Chegg Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2013 Results

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Chegg Inc. (NYSE:CHGG), the leading student-first connected learning platform, today reported financial results for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2013. 

"2013 was a banner year for Chegg, particularly in digital which grew to more than $52 million or 21% of our total business," said Dan Rosensweig, chairman and CEO.  "It's been an exciting year of innovation as we rolled out new student-first services that have been incredibly well-received, rewarding us with record revenue, reach, customers and engagement."

Q4 Fiscal 2013 Financial Highlights:

• Revenue of $77.1 million increased 13% from Q4 2012;
• Digital Revenue (which includes non-print products and digital services) grew 70% year over year to $16.7 million, or 22% of total revenues compared to 14% in Q4 2012;
• Print Revenue of $60.5 million increased 3% from Q4 2012;
• Gross Profit of $39.5 million was flat over the prior year quarter on a GAAP basis, representing a gross margin decline to 51.3% from 57.7%; on a non-GAAP basis, gross profit was $40.3 million compared to $39.6 million representing a gross margin decline to 52.3% from 57.9%;
• Adjusted EBITDA without textbook depreciation of $18.6 million compared to $18.5 million in Q4 2012, which included a $1.8 million loss on textbook liquidations during Q4 2013 and a $2.3 million loss on textbook liquidations during Q4 2012;
• GAAP Net Loss was $(5.4) million compared to net income of $8.1 million Q4 2012. GAAP net loss includes a $102.6 million non-cash charge related to our initial public offering; and
• Non-GAAP Net Income was $20.3 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, excluding non-cash charges of $102.6 million recorded as a result of our IPO, stock-based compensation of $25.1 million and amortization of intangible assets of $0.6 million.

Fiscal Year Financial Highlights:

• Revenue of $255.6 million increased 20% year over year from $213.3 million in 2012;
• Digital Revenue (which includes non-print products and digital services) grew 86% year over year to $52.5 million, or 21% of total revenues compared to 13% in 2012;
• Print Revenue of $203.1 million increased 10% compared to $185.2 million in 2012;
• Gross Profit of $80.5 million increased 19% over the prior year, representing a gross margin of 31.5% in 2013 compared to 31.7% in 2012; gross profit on a non-GAAP basis of $81.7 million increased 20% over the prior year representing a gross margin of 32.0% and was in-line with the prior year;
• Adjusted EBITDA without textbook depreciation was $(4.0) million compared to $(15.8) million in 2012, which included a $1.2 million gain on textbook liquidations in 2013 and a $2.6 million gain on textbook liquidations in 2012;
• GAAP Net Loss was $(55.9) million compared to a net loss of $(49.0) million in 2012; GAAP net loss includes a $102.6 million non-cash charge related to our initial public offering; and
• Non-GAAP Net Loss was ($14.5) million, or ($0.70) per diluted share, excluding non-cash charges of $102.6 million recorded in Q4 2013, stock-based compensation of $37.0 million and amortization of intangible assets of $4.4 million.

Fiscal Year Business Highlights:

• $450 million: amount of money Chegg saved students and their families in 2013
• 6.9 million: number of Chegg members
• 1.1 million: total number of course reviews on Chegg.com, including more than 644,000 reviews posted in 2013
• 875: colleges and universities under contract with Chegg for high school student inquiries
• 7.6 million: number of high school student inquiries submitted to Chegg
• 464,000: number of Chegg Study subscribers 
• 5.8 million: total number of trees planted by Chegg on behalf of students since 2008

Business Outlook:

Chegg's First Quarter and Fiscal Year outlook are as follows:  

First Quarter 2014   

• Revenues in the range of $70 to $72 million
• Digital Revenue mix representing roughly 24% of total revenues
• Total Gross Margin on both a GAAP and Non-GAAP basis between 7% and 9%
• Adjusted EBITDA without textbook depreciation loss in the range of ($22) million to ($20) million

Fiscal Year 2014

• Revenues in the range of $310 million to $320 million
• Digital Revenue mix between 27% and 29% of total revenues
• Total Gross Margin on both a GAAP and Non-GAAP basis between 25% to 27%
• Adjusted EBITDA without textbook depreciation loss in the range of ($15) million to ($10) million
• Free Cash Flow between ($5) million and $5 million  

Adjusted EBITDA without textbook depreciation guidance for the first quarter and fiscal year excludes approximately $21.0 million and $81.0 million, respectively for textbook depreciation, as well as approximately $6.0 million and $26.0 million, respectively for stock-based compensation, and $0.6 million and $2.1 million, respectively for amortization of intangible assets. It assumes, among other things, that no additional business acquisitions, investments, restructurings, or legal settlements are concluded and that there are no further revisions to stock-based compensation estimates. 

Conference Call and Webcast Information

The Chegg Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2013 teleconference and webcast is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Thursday, February 13^th, 2014. To access the call, please dial (877) 407-4018, or outside the U.S. +1 (201) 689-8471, five minutes prior to 2:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. A live webcast of the call will also be available at http://investor.chegg.com under the Events & Presentations menu. An audio replay will be available beginning at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time February 13, 2014, until 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time February 21, 2014, by calling (877) 870-5176 or +1 (858) 384-5517, with Conference ID 13574735. An audio archive of the call will also be available at http://investor.chegg.com.

Use of Investor Relations Website for Regulation FD Purposes

Chegg also announced that it intends to use its media center website, http://www.chegg.com/mediacenter, as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor http://www.chegg.com/mediacenter, in addition to following press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts.

About Chegg

Chegg puts students first. As the leading student-first connected learning platform, the company makes higher education more affordable, more accessible, and more successful for students. Chegg is a publicly-held company based in Santa Clara, California and trades on the NYSE under the symbol CHGG. For more information, visit www.chegg.com.

Use of Non-GAAP Measures

To supplement Chegg's financial results presented in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), this press release and the accompanying tables and the related earnings conference call contain certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP gross profit and margin, non-GAAP net loss and free cash flow. For reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, please see the section of the accompanying tables titled, "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures."

The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation from, as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, and may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. Chegg defines adjusted EBITDA as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA  adjusted for textbook depreciation and to exclude stock-based compensation expense, and other income (expense), net, which includes the revaluation of preferred stock warrants, and impairment charges. Non-GAAP earnings per share is defined as earnings per share excluding stock-based compensation, amortization of intangible assets as well as the deemed dividend in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013.  Non-GAAP gross profit is defined as gross profit excluding stock-based compensation. Non-GAAP gross margin is non-GAAP gross profit divided by revenue.  Free Cash Flow is defined as cash flow from operations plus book investment and investment in property, plant and equipment.  Chegg may consider whether significant non-recurring items that arise in the future should also be excluded in calculating the non-GAAP financial measures it uses.

Chegg believes that these non-GAAP financial measures, when taken together with the corresponding GAAP financial measures, provide meaningful supplemental information regarding Chegg's performance by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of Chegg's core business, operating results or future outlook. Chegg management uses, and believes that investors benefit from referring to, these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing Chegg's operating results, as well as when planning, forecasting and analyzing future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate comparisons of Chegg's performance to prior periods.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which include, without limitation those regarding Chegg's "Business Outlook" ("First Quarter 2014" and "Fiscal Year 2014"). These statements are not guarantees of future performance, but are based on management's expectations as of the date of this press release and assumptions that are inherently subject to uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements include the following: changes in Chegg's addressable market; competition, including changes in the competitive environment, pricing changes, and increased competition; Chegg's ability to build and expand its digital services offerings, including to develop new products and services and on a cost-effective basis and to integrate acquired businesses and assets; Chegg's ability to attract new students, increase engagement and increase monetization; expenses that exceed expectations; the impact of seasonality on the business; and general economic and industry conditions. These and other important risk factors are described more fully in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Chegg's final prospectus from its initial public offering, and could cause actual results to vary from expectations. All information provided in this release and in the conference call is as of the date hereof and Chegg undertakes no duty to update this information except as required by law.

SOURCE Chegg Inc.