NetApp Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2019 Results

Net Revenues of $1.59 Billion for the Fourth Quarter and $6.15 Billion for Fiscal Year 2019

• Net revenues for fiscal year 2019 grew 4% year-over-year
• Product revenue for fiscal year 2019 grew 7% year-over-year
• All-flash array revenue for fiscal year 2019 grew 25% year-over-year
• $2.51 billion returned to shareholders in share repurchases and cash dividends in fiscal year 2019
• First quarter fiscal year 2020 dividend to increase by 20% to $0.48 per share

SUNNYVALE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2019, which ended April 26, 2019.

“Despite the modest shortfall relative to our fiscal year 2019 expectations, we made significant progress in the strategic markets of all-flash, private cloud, and cloud data services. Our Data Fabric strategy clearly differentiates us from our competitors,” said George Kurian, chief executive officer. “Enterprises are choosing NetApp to be a strategic partner in their digital transformations. Our opportunity is large and growing, and we are moving quickly to improve our execution.”

Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year 2019 Financial Results*

• Net Revenues: $1.59 billion, compared to $1.64 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018
• Net Income: GAAP net income of $396 million, compared to GAAP net income of $290 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018; non-GAAP net income¹ of $305 million, compared to non-GAAP net income of $307 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018
• Earnings per Share: GAAP net income per share² of $1.59 compared to GAAP net income per share of $1.06 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018; non-GAAP net income per share of $1.22, compared to non-GAAP net income per share of $1.12 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018
• Cash, Cash Equivalents and Investments: $3.9 billion at the end of fiscal 2019
• Cash from Operations: $399 million, compared to $494 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018
• Share Repurchase and Dividend: Returned $597 million to shareholders through share repurchases and cash dividends

Fiscal Year 2019 Financial Results*

• Net Revenues: $6.15 billion, increased 4% year-over-year from $5.92 billion in fiscal 2018
• Net Income: GAAP net income of $1.17 billion, compared to GAAP net income of $116 million** in fiscal 2018; non-GAAP net income of $1.17 billion, compared to non-GAAP net income of $983 million in fiscal 2018
• Earnings per Share: GAAP net income per share of $4.51, compared to GAAP net income per share of $0.42** in fiscal 2018; non-GAAP net income per share of $4.52, compared to non-GAAP net income per share of $3.56 in fiscal 2018
• Cash from Operations: $1.34 billion, compared to $1.48 billion in fiscal year 2018
• Share Repurchase and Dividend: Returned $2.51 billion to shareholders through share repurchases and cash dividends

*In the first quarter of fiscal 2019, NetApp adopted Revenue from Contracts with Customers (ASC 606) using the full retrospective method of adoption. Accordingly, NetApp’s condensed consolidated balance sheet as of April 27, 2018, condensed consolidated statements of operations and cash flows for all fiscal 2018 periods presented, and all related financial statement metrics included herein, have been restated to conform to the new rules.

**On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was enacted into law. This tax reform legislation contains several key tax provisions that affected the company, including a one-time mandatory transition tax on accumulated foreign earnings and a reduction of the U.S. corporate income tax rate to 21% effective January 1, 2018, among others. GAAP net income in fiscal year 2018 was impacted by a resulting one-time charge of approximately $850 million.

First Quarter Fiscal Year 2020 Financial Outlook

The Company provided the following financial guidance for the first quarter of fiscal year 2020:

Full Fiscal Year 2020 Financial Outlook

The Company provided the following financial guidance for the full fiscal year 2020:

Dividend

The Company will increase the first quarter fiscal year 2020 dividend by 20% to $0.48 per share. The quarterly dividend will be paid on July 24, 2019, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on July 5, 2019.

Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year 2019 Business Highlights

New Products Enable Digital Transformation

• NetApp announced a variety of new and updated offerings that give customers more flexibility across hybrid multicloud environments for a range of use cases, including FlexPod™ AI platform; FlexPod for MEDITECH software; NetApp™ Service Level Manager; and the FlexCache™.
• OnCommand™ Workflow Automation 5.0 makes it easier for customers to automate, monitor, and maintain storage workflows. Changes in the web UI deliver a consistent user experience across OnCommand System Manager, Unified Manager, and Workflow Automation, resulting in improved simplicity and efficiency.

Industry-Leading Strategic Partnerships

• Intel Optane DC Persistent Memory and NetApp Memory Accelerated Data extended their partnership to help customers realize the promise of solutions that offer shorter time to results with their data.
• NetApp partnered with H2O.ai and integrated NetApp Cloud Volumes Service, a cloud-native file storage service. H2O Driverless AI provides a platform for customers to collaborate, scale, and deploy AI solutions more quickly.
• Texas-based Soccour Solutions received HCI Champion Partner status after it embraced NetApp HCI as part of its customer offerings.

Industry Recognition

• NetApp was named 2018 Google Cloud Technology Partner of the Year for Infrastructure at the Google Cloud Next 2019 Partner Summit.
• NetApp was awarded Brand of the Year by Think Global Awards, which recognizes achievements in promoting an awareness of thinking globally for individuals, communities, startups, small to medium-sized businesses, global brands, and large-scale international organizations.

Webcast and Conference Call Information

NetApp will host a conference call to discuss these results today at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time. To access the live webcast of this event, go to the NetApp Investor Relations website at investors.netapp.com. In addition, this press release, historical supplemental data tables, and other information related to the call will be posted on the Investor Relations website. An audio replay will be available on the website after 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time today.

About NetApp

NetApp is the data authority for hybrid cloud. We provide a full range of hybrid cloud data services that simplify management of applications and data across cloud and on-premises environments to accelerate digital transformation. Together with our partners, we empower global organizations to unleash the full potential of their data to expand customer touchpoints, foster greater innovation, and optimize their operations. For more information, visit www.netapp.com. #DataDriven

“Safe Harbor” Statement Under U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, all of the statements made under the First Quarter Fiscal Year 2020 Financial Outlook and Full Fiscal Year 2020 Financial Outlook sections, statements about our large and growing opportunity and our ability to improve our execution. All of these forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty. Actual results may differ materially from these statements for a variety of reasons, including, without limitation, general global political, macroeconomic and market conditions, changes in U.S. government spending, revenue seasonality and matters specific to our business, such as our ability to expand our total available market and grow our portfolio of products, customer demand for and acceptance of our products and services, our ability to successfully execute new business models, our ability to successfully execute on our Data Fabric strategy to generate profitable growth and stockholder return and our ability to manage our gross profit margins. These and other equally important factors are described in reports and documents we file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the factors described under the section titled “Risk Factors” in our most recently submitted reports on 10-Q and 10-K. We disclaim any obligation to update information contained in this press release whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

NetApp and the NetApp logo and the marks listed at http://www.netapp.com/TM are trademarks of NetApp, Inc. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Footnotes

¹Non-GAAP net income excludes, when applicable, (a) amortization of intangible assets, (b) stock-based compensation expenses, (c) litigation settlements, (d) acquisition-related expenses, (e) restructuring charges, (f) asset impairments, (g) gains/losses on the sale or derecognition of assets, and (h) our GAAP tax provision, but includes a non-GAAP tax provision based upon our projected annual non-GAAP effective tax rate for the first three quarters of the fiscal year and an actual non-GAAP tax provision for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year. NetApp makes additional adjustments to the non-GAAP tax provision for certain tax matters as described below. A detailed reconciliation of our non-GAAP to GAAP results can be found at http://investors.netapp.com. NetApp’s management uses these non-GAAP measures in making operating decisions because it believes the measurements provide meaningful supplemental information regarding NetApp’s ongoing operational performance.

²GAAP net income per share and non-GAAP net income per share are calculated using the diluted number of shares.

NetApp Usage of Non-GAAP Financial Information

To supplement NetApp’s condensed consolidated financial statement information presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (GAAP), NetApp provides investors with certain non-GAAP measures, including, but not limited to, historical non-GAAP operating results, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP effective tax rate and free cash flow, and historical and projected non-GAAP earnings per diluted share.

NetApp believes that the presentation of non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP effective tax rates, and non-GAAP earnings per share data, when shown in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures, provides useful information to investors and management regarding financial and business trends relating to its financial condition and results of operations. NetApp believes that the presentation of free cash flow, which it defines as the net cash provided by operating activities less cash used to acquire property and equipment, to be a liquidity measure that provides useful information to management and investors because it reflects cash that can be used to, among other things, invest in its business, make strategic acquisitions, repurchase common stock, and pay dividends on its common stock. As free cash flow is not a measure of liquidity calculated in accordance with GAAP, free cash flow should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the analysis provided in the statement of cash flows.

NetApp’s management uses these non-GAAP measures in making operating decisions because it believes the measurements provide meaningful supplemental information regarding NetApp’s ongoing operational performance. These non-GAAP financial measures are used to: (1) measure company performance against historical results, (2) facilitate comparisons to our competitors’ operating results and (3) allow greater transparency with respect to information used by management in financial and operational decision making.

NetApp excludes the following items from its non-GAAP measures when applicable:

A. Amortization of intangible assets. NetApp records amortization of intangible assets that were acquired in connection with its business combinations. The amortization of intangible assets varies depending on the level of acquisition activity. Management finds it useful to exclude these charges to assess the appropriate level of various operating expenses to assist in budgeting, planning and forecasting future periods and in measuring operational performance.

B. Stock-based compensation expenses. NetApp excludes stock-based compensation expenses from its non-GAAP measures primarily because they are non-cash expenses. While management views stock-based compensation as a key element of our employee retention and long-term incentives, we do not view it as an expense to be used in evaluating operational performance in any given period.

C. Litigation settlements. NetApp may periodically incur charges or benefits related to litigation settlements. NetApp excludes these charges and benefits, when significant, because it does not believe they are reflective of ongoing business and operating results.

D. Acquisition-related expenses. NetApp excludes acquisition-related expenses, including (a) due diligence, legal and other one-time integration charges and (b) write down of assets acquired that NetApp does not intend to use in its ongoing business, from its non-GAAP measures, primarily because they are not related to our ongoing business or cost base and, therefore, cannot be relied upon for future planning and forecasting.

E. Restructuring charges. These charges consist of restructuring charges that are incurred based on the particular facts and circumstances of restructuring decisions, including employment and contractual settlement terms, and other related charges, and can vary in size and frequency. We therefore exclude them in our assessment of operational performance.

F. Asset impairments. These are non-cash charges to write down assets when there is an indication that the asset has become impaired. Management finds it useful to exclude these non-cash charges due to the unpredictability of these events in its assessment of operational performance.

G. Gains/losses on the sale or derecognition of assets. These are gains/losses from the sale of our properties and other transactions in which we transfer control of assets to a third party. Management believes that these transactions do not reflect the results of our underlying, on-going business and, therefore, cannot be relied upon for future planning or forecasting.

H. Income tax adjustments. NetApp’s non-GAAP tax provision is based upon a projected annual non-GAAP effective tax rate for the first three quarters of the fiscal year and an actual non-GAAP tax provision for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year. The non-GAAP tax provision also excludes, when applicable, (a) tax charges or benefits in the current period that relate to one or more prior fiscal periods that are a result of events such as changes in tax legislation, authoritative guidance, income tax audit settlements and/or court decisions, (b) tax charges or benefits that are attributable to unusual or non-recurring book and/or tax accounting method changes, (c) tax charges that are a result of a non-routine foreign cash repatriation, (d) tax charges or benefits that are a result of infrequent restructuring of the Company’s tax structure, (e) tax charges or benefits that are a result of a change in valuation allowance, and (f) tax charges resulting from the integration of intellectual properties from acquisitions. Management believes that the use of non-GAAP tax provisions provides a more meaningful measure of the Company’s operational performance.

These non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative for, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP, and may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies. In addition, these non-GAAP measures are not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. NetApp believes that non-GAAP measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all of the amounts associated with the Company’s results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP and that these measures should only be used to evaluate the Company’s results of operations in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures. NetApp management compensates for these limitations by analyzing current and projected results on a GAAP basis as well as a non-GAAP basis. The presentation of non-GAAP financial information is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the directly comparable financial measures prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. The non-GAAP financial measures are meant to supplement, and be viewed in conjunction with, GAAP financial measures.

Contacts

Press Contact:
Madge Miller
NetApp
1 408 419 5263
[email protected]

Investor Contact:
Lance Berger
NetApp
1 408 822 6628
[email protected]

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