NYSE:SKIL Skillsoft Q2 2024 Earnings Report $20.24 +0.24 (+1.20%) As of 05/9/2025 03:58 PM Eastern Earnings History Skillsoft EPS ResultsActual EPS-$3.60Consensus EPS -$4.00Beat/MissBeat by +$0.40One Year Ago EPSN/ASkillsoft Revenue ResultsActual Revenue$141.19 millionExpected Revenue$139.88 millionBeat/MissBeat by +$1.31 millionYoY Revenue GrowthN/ASkillsoft Announcement DetailsQuarterQ2 2024Date9/11/2023TimeN/AConference Call DateMonday, September 11, 2023Conference Call Time5:00PM ETUpcoming EarningsSkillsoft's Q1 2026 earnings is scheduled for Monday, June 9, 2025, with a conference call scheduled at 5:00 PM ET. Check back for transcripts, audio, and key financial metrics as they become available.Conference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptSlide DeckPress Release (8-K)Quarterly Report (10-Q)Earnings HistoryCompany ProfileSlide DeckFull Screen Slide DeckPowered by Skillsoft Q2 2024 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrSeptember 11, 2023 ShareLink copied to clipboard.There are 8 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Greetings, and welcome to the Skillsoft Second Quarter 20 24 Financial Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Chad Lien, Head of Investor Relations. Operator00:00:32Thank you. You may begin. Speaker 100:00:34Thank you, operator. Good afternoon and thank you for joining us today for Skillsoft's earnings call to discuss our results The Q2 ended July 31, 2023. Participating on today's call are Jeff Tarr, Skillsoft's Chief Executive Officer And Rich Walker, Skillsoft's Chief Financial Officer. Today, after market close, Skillsoft issued a press release announcing its financial results, which is available on our Investor Relations website. Before I hand the call over to Jeff, I want to remind you that today's call will contain forward looking statements Financial condition and market outlook. Speaker 100:01:19These forward looking statements and all statements that are not historical facts For a discussion of the material risks and other important factors that could affect our actual results, we refer you to our most recent Form 10 ks and 10 Q filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We assume no obligation to update any forward looking statements or information, which speak as of the respective dates. During the call, we will also discuss certain non GAAP financial measures, which are not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A reconciliation of the non GAAP financial measures included in today's commentary to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, as well as how we define these metrics and other metrics, is included in our earnings press release, which has been furnished to the SEC And is also available on our website at www.skillsoft.com. After our prepared remarks, Jeff and Rich will be available to take questions. Speaker 100:02:26With that, it's my pleasure to turn the call over to Jeff. Speaker 200:02:29Thanks, Chad. Good afternoon and thank you for joining us. Our team executed well in the Q2. Bookings and revenue were both up for the total company, driven by high single digit bookings growth in our high margin SaaS based Content and Platform segment. Further, I'm pleased to report bookings and revenue were sequentially in our instructor led training or ILT segment, which we believe is now positioned for a return to growth on a year over year basis. Speaker 200:03:01On the bottom line, we continue to lead our industry peers in profitability with adjusted EBITDA up on both the dollars and margin basis compared to the Q1. As I'll share today, generative AI has emerged as a new catalyst for growth. This important technology has created a new critical reskilling opportunity with customers and prospects that plays to our strengths and that we have been quick to seize as an organization. Our LTM dollar retention rate was 101%, up 300 basis points And as a testament to the value we deliver to customers, we secured several 7 figure contract renewals in our federal government business, A multimillion dollar renewal with an international logistics and package delivery company, an expanded relationship with an international food products distributor, among others. We continue to win new customers on the strength of our enterprise grade solution. Speaker 200:04:03During the quarter, more than 140 new customers chose Skillsoft to support their enterprise learning and workforce transformation imperatives. New customer wins included 6 figure contracts with a global specialty chemicals company, a leading provider of helicopter transportation solutions, A world leader in systems to lower carbon emissions, a global insurance claims settlement provider and an international provider of products for New customers like these are telling us that our ability to deliver on their complex workforce transformation needs It's unrivaled due to our unique integration of assessments, micro videos, hands on learning, coaching and instructor led training, all on our cutting edge AI driven learning experience platform. While industry peers focused primarily on catalogs of video content, We are increasingly winning based on our ability to deliver transformative learning experiences with measurable learning outcomes And tangible business results, all built on a scientifically validated approach, designed and optimized for the way people learn online. Our unique competitive advantage is driving strong growth in usage and engagement across what we believe to be the largest community of In the past year and a half, we've grown monthly active users nearly 60% and course launches more than 40%, As well as course completion rates that are well above industry averages at more than 80%. Speaker 200:05:44Our rich metadata combined with our AI enabled platform and our content creation capabilities enables us to optimize the learner experience inside the As mentioned earlier, one of the important contributors to our growth strategy has been our early move to position Skillsoft Off to benefit from generative AI. This technology has created a new reskilling imperative for our customers As nearly all companies of scale grapple with the effect it is having on the nature of work. At Skillsoft, We believe that generative AI will affect every knowledge worker job and the companies and individuals that ignore it will be left behind. We also believe that we have a solid first mover advantage in generative AI, born out of the fact that we are both a platform developer and content creator, that we have a long history in AI and that we operate across a wide range of modalities and content categories. The strength of our position in this new domain is further enhanced by our acquisition of Codecademy with its hands on learning platform. Speaker 200:06:55Further, preparing individuals and organizations for a world of generative AI is about more than just the technology and the skills to use it. It is also about leadership and business skills and compliance. And here too, we have unique capabilities that position Skillsoft to lead. I'm pleased with the speed with which our organization has moved to seize the generative AI opportunity with a shared belief that it changes what we teach, How we teach and how we work. We now have several dozen AI offerings on Codecademy And year to date have enrolled more than 500,000 learners in these AI courses. Speaker 200:07:35We also recently developed and released a plug in for OpenAI's ChatTBT that recommends personalized and relevant Codecademy courses to users, thus meeting and serving learners from within the ChatCPT interface and expanding the reach of the Codecademy platform. And we've rolled out a chat GPT Aspire journey Designed to equip organizations with the skills needed to use the technology productively and ethically across the enterprise. We've also leveraged Skillsoft's deep library of proprietary content and experience delivering coaching at scale With a beta version of our conversation AI simulator, trademarked Casey, which provides experiential active learning Through a generative AI coaching tool, Casey helps employees develop business and leadership skills By creating a safe place to practice crucial business conversations with real time personalized feedback, The initial market reaction to KC has been tremendous. Quoting the Chief Strategy Officer and Principal Analyst at Brandon Hall Group, A leading industry analyst, Skillsoft's Casey is the breakthrough technology for leadership development The organizations have been waiting for. It's the most progressive advancement I've seen to date. Speaker 200:09:03Skillsoft has effectively combined The on demand support of a virtual assistant with leadership and management training to create a transformational new way of building interpersonal skills. Casey has wide ranging applications and use cases far beyond our initial beta release. And I'm excited to see this innovative solution continue to evolve and move into general availability this quarter. As these examples highlight, we are committed to leading the market with innovation that delivers enhanced value and outcomes enables upskilling and reskilling across the enterprise and develops and grows learners for the jobs of the future. I am proud of our team and the demonstrable progress we are making as an organization. Speaker 200:09:54Across the globe, The re skilling revolution is unlocking new opportunities for Skillsoft and propelling us toward what we anticipate To be a future of accelerating profitable growth and value creation. With that, I'll now turn the call over to our CFO, Rich Walker To review our financial results, Rich? Speaker 300:10:16Thanks, Jeff. Welcome, everyone, and thanks for joining today. Our teams performed at a high level as we delivered a strong second quarter and achieved an inflection to growth in both bookings And revenue for the total company. We continued making targeted investments to accelerate growth and drive the innovation agenda that Jeff spoke to, while also generating higher profitability compared to the Q1. Moving now to our financial results. Speaker 300:10:48Let's turn first to bookings. Total bookings were $129,000,000 in the quarter, reflecting growth of 4% year over year. Content and Platform segment bookings of $83,000,000 were up 7% year over year And 2% on an LTM basis, with the quarterly expansion led by double digit growth And our tech and dev offering, which includes Codecademy B2B. In our ILT segment, bookings were $46,000,000 Down less than 1% year over year and a significant improvement over prior quarters. Our content and platform dollar retention rate or DRR was approximately 101% on an LTM basis, Up approximately 300 basis points from the year ago period. Speaker 300:11:44For the quarter, DRR was approximately 99 And growth to our customer relationships. As a reminder, given the quarterly seasonality in our renewal base, Content and platform bookings and DRR should primarily be viewed and assessed on an LTM basis. Moving to the P and L. Total revenue, which lags bookings, was $141,000,000 in the quarter, Consistent with last quarter, approximately 73% of the revenue was in our Content and Platform segment And approximately 27% was in our ILT segment. Content and Platform segment revenue, Which is primarily subscription based and recurring in nature, grew 4% year over year To $103,000,000 with growth across all content and platform areas, including Codecademy. Speaker 300:13:04ILT segment revenue declined 9% year over year to $38,000,000 as we continued to lap the partner subsidy We are pleased with the progress we are seeing in the ILT business with bookings and revenue growth on a sequential basis compared to Q1 and an expectation that ILT will become a net contributor to total company year over year growth As we move into the second half of the year, shifting to profitability. As we outlined at the start of the year, we are making targeted and strategic investments throughout the business that we believe will drive competitive differentiation An accelerated growth rate, greater scale and an industry leading margin profile over the long term, And we will always continue to identify areas to simplify our operating model and to enhance our cost structure. I am pleased with our progress on both fronts as we double down in high priority growth areas like generative AI, While dialing back from areas where we aren't seeing appropriate returns. Walking through our expenses, all of my references will be On a non GAAP basis, with the GAAP to non GAAP reconciliations included in our earnings press release, Cost of revenue of $40,000,000 or 28 percent of revenue was up 15% year over year, Primarily due to courseware and mix changes in our ILT segment and employee related costs to support the revenue growth And our Content and Platform segment. Speaker 300:14:53Content and software development expense of $16,000,000 Or 11% of revenue, we're up 1% year over year. Selling and marketing expense of $41,000,000 or 29 And in sales enablement activities being partially offset by facility savings. General and administrative expenses of $20,000,000 or 14% of revenue were up 9% year over year, Primarily due to the timing of a corporate bonus reversal tied to our performance in fiscal 2023, Total operating expenses were $116,000,000 or 82 percent of revenue. On a year over year basis, operating expenses were up $8,000,000 or 7%, Due primarily to the aforementioned bonus reversal last year, on a sequential basis compared to Q1, was $25,000,000 or 18 percent of revenue compared to $33,000,000 or 23 percent of revenue in the prior year, which as I noted earlier was primarily due to last year's bonus reversal. We are pleased with the sequential progression and incremental profitability we are driving, with adjusted EBITDA Up approximately $4,000,000 and margins up approximately 200 basis points compared to the Q1 of this year. Speaker 300:16:45Our GAAP net loss was $32,000,000 or $0.20 on a per share basis. Our adjusted net loss was $29,000,000 Or $0.18 per share. Moving to cash flow and balance sheet highlights. On a year to date basis, cash flow from operations was $2,000,000 and we invested $9,000,000 in capital expenditures and capitalized internally developed software. As a result, year to date free cash flow was negative $7,000,000 compared to negative $22,000,000 in the prior year period. Speaker 300:17:22As a reminder, given the seasonality in our content and platform bookings, the second and third quarter Our generally cash consuming quarters, while the 1st and 4th quarters are generally cash generative. We ended the 2nd quarter with a solid cash position and ample liquidity, with cash and cash Equivalence of $148,000,000 and restricted cash of $5,000,000 We did not repurchase any shares during the quarter under our accounts receivable facility and $586,000,000 outstanding on our term loan facility, Which matures in July of 2028. Recall, the term loan facility amount on the balance sheet It's net of original issue discount and deferred financing costs. Total net debt was approximately 4 $73,000,000 resulting in net leverage of approximately 4.9x our LTM adjusted EBITDA. Wrapping up, I would summarize the quarter as one in which we are proud of how our teams performed. Speaker 300:18:45We continue to innovate across And brought differentiated capabilities to market as Jeff shared with you. We delivered year over year growth in both bookings and revenue Our Content and Platform segment had a solid growth quarter with exciting new customer wins And an LTM dollar retention rate of 101%. We feel our ILT segment has turned a corner With bookings and revenue up compared to the Q1 and an expectation that ILT will return to year over year growth In the second half. And we successfully invested for growth while also driving higher adjusted EBITDA sequentially. We are, of course, mindful that the broader macro remains fluid and dynamic, particularly given the typical Q4 seasonality that remains in That said, given our strong execution year to date and our current views for the balance of the year, we are reaffirming our core Speaker 200:20:21Thanks, Rich. Before we turn the call to Q and A, I'd like to say a word of appreciation to all of our team members around the globe for their strong performance and their tireless commitment to delivering transformative learning experiences to our customers and their learners. And to our stockholders, We appreciate your support as we continue to make important forward strides in executing our strategy in a way that we believe Operator, you may now open the call for questions. Operator00:20:55Thank you. Thank you. And our first question comes from Robert Simmons with D. A. Davidson. Speaker 400:21:42So I guess first on Casey, Just to clarify, is it in GA now or is it planned to be between now and quarter end? Speaker 200:21:55It's in beta today with dozens of customers. It is available on our site for those who would like to add themselves the beta list and it will be in general availability within a matter of weeks. Feedback is terrific. Speaker 400:22:09Yes, great. All right, cool. And then, any color on your churn rate, with the gross churn? And then can you remind us kind of how the various pieces of churn and upsell pricing kind of fit together for your To feed into your net retention number? Speaker 200:22:33Well, we share our dollar retention rate, which is up 300 basis points year over year. We don't typically provide more granularity than that. Rich, is there anything to add? Speaker 300:22:48The only point I'd make is that it's important to look on an LTM basis because there is a lot of fluctuations in some of the quarters. Speaker 400:22:56Yes. In Speaker 200:22:56terms of just general Color how to think about it. Our large enterprise accounts have much higher retention. Our SMB accounts have lower retention. So that would be one place where we see a differentiation between different customer categories. Speaker 400:23:18Got it. And maybe can you talk about what you're seeing in terms of pricing out of the market? Are you I think You're talking to kind of a bifurcation of the market. Are you still seeing that, in the kind of general trends? Speaker 200:23:32When it comes to pricing, our price increase This year generally was about 6%. But keep in mind that is on bookings, that it's heavily weighted to the 4th quarter, That a significant and that our average customer contract length is north of 2 years. So it does take quite some time for Pricing to flow through to revenue and EBITDA. Speaker 400:24:02Got it. Okay. That makes sense. And then can you talk a little bit about the sales force? You've been ramping up some relatively newer reps. Speaker 400:24:10How's that been going? And any other color You'd carry the share. Speaker 200:24:15Terrific. I'll tell you what we've been seeing is, first of all, Our competitive advantage is strongest with those customers who have the most complex workforce transformation needs And where the skills gaps are most acute. And the reason for that is our blended offering that cuts across Micro videos, assessments, instructor led training, coaching and mentoring and all the hands on learning tools that we have in our portfolio Really suits it lends itself to tackling those significant challenges. To sell that kind of offering, By the way, we also have a professional services arm. To sell that requires a sales force that is Equipped to engage in a consultative sales process that is able to engage at more senior levels in the organization. Speaker 200:25:10And so we've been on a multiyear journey to build that capability within our organization. We've made good progress. There's more progress to be made to realize the full potential of what we have in front of us. Speaker 400:25:24Got it. Great. I'll hop back in the queue Operator00:25:32Our next question comes from Raimo Lenschow with Speaker 500:25:38This is Sheldon on for Raimo. First, I wanted to Generally, what you're seeing in the quarter that's underpinning the continued strength in content bookings? And particularly, how would you balance Potential tailwinds from more engagement from things like GenAI with kind of a consolidation trend that's something that we've seen from other HCM players kind of consolidating a bunch of point solutions. So given the breadth of your offering, not sure if that's something you're seeing from your customers. Speaker 200:26:09Well, we certainly do benefit from consolidation of point solutions. We benefit from significant win backs From customers that may have made a decision based on price in the past and are coming back to us Because they have significant workforce transformation challenges and are focused on outcomes and results. We win when the customer is focused on outcomes and results. We win when the customer has more complex workforce transformation needs that can't just be met with Videos or recordings of lectures, but requires deeply understanding the customers' Workforce transformation and learning priorities and tailoring the solution to those priorities using the breadth of content that we have and the breadth of modalities. That's where we win. Speaker 200:27:01That's where we're winning more and more customers like Kyndryl that we talked about last quarter, customers like the ones that we Cited on the call today. And from my perspective, we're really just getting started with that. Now you also mentioned generative AI And what we see with generative AI is it is opening up a new skills gap within our customer base. Almost every conversation we have with customers these days, AI comes up and the fact that we can address those needs with Very complex, complete workforce transformation solutions that combine leadership and business skills, the technology, Compliance and deliver that at scale, that's an advantage that I believe we have. Speaker 500:27:49Great. And quick follow-up. I wanted to ask on the federal pipeline this year compared to last. There's some Incremental things that you have, I know Fed ramp on Precipio was last year, but is that leading to better retention of those customers? And then The Fed ramp around the coaching offering, is that leading to larger deal sizes for the federal pipeline? Speaker 500:28:14Any color there going into Speaker 200:28:15the big Q3 results? Yes. The answer to that question is yes and yes. We have a strong lead in the federal government with our offerings, Including with coaching, the fact that we're FedRAMP certified with our coaching offering has been a real advantage, As has being FedRAMP certified with our platform and content offering, but an advantage over the last couple of years. So we believe That the federal government business is a strength of the company, and we expect to get more and generate more opportunity. Speaker 200:28:46In fact, Later this week, I'm going to be in Washington, D. C. We have our big perspectives customer event and we have really strong participation from the federal government. Speaker 500:28:58Great. Thank you. Operator00:29:02Thank you. Our next question comes from Raj Sharma with B. Riley. Please state your question. Speaker 600:29:09Hi. Thank you for taking my question. Just going back to the generative AI Coursework and how that relates to the upskilling. Firstly, is it a part of other programs and the coursework a part of Codecademy Integrated into Precipio or are they the ILT part of the business? And how do they impact retention and business and sort of growth in your customer? Speaker 200:29:50So the answer to that is all of the above. We have Codecademy courses that are focused on generative AI. We have content within the core of our platform and content business that is Focused on generative AI, including very complete learning journeys focused on generative AI. And also we have ILT courses, a large suite of ILT courses that has been generating Growth contributing to growth in sales in the ILT business. So we're still early in seeing the P and L impact, but we are seeing results and we're Seeing uptick and growth and customer conversations and conversions and usage and that's all very encouraging. Speaker 600:30:40Got it. So not a material impact on revenues yet or profits obviously, but where do you how do you see the impact? Is it in terms of new customers or A greater engagement on the platform and a better retention? Speaker 200:30:56All of the above. We have new customer conversations where our We're a generative AI offering is a differentiator and a conversation starter. Our ILT business has won Significant new accounts because of the breadth of our ILT offering in generative AI. We're very excited about Casey. Casey isn't about teaching generative AI, but it's about leveraging the technology To do something new and important in the learning space. Speaker 200:31:27So we're very excited about what we see. We see this as a Significant tailwind. Rich has something to add. Speaker 300:31:34Yes. Quick one, Raj. Building on Jeff's comments In terms of what we anticipate, it isn't only about the technology. It will also benefit our leadership and business skills, KCB being one example, But it will also become an important compliance area for companies going forward and they're going to look to us to ensure safe, Responsible ethical use of the technology through our compliance offerings. Speaker 600:32:03Got it. That's very helpful. Thank you. And then just finally, can you give more color on certain customers or groups customers in certain areas that are getting impacted by any sort of slowdown you see versus Areas that are stronger because of the upskilling. So are there parts of your customer base that are Particularly strong or where you can see upscaling a lot and parts where the slow there's any slowdown in the economy or Geographically so are impacting the business? Speaker 200:32:43Well, the way we look at our customer base It's 2 broad categories. We have the category of customers who have huge workforce transformation challenges, Very real skills gaps. For them, our offering is critical to their business. And then there's another category of customers for whom online learning is something that's an employee benefit that it's a nice to have. And that's a smaller and slower growing part of our business. Speaker 200:33:19So Where we see the opportunity is with those customers who have the most complex workforce transformation needs. That's the largest portion of our customer base. It's the largest Portion of our market, it's growing the fastest and that's where we're pointing the vast majority of our resources. Speaker 400:33:39Got it. Speaker 600:33:42Thank you for taking my questions and good job. Congratulations On reporting steady Eddie results? Speaker 200:33:52Thank you. Operator00:33:54Thank you. Our next question comes from Ken Wong with Oppenheimer and Company. Please state your question. Speaker 600:34:04Fantastic. Thanks for taking my question. The first one for you, Jeff. I think in the past, you guys had touched on How new business perhaps has seen a little lengthening of the sales cycle? I realize total business doesn't depend too much on that, but just wondering you started to see that stabilize or improve at all? Speaker 200:34:27I would say that new business has been Pretty consistent. Where we've been seeing a big step up in improvement is on the growth of our existing customer base. I'd say on new business, which for us is a smaller part of our business, you're still seeing a lengthening of sales cycles and it's a little slower, But it's such a small contributor to the business overall that it's less of an impact on our business than perhaps Elsewhere. I do see opportunity to improve our new business growth and we are investing in our sales force in a thoughtful way As I mentioned before, move up higher in sales inside our customer organizations and Also engage in a more consultative sales process and I think that will yield results on the new business side over time. Speaker 600:35:25Got it. Super helpful. And then, Rich, just on the on EBITDA, Anything we should be thinking about in terms of back half seasonality of EBITDA, just so we kind of make sure We have our model properly seen? Speaker 300:35:43Yes. Thanks for the question. I think first, I'd highlight that The EBITDA growth from sequentially from the Q1 was an important achievement. Finding and striking that balance Of investing in the business and still giving some back to the results. As you think about the full year, We were obviously comfortable in reaffirming our outlook for the full year. Speaker 300:36:14The margin profile that we enjoyed in the Q2 is consistent with what we expect for the full year. And I think the expense base will continue to grow to support some of that growth, but the margin profile is Not going to materially change. We have about 40% of the bookings in the 4th quarter. It's probably not unreasonable to expect that our second half growth rate quarter over quarter We'll be in line what we enjoyed sequentially in the Q2. And Sales marketing, which we are continuing to invest in, is going to drive some of that bookings growth. Speaker 300:37:01You won't see the impact of that in revenue, But you'll see it in the expense base. Speaker 600:37:09Got it. Okay. That's all super, super helpful color. Really appreciate it, guys. Speaker 200:37:16Thanks, Ken. Operator00:37:18Our next question comes from Tom Singlehurst with Citi. Please state your question. Speaker 700:37:26Good evening. Tom here from Sippin. Thanks so much for taking the question. In fact, a couple of questions. I'm going to start I just really we're very clear about the last 12 months versus the quarterly dollar retention rates, while we should focus on the former. Speaker 700:37:43But just to clarify, the 2Q being under 100%, even if it's improved, is that just Speaker 200:37:58Tom, it's a little mumbled, but I think the question that I got was quarterly Retention rate compared to LTM retention rate. I'll let Rich share some thoughts. But the important point to keep in mind is Q1, Q2, Q3 are very small. And so individual wins and losses or anomalies and how the timing of renewals and such Can move that data around. That's why we point to dollar retention rate and we've been doing that for quite some time. Speaker 200:38:33Rich, what can you say? Speaker 300:38:35Yes. I'd just clarify the metrics. The LTM, while below 100%, The LTM was 101%, excuse me, up 300 basis points. The quarterly at 99% was still up year over year and that trend is Noticeable in both the quarter and the LTM, Tom. But I'd reiterate Jeff's comments. Speaker 300:39:04The LTM is the more accurate way to I'll evaluate Speaker 200:39:08it. I think I would just note you've seen us focus on LTM whether the in quarter was good or the in quarter was bad. We focused everyone on LTM for the last couple of years and we encourage you to continue to use that in the models. Speaker 700:39:27Sorry, so hopefully you can hear me better. The second question was about Code Academy. The buzzers have talked about dwindling demand for coding for boot camps given softer end markets in terms of employment. Was wondering whether that's something you've seen or whether it's just locked in the mix given robust demand for AI Content. Speaker 200:39:52Yes. So I got the question. Again, it's mumbled. So if I don't answer this exactly right, we'll get it afterwards. But think the question is about CoAcademy and how CoAcademy is performing. Speaker 200:40:05I'll start and I know Rich has some things to share on it. First of all, Codecademy is strategic and critical to our business. We've integrated Codecademy's B2B business into our platform and content business within our B2B tech and dev offering. So it's now deeply integrated. The hands on learning is part of what we sell customers alongside The videos and the coaching and mentoring and the other types of learning labs, the hands on learning and it's all in one package. Speaker 200:40:41That was the fastest growing content category within our platform and content business. We've also rebranded out the entirety of our tech and dev offering as Codecademy. That's something we did last quarter. And we did that because, well, frankly, Codecademy has taught more people to learn to code than any other organization on the planet. It's a very strong brand and leveraging that brand across the entirety of our tech and dev portfolio made a great deal of sense. Speaker 200:41:17Rich, I'll ask Tom to share. Speaker 300:41:20I double clicked Tom. I heard a portion of the question relating to generative AI And initially, I think that segment will benefit. Importantly, if you look at the total content and platform bookings, that grew 7% In the quarter, the Tech and Dev segment actually grew double digit and that segment is clearly and that segment includes Both the Code Enterprise and the Code B2C Business and that segment benefited certainly from the Code attributes. Speaker 700:42:00Very clear. Final question, I'll speak loudly. The cost of AI based tools, is that all embedded in guidance? There's no incremental AI sort of costs coming through? Speaker 200:42:14It's all embedded. Yes. Speaker 700:42:19Perfect. Thank you. Operator00:42:23Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'll hand the floor back over to management for closing remarks. Speaker 200:42:30Thank you, everyone, for joining us. I'd be remiss in not taking note of the fact that today is an anniversary of 9eleven. And I do want to express our continuing sense of loss and our gratitude to the nation's first responders. I also want to thank our team members around the world for your hard work and profitably growing our business, Seizing the AR opportunity and working together to build on our strong foundation as the global leader in enterprise learning. I also want to thank our customers, and I'm looking forward to being together with many of you at Perspectives 2023 this week in Washington, D. Speaker 200:43:11And of course, many thanks to our stockholders. We're very grateful to you as well. Have a good rest of your day.Read morePowered by Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallSkillsoft Q2 202400:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2x Earnings DocumentsSlide DeckPress Release(8-K)Quarterly report(10-Q) Skillsoft Earnings HeadlinesSkillsoft appoints new chief marketing officer to drive growthMay 3, 2025 | investing.comSkillsoft Appoints Raianne Reiss as Chief Marketing OfficerMay 1, 2025 | businesswire.comHere’s How to Claim Your Stake in Elon’s Private Company, xAII predict this single breakthrough could make Elon the world’s first trillionaire — and mint more new millionaires than any tech advance in history. And for a limited time, you have the chance to claim a stake in this project, even though it’s housed inside Elon’s private company, xAI.May 11, 2025 | Brownstone Research (Ad)How your boss should communicate with you in the Slack era, according to an HR expertApril 25, 2025 | businessinsider.comSkillsoft (SKIL): AI Coach CAISY Hits 1M Launches, FY2026 Revenue Set for GrowthApril 17, 2025 | finance.yahoo.comSkillsoft rises 23.2%April 15, 2025 | msn.comSee More Skillsoft Headlines Get Earnings Announcements in your inboxWant to stay updated on the latest earnings announcements and upcoming reports for companies like Skillsoft? Sign up for Earnings360's daily newsletter to receive timely earnings updates on Skillsoft and other key companies, straight to your email. Email Address About SkillsoftSkillsoft (NYSE:SKIL) provides content and platform and instructor-led training services in the United States and internationally. The company's Content & Platform segment engages in the sale, marketing, and delivery of its content learning solutions in areas, such as leadership and business, technology and developer, and compliance comprising individualized coaching, as well as technical skill areas. This segment also offers Percipio, an AI-driven online learning platform that delivers a learning experience through SaaS solutions. Its Instructor-Led Training segment provides training solutions, including information technology and business skills for corporations and their employees by guiding its customers throughout their lifelong technology learning journey by offering relevant and up-to-date skills training through instructor-led and self-paced, vendor certified, and other proprietary offerings. The company markets and sells their offerings to businesses of many sizes, government agencies, educational institutions, and resellers. 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There are 8 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Greetings, and welcome to the Skillsoft Second Quarter 20 24 Financial Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Chad Lien, Head of Investor Relations. Operator00:00:32Thank you. You may begin. Speaker 100:00:34Thank you, operator. Good afternoon and thank you for joining us today for Skillsoft's earnings call to discuss our results The Q2 ended July 31, 2023. Participating on today's call are Jeff Tarr, Skillsoft's Chief Executive Officer And Rich Walker, Skillsoft's Chief Financial Officer. Today, after market close, Skillsoft issued a press release announcing its financial results, which is available on our Investor Relations website. Before I hand the call over to Jeff, I want to remind you that today's call will contain forward looking statements Financial condition and market outlook. Speaker 100:01:19These forward looking statements and all statements that are not historical facts For a discussion of the material risks and other important factors that could affect our actual results, we refer you to our most recent Form 10 ks and 10 Q filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We assume no obligation to update any forward looking statements or information, which speak as of the respective dates. During the call, we will also discuss certain non GAAP financial measures, which are not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A reconciliation of the non GAAP financial measures included in today's commentary to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, as well as how we define these metrics and other metrics, is included in our earnings press release, which has been furnished to the SEC And is also available on our website at www.skillsoft.com. After our prepared remarks, Jeff and Rich will be available to take questions. Speaker 100:02:26With that, it's my pleasure to turn the call over to Jeff. Speaker 200:02:29Thanks, Chad. Good afternoon and thank you for joining us. Our team executed well in the Q2. Bookings and revenue were both up for the total company, driven by high single digit bookings growth in our high margin SaaS based Content and Platform segment. Further, I'm pleased to report bookings and revenue were sequentially in our instructor led training or ILT segment, which we believe is now positioned for a return to growth on a year over year basis. Speaker 200:03:01On the bottom line, we continue to lead our industry peers in profitability with adjusted EBITDA up on both the dollars and margin basis compared to the Q1. As I'll share today, generative AI has emerged as a new catalyst for growth. This important technology has created a new critical reskilling opportunity with customers and prospects that plays to our strengths and that we have been quick to seize as an organization. Our LTM dollar retention rate was 101%, up 300 basis points And as a testament to the value we deliver to customers, we secured several 7 figure contract renewals in our federal government business, A multimillion dollar renewal with an international logistics and package delivery company, an expanded relationship with an international food products distributor, among others. We continue to win new customers on the strength of our enterprise grade solution. Speaker 200:04:03During the quarter, more than 140 new customers chose Skillsoft to support their enterprise learning and workforce transformation imperatives. New customer wins included 6 figure contracts with a global specialty chemicals company, a leading provider of helicopter transportation solutions, A world leader in systems to lower carbon emissions, a global insurance claims settlement provider and an international provider of products for New customers like these are telling us that our ability to deliver on their complex workforce transformation needs It's unrivaled due to our unique integration of assessments, micro videos, hands on learning, coaching and instructor led training, all on our cutting edge AI driven learning experience platform. While industry peers focused primarily on catalogs of video content, We are increasingly winning based on our ability to deliver transformative learning experiences with measurable learning outcomes And tangible business results, all built on a scientifically validated approach, designed and optimized for the way people learn online. Our unique competitive advantage is driving strong growth in usage and engagement across what we believe to be the largest community of In the past year and a half, we've grown monthly active users nearly 60% and course launches more than 40%, As well as course completion rates that are well above industry averages at more than 80%. Speaker 200:05:44Our rich metadata combined with our AI enabled platform and our content creation capabilities enables us to optimize the learner experience inside the As mentioned earlier, one of the important contributors to our growth strategy has been our early move to position Skillsoft Off to benefit from generative AI. This technology has created a new reskilling imperative for our customers As nearly all companies of scale grapple with the effect it is having on the nature of work. At Skillsoft, We believe that generative AI will affect every knowledge worker job and the companies and individuals that ignore it will be left behind. We also believe that we have a solid first mover advantage in generative AI, born out of the fact that we are both a platform developer and content creator, that we have a long history in AI and that we operate across a wide range of modalities and content categories. The strength of our position in this new domain is further enhanced by our acquisition of Codecademy with its hands on learning platform. Speaker 200:06:55Further, preparing individuals and organizations for a world of generative AI is about more than just the technology and the skills to use it. It is also about leadership and business skills and compliance. And here too, we have unique capabilities that position Skillsoft to lead. I'm pleased with the speed with which our organization has moved to seize the generative AI opportunity with a shared belief that it changes what we teach, How we teach and how we work. We now have several dozen AI offerings on Codecademy And year to date have enrolled more than 500,000 learners in these AI courses. Speaker 200:07:35We also recently developed and released a plug in for OpenAI's ChatTBT that recommends personalized and relevant Codecademy courses to users, thus meeting and serving learners from within the ChatCPT interface and expanding the reach of the Codecademy platform. And we've rolled out a chat GPT Aspire journey Designed to equip organizations with the skills needed to use the technology productively and ethically across the enterprise. We've also leveraged Skillsoft's deep library of proprietary content and experience delivering coaching at scale With a beta version of our conversation AI simulator, trademarked Casey, which provides experiential active learning Through a generative AI coaching tool, Casey helps employees develop business and leadership skills By creating a safe place to practice crucial business conversations with real time personalized feedback, The initial market reaction to KC has been tremendous. Quoting the Chief Strategy Officer and Principal Analyst at Brandon Hall Group, A leading industry analyst, Skillsoft's Casey is the breakthrough technology for leadership development The organizations have been waiting for. It's the most progressive advancement I've seen to date. Speaker 200:09:03Skillsoft has effectively combined The on demand support of a virtual assistant with leadership and management training to create a transformational new way of building interpersonal skills. Casey has wide ranging applications and use cases far beyond our initial beta release. And I'm excited to see this innovative solution continue to evolve and move into general availability this quarter. As these examples highlight, we are committed to leading the market with innovation that delivers enhanced value and outcomes enables upskilling and reskilling across the enterprise and develops and grows learners for the jobs of the future. I am proud of our team and the demonstrable progress we are making as an organization. Speaker 200:09:54Across the globe, The re skilling revolution is unlocking new opportunities for Skillsoft and propelling us toward what we anticipate To be a future of accelerating profitable growth and value creation. With that, I'll now turn the call over to our CFO, Rich Walker To review our financial results, Rich? Speaker 300:10:16Thanks, Jeff. Welcome, everyone, and thanks for joining today. Our teams performed at a high level as we delivered a strong second quarter and achieved an inflection to growth in both bookings And revenue for the total company. We continued making targeted investments to accelerate growth and drive the innovation agenda that Jeff spoke to, while also generating higher profitability compared to the Q1. Moving now to our financial results. Speaker 300:10:48Let's turn first to bookings. Total bookings were $129,000,000 in the quarter, reflecting growth of 4% year over year. Content and Platform segment bookings of $83,000,000 were up 7% year over year And 2% on an LTM basis, with the quarterly expansion led by double digit growth And our tech and dev offering, which includes Codecademy B2B. In our ILT segment, bookings were $46,000,000 Down less than 1% year over year and a significant improvement over prior quarters. Our content and platform dollar retention rate or DRR was approximately 101% on an LTM basis, Up approximately 300 basis points from the year ago period. Speaker 300:11:44For the quarter, DRR was approximately 99 And growth to our customer relationships. As a reminder, given the quarterly seasonality in our renewal base, Content and platform bookings and DRR should primarily be viewed and assessed on an LTM basis. Moving to the P and L. Total revenue, which lags bookings, was $141,000,000 in the quarter, Consistent with last quarter, approximately 73% of the revenue was in our Content and Platform segment And approximately 27% was in our ILT segment. Content and Platform segment revenue, Which is primarily subscription based and recurring in nature, grew 4% year over year To $103,000,000 with growth across all content and platform areas, including Codecademy. Speaker 300:13:04ILT segment revenue declined 9% year over year to $38,000,000 as we continued to lap the partner subsidy We are pleased with the progress we are seeing in the ILT business with bookings and revenue growth on a sequential basis compared to Q1 and an expectation that ILT will become a net contributor to total company year over year growth As we move into the second half of the year, shifting to profitability. As we outlined at the start of the year, we are making targeted and strategic investments throughout the business that we believe will drive competitive differentiation An accelerated growth rate, greater scale and an industry leading margin profile over the long term, And we will always continue to identify areas to simplify our operating model and to enhance our cost structure. I am pleased with our progress on both fronts as we double down in high priority growth areas like generative AI, While dialing back from areas where we aren't seeing appropriate returns. Walking through our expenses, all of my references will be On a non GAAP basis, with the GAAP to non GAAP reconciliations included in our earnings press release, Cost of revenue of $40,000,000 or 28 percent of revenue was up 15% year over year, Primarily due to courseware and mix changes in our ILT segment and employee related costs to support the revenue growth And our Content and Platform segment. Speaker 300:14:53Content and software development expense of $16,000,000 Or 11% of revenue, we're up 1% year over year. Selling and marketing expense of $41,000,000 or 29 And in sales enablement activities being partially offset by facility savings. General and administrative expenses of $20,000,000 or 14% of revenue were up 9% year over year, Primarily due to the timing of a corporate bonus reversal tied to our performance in fiscal 2023, Total operating expenses were $116,000,000 or 82 percent of revenue. On a year over year basis, operating expenses were up $8,000,000 or 7%, Due primarily to the aforementioned bonus reversal last year, on a sequential basis compared to Q1, was $25,000,000 or 18 percent of revenue compared to $33,000,000 or 23 percent of revenue in the prior year, which as I noted earlier was primarily due to last year's bonus reversal. We are pleased with the sequential progression and incremental profitability we are driving, with adjusted EBITDA Up approximately $4,000,000 and margins up approximately 200 basis points compared to the Q1 of this year. Speaker 300:16:45Our GAAP net loss was $32,000,000 or $0.20 on a per share basis. Our adjusted net loss was $29,000,000 Or $0.18 per share. Moving to cash flow and balance sheet highlights. On a year to date basis, cash flow from operations was $2,000,000 and we invested $9,000,000 in capital expenditures and capitalized internally developed software. As a result, year to date free cash flow was negative $7,000,000 compared to negative $22,000,000 in the prior year period. Speaker 300:17:22As a reminder, given the seasonality in our content and platform bookings, the second and third quarter Our generally cash consuming quarters, while the 1st and 4th quarters are generally cash generative. We ended the 2nd quarter with a solid cash position and ample liquidity, with cash and cash Equivalence of $148,000,000 and restricted cash of $5,000,000 We did not repurchase any shares during the quarter under our accounts receivable facility and $586,000,000 outstanding on our term loan facility, Which matures in July of 2028. Recall, the term loan facility amount on the balance sheet It's net of original issue discount and deferred financing costs. Total net debt was approximately 4 $73,000,000 resulting in net leverage of approximately 4.9x our LTM adjusted EBITDA. Wrapping up, I would summarize the quarter as one in which we are proud of how our teams performed. Speaker 300:18:45We continue to innovate across And brought differentiated capabilities to market as Jeff shared with you. We delivered year over year growth in both bookings and revenue Our Content and Platform segment had a solid growth quarter with exciting new customer wins And an LTM dollar retention rate of 101%. We feel our ILT segment has turned a corner With bookings and revenue up compared to the Q1 and an expectation that ILT will return to year over year growth In the second half. And we successfully invested for growth while also driving higher adjusted EBITDA sequentially. We are, of course, mindful that the broader macro remains fluid and dynamic, particularly given the typical Q4 seasonality that remains in That said, given our strong execution year to date and our current views for the balance of the year, we are reaffirming our core Speaker 200:20:21Thanks, Rich. Before we turn the call to Q and A, I'd like to say a word of appreciation to all of our team members around the globe for their strong performance and their tireless commitment to delivering transformative learning experiences to our customers and their learners. And to our stockholders, We appreciate your support as we continue to make important forward strides in executing our strategy in a way that we believe Operator, you may now open the call for questions. Operator00:20:55Thank you. Thank you. And our first question comes from Robert Simmons with D. A. Davidson. Speaker 400:21:42So I guess first on Casey, Just to clarify, is it in GA now or is it planned to be between now and quarter end? Speaker 200:21:55It's in beta today with dozens of customers. It is available on our site for those who would like to add themselves the beta list and it will be in general availability within a matter of weeks. Feedback is terrific. Speaker 400:22:09Yes, great. All right, cool. And then, any color on your churn rate, with the gross churn? And then can you remind us kind of how the various pieces of churn and upsell pricing kind of fit together for your To feed into your net retention number? Speaker 200:22:33Well, we share our dollar retention rate, which is up 300 basis points year over year. We don't typically provide more granularity than that. Rich, is there anything to add? Speaker 300:22:48The only point I'd make is that it's important to look on an LTM basis because there is a lot of fluctuations in some of the quarters. Speaker 400:22:56Yes. In Speaker 200:22:56terms of just general Color how to think about it. Our large enterprise accounts have much higher retention. Our SMB accounts have lower retention. So that would be one place where we see a differentiation between different customer categories. Speaker 400:23:18Got it. And maybe can you talk about what you're seeing in terms of pricing out of the market? Are you I think You're talking to kind of a bifurcation of the market. Are you still seeing that, in the kind of general trends? Speaker 200:23:32When it comes to pricing, our price increase This year generally was about 6%. But keep in mind that is on bookings, that it's heavily weighted to the 4th quarter, That a significant and that our average customer contract length is north of 2 years. So it does take quite some time for Pricing to flow through to revenue and EBITDA. Speaker 400:24:02Got it. Okay. That makes sense. And then can you talk a little bit about the sales force? You've been ramping up some relatively newer reps. Speaker 400:24:10How's that been going? And any other color You'd carry the share. Speaker 200:24:15Terrific. I'll tell you what we've been seeing is, first of all, Our competitive advantage is strongest with those customers who have the most complex workforce transformation needs And where the skills gaps are most acute. And the reason for that is our blended offering that cuts across Micro videos, assessments, instructor led training, coaching and mentoring and all the hands on learning tools that we have in our portfolio Really suits it lends itself to tackling those significant challenges. To sell that kind of offering, By the way, we also have a professional services arm. To sell that requires a sales force that is Equipped to engage in a consultative sales process that is able to engage at more senior levels in the organization. Speaker 200:25:10And so we've been on a multiyear journey to build that capability within our organization. We've made good progress. There's more progress to be made to realize the full potential of what we have in front of us. Speaker 400:25:24Got it. Great. I'll hop back in the queue Operator00:25:32Our next question comes from Raimo Lenschow with Speaker 500:25:38This is Sheldon on for Raimo. First, I wanted to Generally, what you're seeing in the quarter that's underpinning the continued strength in content bookings? And particularly, how would you balance Potential tailwinds from more engagement from things like GenAI with kind of a consolidation trend that's something that we've seen from other HCM players kind of consolidating a bunch of point solutions. So given the breadth of your offering, not sure if that's something you're seeing from your customers. Speaker 200:26:09Well, we certainly do benefit from consolidation of point solutions. We benefit from significant win backs From customers that may have made a decision based on price in the past and are coming back to us Because they have significant workforce transformation challenges and are focused on outcomes and results. We win when the customer is focused on outcomes and results. We win when the customer has more complex workforce transformation needs that can't just be met with Videos or recordings of lectures, but requires deeply understanding the customers' Workforce transformation and learning priorities and tailoring the solution to those priorities using the breadth of content that we have and the breadth of modalities. That's where we win. Speaker 200:27:01That's where we're winning more and more customers like Kyndryl that we talked about last quarter, customers like the ones that we Cited on the call today. And from my perspective, we're really just getting started with that. Now you also mentioned generative AI And what we see with generative AI is it is opening up a new skills gap within our customer base. Almost every conversation we have with customers these days, AI comes up and the fact that we can address those needs with Very complex, complete workforce transformation solutions that combine leadership and business skills, the technology, Compliance and deliver that at scale, that's an advantage that I believe we have. Speaker 500:27:49Great. And quick follow-up. I wanted to ask on the federal pipeline this year compared to last. There's some Incremental things that you have, I know Fed ramp on Precipio was last year, but is that leading to better retention of those customers? And then The Fed ramp around the coaching offering, is that leading to larger deal sizes for the federal pipeline? Speaker 500:28:14Any color there going into Speaker 200:28:15the big Q3 results? Yes. The answer to that question is yes and yes. We have a strong lead in the federal government with our offerings, Including with coaching, the fact that we're FedRAMP certified with our coaching offering has been a real advantage, As has being FedRAMP certified with our platform and content offering, but an advantage over the last couple of years. So we believe That the federal government business is a strength of the company, and we expect to get more and generate more opportunity. Speaker 200:28:46In fact, Later this week, I'm going to be in Washington, D. C. We have our big perspectives customer event and we have really strong participation from the federal government. Speaker 500:28:58Great. Thank you. Operator00:29:02Thank you. Our next question comes from Raj Sharma with B. Riley. Please state your question. Speaker 600:29:09Hi. Thank you for taking my question. Just going back to the generative AI Coursework and how that relates to the upskilling. Firstly, is it a part of other programs and the coursework a part of Codecademy Integrated into Precipio or are they the ILT part of the business? And how do they impact retention and business and sort of growth in your customer? Speaker 200:29:50So the answer to that is all of the above. We have Codecademy courses that are focused on generative AI. We have content within the core of our platform and content business that is Focused on generative AI, including very complete learning journeys focused on generative AI. And also we have ILT courses, a large suite of ILT courses that has been generating Growth contributing to growth in sales in the ILT business. So we're still early in seeing the P and L impact, but we are seeing results and we're Seeing uptick and growth and customer conversations and conversions and usage and that's all very encouraging. Speaker 600:30:40Got it. So not a material impact on revenues yet or profits obviously, but where do you how do you see the impact? Is it in terms of new customers or A greater engagement on the platform and a better retention? Speaker 200:30:56All of the above. We have new customer conversations where our We're a generative AI offering is a differentiator and a conversation starter. Our ILT business has won Significant new accounts because of the breadth of our ILT offering in generative AI. We're very excited about Casey. Casey isn't about teaching generative AI, but it's about leveraging the technology To do something new and important in the learning space. Speaker 200:31:27So we're very excited about what we see. We see this as a Significant tailwind. Rich has something to add. Speaker 300:31:34Yes. Quick one, Raj. Building on Jeff's comments In terms of what we anticipate, it isn't only about the technology. It will also benefit our leadership and business skills, KCB being one example, But it will also become an important compliance area for companies going forward and they're going to look to us to ensure safe, Responsible ethical use of the technology through our compliance offerings. Speaker 600:32:03Got it. That's very helpful. Thank you. And then just finally, can you give more color on certain customers or groups customers in certain areas that are getting impacted by any sort of slowdown you see versus Areas that are stronger because of the upskilling. So are there parts of your customer base that are Particularly strong or where you can see upscaling a lot and parts where the slow there's any slowdown in the economy or Geographically so are impacting the business? Speaker 200:32:43Well, the way we look at our customer base It's 2 broad categories. We have the category of customers who have huge workforce transformation challenges, Very real skills gaps. For them, our offering is critical to their business. And then there's another category of customers for whom online learning is something that's an employee benefit that it's a nice to have. And that's a smaller and slower growing part of our business. Speaker 200:33:19So Where we see the opportunity is with those customers who have the most complex workforce transformation needs. That's the largest portion of our customer base. It's the largest Portion of our market, it's growing the fastest and that's where we're pointing the vast majority of our resources. Speaker 400:33:39Got it. Speaker 600:33:42Thank you for taking my questions and good job. Congratulations On reporting steady Eddie results? Speaker 200:33:52Thank you. Operator00:33:54Thank you. Our next question comes from Ken Wong with Oppenheimer and Company. Please state your question. Speaker 600:34:04Fantastic. Thanks for taking my question. The first one for you, Jeff. I think in the past, you guys had touched on How new business perhaps has seen a little lengthening of the sales cycle? I realize total business doesn't depend too much on that, but just wondering you started to see that stabilize or improve at all? Speaker 200:34:27I would say that new business has been Pretty consistent. Where we've been seeing a big step up in improvement is on the growth of our existing customer base. I'd say on new business, which for us is a smaller part of our business, you're still seeing a lengthening of sales cycles and it's a little slower, But it's such a small contributor to the business overall that it's less of an impact on our business than perhaps Elsewhere. I do see opportunity to improve our new business growth and we are investing in our sales force in a thoughtful way As I mentioned before, move up higher in sales inside our customer organizations and Also engage in a more consultative sales process and I think that will yield results on the new business side over time. Speaker 600:35:25Got it. Super helpful. And then, Rich, just on the on EBITDA, Anything we should be thinking about in terms of back half seasonality of EBITDA, just so we kind of make sure We have our model properly seen? Speaker 300:35:43Yes. Thanks for the question. I think first, I'd highlight that The EBITDA growth from sequentially from the Q1 was an important achievement. Finding and striking that balance Of investing in the business and still giving some back to the results. As you think about the full year, We were obviously comfortable in reaffirming our outlook for the full year. Speaker 300:36:14The margin profile that we enjoyed in the Q2 is consistent with what we expect for the full year. And I think the expense base will continue to grow to support some of that growth, but the margin profile is Not going to materially change. We have about 40% of the bookings in the 4th quarter. It's probably not unreasonable to expect that our second half growth rate quarter over quarter We'll be in line what we enjoyed sequentially in the Q2. And Sales marketing, which we are continuing to invest in, is going to drive some of that bookings growth. Speaker 300:37:01You won't see the impact of that in revenue, But you'll see it in the expense base. Speaker 600:37:09Got it. Okay. That's all super, super helpful color. Really appreciate it, guys. Speaker 200:37:16Thanks, Ken. Operator00:37:18Our next question comes from Tom Singlehurst with Citi. Please state your question. Speaker 700:37:26Good evening. Tom here from Sippin. Thanks so much for taking the question. In fact, a couple of questions. I'm going to start I just really we're very clear about the last 12 months versus the quarterly dollar retention rates, while we should focus on the former. Speaker 700:37:43But just to clarify, the 2Q being under 100%, even if it's improved, is that just Speaker 200:37:58Tom, it's a little mumbled, but I think the question that I got was quarterly Retention rate compared to LTM retention rate. I'll let Rich share some thoughts. But the important point to keep in mind is Q1, Q2, Q3 are very small. And so individual wins and losses or anomalies and how the timing of renewals and such Can move that data around. That's why we point to dollar retention rate and we've been doing that for quite some time. Speaker 200:38:33Rich, what can you say? Speaker 300:38:35Yes. I'd just clarify the metrics. The LTM, while below 100%, The LTM was 101%, excuse me, up 300 basis points. The quarterly at 99% was still up year over year and that trend is Noticeable in both the quarter and the LTM, Tom. But I'd reiterate Jeff's comments. Speaker 300:39:04The LTM is the more accurate way to I'll evaluate Speaker 200:39:08it. I think I would just note you've seen us focus on LTM whether the in quarter was good or the in quarter was bad. We focused everyone on LTM for the last couple of years and we encourage you to continue to use that in the models. Speaker 700:39:27Sorry, so hopefully you can hear me better. The second question was about Code Academy. The buzzers have talked about dwindling demand for coding for boot camps given softer end markets in terms of employment. Was wondering whether that's something you've seen or whether it's just locked in the mix given robust demand for AI Content. Speaker 200:39:52Yes. So I got the question. Again, it's mumbled. So if I don't answer this exactly right, we'll get it afterwards. But think the question is about CoAcademy and how CoAcademy is performing. Speaker 200:40:05I'll start and I know Rich has some things to share on it. First of all, Codecademy is strategic and critical to our business. We've integrated Codecademy's B2B business into our platform and content business within our B2B tech and dev offering. So it's now deeply integrated. The hands on learning is part of what we sell customers alongside The videos and the coaching and mentoring and the other types of learning labs, the hands on learning and it's all in one package. Speaker 200:40:41That was the fastest growing content category within our platform and content business. We've also rebranded out the entirety of our tech and dev offering as Codecademy. That's something we did last quarter. And we did that because, well, frankly, Codecademy has taught more people to learn to code than any other organization on the planet. It's a very strong brand and leveraging that brand across the entirety of our tech and dev portfolio made a great deal of sense. Speaker 200:41:17Rich, I'll ask Tom to share. Speaker 300:41:20I double clicked Tom. I heard a portion of the question relating to generative AI And initially, I think that segment will benefit. Importantly, if you look at the total content and platform bookings, that grew 7% In the quarter, the Tech and Dev segment actually grew double digit and that segment is clearly and that segment includes Both the Code Enterprise and the Code B2C Business and that segment benefited certainly from the Code attributes. Speaker 700:42:00Very clear. Final question, I'll speak loudly. The cost of AI based tools, is that all embedded in guidance? There's no incremental AI sort of costs coming through? Speaker 200:42:14It's all embedded. Yes. Speaker 700:42:19Perfect. Thank you. Operator00:42:23Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'll hand the floor back over to management for closing remarks. Speaker 200:42:30Thank you, everyone, for joining us. I'd be remiss in not taking note of the fact that today is an anniversary of 9eleven. And I do want to express our continuing sense of loss and our gratitude to the nation's first responders. I also want to thank our team members around the world for your hard work and profitably growing our business, Seizing the AR opportunity and working together to build on our strong foundation as the global leader in enterprise learning. I also want to thank our customers, and I'm looking forward to being together with many of you at Perspectives 2023 this week in Washington, D. Speaker 200:43:11And of course, many thanks to our stockholders. We're very grateful to you as well. Have a good rest of your day.Read morePowered by