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LIVEPERSON INC - 10-Q - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
[August 01, 2014]

LIVEPERSON INC - 10-Q - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations


(Edgar Glimpses Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) General Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based upon our condensed consolidated financial statements, which are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. As such, we are required to make certain estimates, judgments and assumptions that management believes are reasonable based upon the information available. We base these estimates on our historical experience, future expectations and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for our judgments that may not be readily apparent from other sources. These estimates and assumptions affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the dates of the condensed consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. These estimates and assumptions relate to estimates of the carrying amount of goodwill, intangibles, stock based-compensation, valuation allowances for deferred income taxes, accounts receivable, the expected term of a customer relationship, accruals and other factors. We evaluate these estimates on an ongoing basis. Actual results could differ from those estimates under different assumptions or conditions, and any differences could be material.



Overview LivePerson provides online engagement solutions offering a cloud-based platform which enables businesses to proactively connect with consumers through chat, voice and content delivery, across multiple channels and screens, including websites, social media, tablets and mobile devices. We are organized into two operating segments: Business and Consumer. The Business segment facilitates real-time online interactions - chat, voice and content delivery, across multiple channels and screens for global corporations of all sizes. The Consumer segment facilitates online transactions between independent service providers ("Experts") and individual consumers ("Users") seeking information and knowledge for a fee via real-time chat. We were incorporated in the State of Delaware in November 1995 and the LivePerson service was introduced initially in November 1998.

In order to sustain growth in these segments, our strategy is to expand our position as the leading provider of online engagement solutions that facilitate real-time assistance and expert advice. To accomplish this, we are focused on the following current initiatives: • Expanding Business with Existing Customers and Adding New Customers.


We are expanding our sales capacity by adding enterprise and midmarket sales agents. We have also expanded our efforts to retain existing SMB customers through increased interaction with them during the early stages of their usage of our services.

• Introducing New Products and Capabilities. We are investing in product marketing, research and development and executive personnel to support our expanding efforts to build and launch new products and capabilities to support existing customer deployments, and to further penetrate our total addressable market. These investments are initially focused in the areas of online marketing engagement and chat transcript text analysis. Over time, we expect to develop and launch additional capabilities that leverage our existing market position as a leader in proactive, intelligence-driven online engagement.

• Expanding our International Presence. We continue to increase our investment in sales and support personnel in the United Kingdom, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Western Europe, particularly France and Germany. We are also working with sales and support partners as we expand our investment in the Asia-Pacific region. We continue to improve the multi-language and translation capabilities within our hosted solutions to further support international expansion.

Key Metrics Financial overview of the three months ended June 30, 2014 compared to the three months ended June 30, 2013: • Total revenue increased 18% to $51.1 million from $43.2 million.

• Revenue from our Business segment increased 18% to $46.5 million from $39.5 million.

• Gross profit margin decreased to 74.2% from 75.5%.

• Cost and expenses increased 16% to $52.6 million from $45.2 million.

• Net loss decreased to $1.2 million from net loss of $1.8 million.

• Bookings increased 53% and 36% to $10.8 million and $19.7 million in the three and six months ended June 30, 2014, respectively, from $7.1 million and $14.5 million in the comparable periods in 2013. We include in our bookings metrics new or incremental contractual commitments for the first year of the contractual relationship from either new or existing customers for recurring subscription based fees, but exclude from such amounts non-recurring fees such as one time implementation costs or one time consulting fees. The bookings metric generally 21-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- does not include or represent usage based and/or pay-for-performance based contracts, month-to-month contracts, transaction-based services or subsequent years of multi-year contractual agreements. Accordingly, while we believe that bookings is a relevant metric in providing management with insight into certain recent activity in our business, there is no assurance that bookings amounts will be recognized as revenue in future periods, based on our revenue recognition policy, potential customer cancellations, delays in implementations or otherwise.

• Average deal size for new bookings in the three and six months ended June 30, 2014 was $81,700 and $81,900, respectively, with average deal size for new customers of $90,800 and $110,500, respectively, and average deal size for existing customers requesting additional products or expanded access to current products of $78,000 and $71,800, respectively. Average deal size for new bookings in the three and six months ended June 30, 2013 was $50,700 and $50,500, respectively, with average deal size for new customers of $47,300 and $49,200, respectively, and average deal size for existing customers requesting additional products or expanded access to current products of $52,100 and $51,000, respectively. Similar to our bookings metric, average deal size generally represents new contractual arrangements with committed subscription or base fees from new or existing mid-market or enterprise customers, and does not capture usage and/or pay-for-performance based contracts or fees. Management uses average deal size, being a subset of bookings, as a relevant metric in providing management with insight into certain recent activity in our business.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income To provide investors with additional information regarding our financial results, we have disclosed adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income which are non-GAAP financial measures. The tables below present a reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income to net (loss) income, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.

We have included adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q because these are key measures used by our management and board of directors to understand and evaluate our core operating performance and trends, to prepare and approve our annual budget and to develop short and long-term operational plans. In particular, the exclusion of certain expenses in calculating adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income can provide a useful measure for period-to-period comparisons of our core business. Additionally, adjusted EBITDA is a key financial measure used by the compensation committee of our board of directors in connection with the payment of bonuses to our executive officers. Accordingly, we believe that adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income provide useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management and board of directors.

Our use of adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are: • although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized may have to be replaced in the future, and adjusted EBITDA does not reflect cash capital expenditure requirements for such replacements or for new capital expenditure requirements; • adjusted EBITDA does not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs; • adjusted EBITDA does not consider the potentially dilutive impact of equity-based compensation; • adjusted EBITDA does not reflect tax payments that may represent a reduction in cash available to us; and • other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate adjusted EBITDA differently, which reduces its usefulness as a comparative measure.

Because of these limitations, you should consider adjusted EBITDA alongside other financial performance measures, including various cash flow metrics, net (loss) income and our other GAAP results. The following table presents a reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA for each of the periods indicated (amounts in thousands): 22 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three Months Ended Six Months Ended June 30, June 30, 2014 2013 2014 2013 Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA Net loss $ (1,212 ) $ (1,830 ) $ (2,006 ) $ (2,061 ) Amortization of purchased intangibles 1,075 466 2,133 884 Stock-based compensation 3,207 2,901 5,904 5,952 Depreciation 2,233 1,998 4,215 4,048 Benefit from income taxes (224 ) (138 ) (454 ) (470 ) Other (income) expense (45 ) (20 ) 38 (55 ) Adjusted EBITDA $ 5,034 $ 3,377 $ 9,830 $ 8,298 Our use of adjusted net income has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are: • although amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being amortized may have to be replaced in the future, and adjusted net income does not reflect cash capital expenditure requirements for such replacements or for new capital expenditure requirements;

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