin for the quarter was 5.5%, up 12.2 percentage points. For the full year, the operating loss narrowed to $6.86 million and the net loss narrowed to $36.30 million. Diluted loss per share for the year was $0.31.
Cash flow tracked the earnings improvement. Operating cash flow was $81.12 million in the quarter, up 110.7%, and $217.48 million for the year, up 45.1%. Capital expenditures were $2.32 million in the quarter, up from the prior-year quarter, and $4.25 million for the year. On a non-GAAP basis, free cash flow for fiscal 2024 was $206.8 million.
Customer and backlog metrics read mixed. The dollar-based net expansion rate was 108% at December 31, 2024, down from 111% a year earlier and 117% at the end of 2022. Tenable added 1,689 new enterprise platform customers during 2024, compared with 1,788 in 2023 and 2,078 in 2022. The large-account base kept growing: 1,988 customers carried annual contract value of $100,000 or more at year end, up from 1,721 a year earlier. Recurring revenue was 96% of revenue in 2024. Non-GAAP calculated current billings were $969.5 million for the year, up from $873.3 million in 2023. Deferred revenue, the current portion, was $650.37 million, up 12.0%, and remaining performance obligations were $867.53 million, up 11.9%.
Capital allocation and cost actions are shaping 2025. In February 2025 Tenable acquired Vulcan Cyber Ltd. for about $148 million in cash and $2 million of restricted stock units. The board lifted the share repurchase authorization by $200 million in October 2024, and the company has bought 2.7 million shares for $114.9 million since the program began. Restructuring charges in 2024 included a non-cash impairment tied to subleasing part of the headquarters. Management expects general and administrative expense to rise sequentially in the first quarter of 2025 because of termination benefits, including cash compensation and accelerated equity award vesting, related to the passing of its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
The risks are familiar but real. Tenable still expects to incur operating losses in the near term and says outside financing may be needed if cash flow cannot be sustained. Longer purchasing and approval phases are expected to continue in 2025. Sales and marketing expense is expected to fall as a percentage of revenue in fiscal 2025, while research and development expense is expected to grow in absolute dollars but decline as a percentage of revenue over the long term. A full valuation allowance against deferred tax assets is expected to remain in place for the foreseeable future. The softer dollar-based net expansion rate and the smaller number of new enterprise platform customers are the figures to watch, since both feed the deferred revenue and billings base that supports the subscription model.
Forecast
Reported figures
GAAP, from SEC filings| Metric | Q4 FY2024 | Q3 FY2024 | QoQ | Q4 FY2023 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $235.7M | $227.1M | +3.8% | $213.3M | +10.5% |
| Gross profit | $184.3M | $176.6M | +4.4% | $164.5M | +12.0% |
| Gross margin | 78.2% | 77.8% | +0.4 pp | 77.1% | +1.1 pp |
| Research & development | $44.7M | $48.0M | -6.9% | $40.1M | +11.6% |
| Sales & marketing | $95.3M | $99.1M | -3.8% | $103.7M | -8.1% |
| General & administrative | $31.2M | $31.6M | -1.0% | $30.6M | +2.2% |
| Total operating expenses | $171.3M | $178.7M | -4.1% | $178.8M | -4.2% |
| Operating income (loss) | $13.0M | -$2.1M | +722.9% | -$14.3M | +190.4% |
| Operating margin | 5.5% | -0.9% | +6.4 pp | -6.7% | +12.2 pp |
| Net income (loss) | $1.9M | -$9.2M | +120.3% | -$21.6M | +108.6% |
| Net margin | 0.8% | -4.1% | +4.8 pp | -10.2% | +10.9 pp |
| Diluted EPS | $0.02 | -$0.08 | +$0.10 | -$0.19 | +$0.21 |
| Customers | 44,000 | 585,404 | -92.5% | 44,000 | ±0.0% |
Risks
The cybersecurity market is fragmented and intensely competitive, with competitors including Microsoft, CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks and Wiz; larger competitors can bundle competing products, potentially pressuring pricing and average sales prices.
The sales cycle is long and unpredictable, averaging about four months for enterprise customers, and management expects longer purchasing and approval phases in 2025; unfavorable macroeconomic conditions could further lengthen it.
The company derived 94% of 2024 revenue through channel partners, and Ingram Micro accounted for 34% of 2024 revenue and 29% of accounts receivable at December 31, 2024; the Ingram Micro agreement can be terminated on 30 days' notice.
On December 31, 2024, Nessus agent versions 10.8.0 and 10.8.1 went offline under certain conditions, impacting availability for certain customers; a fix was released on January 2, 2025, but similar future incidents could lead to service-level credits and loss of customer trust.
The company depends on highly skilled personnel, including senior management; MD&A notes Q1 2025 general and administrative expenses are expected to increase sequentially due to termination benefits related to the passing of the Chairman and CEO.
Dollar-based net expansion rate at December 31, 2024 was 108%, down from 111% at December 31, 2023 and 117% at December 31, 2022, while new enterprise platform customers added decreased to 1,689 in 2024 from 1,788 in 2023.
The company has incorporated AI features such as ExposureAI and Tenable AI Assistant; these are new and may generate inaccurate or flawed output, not achieve market acceptance, or trigger regulatory and privacy risks including under the EU Artificial Intelligence Act.
Stringent and changing data privacy and security laws, including GDPR fines up to €20 million or 4% of annual global revenue and CCPA fines, increase compliance costs and expose the company to enforcement, litigation and customer loss.
Tenable One is hosted on AWS, and the AWS agreement allows AWS to terminate with two years' written notice and in some circumstances to temporarily restrict access without prior notice, which could cause platform interruptions or additional expenses.
The company had an accumulated deficit of $861.3 million at December 31, 2024, and although net loss narrowed to $36.3 million for FY2024 from $78.3 million for FY2023, MD&A states it expects to continue incurring operating losses in the near term.
SaaS KPIs
All quarters →Dollar-Based Net Expansion Rate
Summary, forecast, risks and KPIs are extracted from Tenable 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.