NICE Ltd. (NICE) Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

For the period ending March 31, 2023

May 11, 2023 8:30 a.m. ET

Prepared Remarks

Questions and Answers

Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Greetings. And welcome to NICE First Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded, May 11, 2023.

I would now like to turn this call over to Mr. Marty Cohen, Vice President of Investor Relations at NICE. Please go ahead.

Marty Cohen

Thank you, operator. With me on the call today are Barak Eilam, Chief Executive Officer; and Beth Gaspich, Chief Financial Officer.

Before we start, I would like to point out that some of the statements made on this call will constitute forward-looking statements. In accordance with the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, please be advised that the company's actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Additional information regarding the factors that could cause actual results or performance of the company to differ materially is contained in the section entitled Risk Factors in Item 3 of the company's 2020 Annual Report on Form 20-F as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 30, 2023.

During today's call, we will present a more detailed discussion of first quarter 2023 results and the company's guidance for the second quarter and full year 2023. Following our comments, there will be an opportunity for questions.

Let me remind you that unless otherwise noted on this call, we will be commenting on our adjusted results of operations, which differ in certain respects from Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, as reflected mainly in accounting for acquisition-related revenues and expenses, amortization of intangible assets and accounting for stock-based compensation. The differences between the non-GAAP adjusted results and the equivalent GAAP figures are detailed in today's press release.

We also like to remind you that we are hosting our Investor Day on June 6 in conjunction with our Interaction [inaudible] Conference in New York City. The special program for analysts and investors, presentations from NICE executives and access to the solutions showcase. We have received the registration email. Please email us at ir@nice.com.

And I will now turn the call over to Barak.

Barak Eilam

Thank you, Marty. And welcome everyone. We are pleased to begin the year on a high note with strong first quarter results as we continue to outpace the market. We reported total revenue of $572 million which exceeded the high end of our guidance range and represented 9% growth at constant currency. Driving the great execution on the top line was once again our industry leading cloud business ss cloud revenue grew 25% in Q1. Along with our top line growth, we continue to lead in that exclusive club of profitable growth as we turn in another highly profitable quarter. The cloud gross margin improved by another 140 basis points to 70% compared to Q1 last year. The operating margin increased 30 basis points to 28.6%, and earnings per share came in at $2.03, also exceeding the high end of our guidance range and represented growth of 13%.