CommVault today announced its financial results for the third quarter ended December 31, 2013.

N. Robert Hammer, CommVault’s chairman, president and CEO stated, “We achieved solid third quarter financial performance which was highlighted by record results in quarterly revenues of $153.3 million, non-GAAP operating income of $42.5 million and non-GAAP EPS of $0.54. Our year-over-year software revenue growth of 20% was driven by increased demand and brand recognition of our Simpana 10 software suite, an all-time high volume of enterprise deals (transactions greater than $100,000) and continued execution from our global operations. We are consistently gaining market share and delivering solid revenue and earnings growth. We will continue to invest in our enterprise selling capabilities and expand our distribution and market reach throughout the remainder of fiscal 2014 and into fiscal 2015.”

Total revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2014 were $153.3 million, an increase of 20% over the third quarter of fiscal 2013 and an increase of 8% sequentially. Software revenue in the third quarter of fiscal 2014 was $79.2 million, an increase of 20% year-over-year and 12% over the second quarter. Services revenue in the third quarter of fiscal 2014 was $74.0 million, an increase of 19% year-over-year and 4% sequentially.

On a GAAP basis, income from operations (EBIT) was $27.7 million for the third quarter, a 37% increase from the $20.2 million in the same period of the prior year. Non-GAAP income from operations (EBIT) increased 42% to $42.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014 compared to $29.8 million in the third quarter of the prior year. On a sequential basis, non-GAAP income from operations (EBIT) increased 12% in the third quarter of fiscal 2014.

For the third quarter of fiscal 2014, CommVault reported net income of $17.6 million, an increase of $5.4 million compared to the same period of the prior year. Non-GAAP net income for the quarter increased 42% to $26.9 million, or $0.54 per diluted share, from $19.0 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, in the same period of the prior year.

Operating cash flow totaled $30.2 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2014 which was an increase of $2.7 million compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2013. Total cash and short-term investments were $500.5 million as of December 31, 2013 compared to $435.9 million as of March 31, 2013. There were no share repurchases during the third quarter of fiscal 2014, which still leaves $150.0 million remaining in the existing repurchase plan available through March 31, 2015.

A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP results has been provided in Financial Statement Table IV. (Download Financial Tables) An explanation of these measures is also included below under the heading “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Recent Business Highlights:

• On December 19, 2013, CommVault announced an expansion of its long-standing OEM partnership with Hitachi Data Systems to provide the industry's most advanced data protection and recovery solutions to enterprises and IT-as-a-service providers. New, deeper integration of the Hitachi Data Protection Suite, powered by CommVault, with Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform (VSP) and Unified Storage VM systems helps increase storage efficiency and automates data backup and recovery for application, file systems and hypervisor platforms.
• On November 21, 2013, CommVault announced Info-Tech Research Group recognized CommVault as a "Champion" in Content and Email Archiving in its latest Vendor Landscape Report. This industry report recognizes outstanding vendors in the technology marketplace based on an assessment of the strength of their offerings and their ability to deliver excellent value to customers.
• On November 13, 2013, CommVault announced that it has been positioned in the “Leaders” quadrant of Gartner Inc.'s “Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Information Archiving.”

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

CommVault has provided in this press release the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP income from operations, non-GAAP income from operations margin, non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share. This selected financial information has not been prepared in accordance with GAAP. CommVault uses these non-GAAP financial measures internally to understand, manage and evaluate its business and make operating decisions. In addition, CommVault believes these non-GAAP operating measures are useful to investors, when used as a supplement to GAAP financial measures, in evaluating CommVault’s ongoing operational performance. CommVault believes that the use of these non-GAAP financial measures provide an additional tool for investors to use in evaluating ongoing operating results and trends, and in comparing its financial results with other companies in CommVault’s industry, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures to the investment community.

These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered as a supplement to, and not as a substitute for or superior to, financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, which are provided in Table IV. (Download Financial Tables)

Non-GAAP income from operations and non-GAAP income from operations margin. These non-GAAP financial measures exclude noncash stock-based compensation charges and additional FICA and related payroll tax expense incurred by CommVault when employees exercise in the money stock options or vest in restricted stock awards. CommVault believes that these non-GAAP financial measures are useful metrics for management and investors because they compare CommVault’s core operating results over multiple periods. When evaluating the performance of CommVault’s operating results and developing short and long term plans, CommVault does not consider such expenses. Although noncash stock-based compensation and the additional FICA and related payroll tax expenses are necessary to attract and retain employees, CommVault places its primary emphasis on stockholder dilution as compared to the accounting charges related to such equity compensation plans. In addition, because of the varying available valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions such as volatility, which are outside of CommVault’s control and the variety of awards that companies can issue, CommVault believes that providing non-GAAP financial measures that exclude noncash stock-based compensation expense and the additional FICA and related payroll tax expenses incurred on stock option exercises and vesting of restricted stock awards allow investors to make meaningful comparisons between CommVault’s operating results and those of other companies.

There are a number of limitations related to the use of non-GAAP income from operations and non-GAAP income from operations margin. The most significant limitation is that these non-GAAP financial measures exclude certain operating costs, primarily related to noncash stock-based compensation, which is of a recurring nature. Noncash stock-based compensation has been, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future, a significant recurring expense in CommVault’s operating results. In addition, noncash stock-based compensation is an important part of CommVault’s employees’ compensation and can have a significant impact on their performance. Lastly, the components CommVault excludes in its non-GAAP financial measures may differ from the components that its peer companies exclude when they report their non-GAAP financial measures.

CommVault’s management generally compensates for limitations described above related to the use of non-GAAP financial measures by providing investors with a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure. Further, CommVault management uses non-GAAP financial measures only in addition to, and in conjunction with, results presented in accordance with GAAP.

Non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP diluted EPS. Non-GAAP net income excludes noncash stock-based compensation and the additional FICA and related payroll tax expenses incurred by CommVault when employees exercise in the money stock options or vest in restricted stock awards, which are discussed above, as well as applies a non-GAAP effective tax rate of 37% in fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2013.

CommVault anticipates that in any given quarter its non-GAAP tax rate may be either higher or lower than the GAAP tax rate as evidenced by historical fluctuations. The GAAP tax rate for the nine months ended December 31, 2013 was 36% and the GAAP tax rate for the nine months ended December 31, 2012 was 39%. On an annual basis, the GAAP tax rate over the past six fiscal years was 35% for fiscal 2013, 36% for fiscal 2012, 42% for fiscal 2011, 43% for fiscal 2010, 44% for fiscal 2009, and 23% for fiscal 2008. In addition, CommVault’s cash tax rate has been significantly lower than its GAAP tax rate in recent fiscal years. The cash tax rate over the prior three fiscal years is estimated to be approximately 12% for fiscal 2013, approximately 14% for fiscal 2012 and approximately 11% for fiscal 2011. Also, the cash tax rate for fiscal 2014 is estimated to be in the range of 16% to 20%. CommVault expects that its cash tax rate will remain lower than its GAAP tax rate through fiscal 2014 and into fiscal 2015. CommVault defines its cash tax rate as the total amount of cash income taxes payable for the fiscal year divided by consolidated GAAP pre-tax income.

CommVault measured itself to non-GAAP tax rates of 37% in fiscal 2013 and anticipates that it will continue to measure itself to a non-GAAP tax rate of 37% through fiscal 2014. CommVault believes that the use of a non-GAAP tax rate is a useful measure as it allows management and investors to compare its operating results on a more consistent basis over the multiple periods presented in its earnings release without the impact of significant variations in the tax rate as more fully described above.  It is also more reflective of the increase in the cash tax rate as it approaches the GAAP tax rate over the next one to two fiscal years. Non-GAAP EPS is derived from non-GAAP net income divided by the weighted average shares outstanding on a fully diluted basis.

CommVault considers non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP diluted EPS useful metrics for CommVault management and its investors for the same basic reasons that CommVault uses non-GAAP income from operations and non-GAAP income from operations margin. In addition, the same limitations as well as management actions to compensate for such limitations described above also apply to CommVault’s use of non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP EPS.