Release details

Fourth Quarter Revenue of $565.5 Million, Up 12.2% Year-over-year; on a constant currency basis, Up 10.8% Year-over-year
GAAP and Non-GAAP Operating Income of $70.2 Million and $168.0 Million, Up 120.3% and 31.7% Year-over-year
Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities of $162.7 Million and Free Cash Flow of $161.4 Million

Fiscal 2021 Revenue of $2.158 Billion, Up 12.7% Year-over-year; on a constant currency basis, Up 11.1% Year-over-year
Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities of $729.8 Million and Free Cash Flow of $707.7 Million

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 17, 2022-- Dropbox, Inc. (NASDAQ: DBX), today announced financial results for its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2021.

“2021 was a strong year for Dropbox. I’m proud of the progress our team made on evolving our core offerings and expanding our product portfolio to align to our customers’ growing needs, all during our first year as a Virtual First company,” said Dropbox Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Drew Houston. “We improved our non-GAAP operating margin by nearly 9 points, grew free cash flow by over 40% year-over-year, and delivered our first full year of GAAP profitability. Looking ahead to 2022, I’m excited about the opportunity we have to help our customers organize their digital lives and deliver value to our shareholders.”

Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2021 Results

• Total revenue was $565.5 million, an increase of 12.2% from the same period last year. On a constant currency basis, year-over-year growth would have been 10.8%.⁽¹⁾

• Total ARR ended at $2.261 billion, an increase of $43.1 million quarter-over-quarter and an increase of 11.8% year-over-year. On a constant currency basis, year-over-year growth would have been 10.2%.⁽²⁾

• Paying users ended at 16.79 million, as compared to 15.48 million for the same period last year. Average revenue per paying user was $134.78, as compared to $130.17 for the same period last year.

• GAAP gross margin was 79.5%, as compared to 79.0% in the same period last year. Non-GAAP gross margin was 80.9%, as compared to 80.1% in the same period last year.

• GAAP operating margin was 12.4%, as compared to (68.8%) in the same period last year. Non-GAAP operating margin was 29.7%, as compared to 25.3% in the same period last year.

• GAAP net income (loss) was $124.6 million, as compared to ($345.8) million in the same period last year due to significant impairment charges of $398.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 as a result of the company's decision to shift to a Virtual First work model, as well as an income tax benefit from the release of a valuation allowance of $38.1 million on the company's Irish deferred tax assets in the fourth quarter of 2021. Non-GAAP net income was $159.9 million, as compared to $117.9 million in the same period last year.

• Net cash provided by operating activities was $162.7 million, including the cash paid for the company's real estate lease termination of $32.0 million, as compared to $170.7 million in the same period last year. Free cash flow was $161.4 million, as compared to $158.4 million in the same period last year.

• GAAP diluted net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders was $0.32, as compared to ($0.84) in the same period last year due to significant impairment charges of $398.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 as a result of the company's decision to shift to a Virtual First work model, as well as an income tax benefit from the release of a valuation allowance of $38.1 million on the company's Irish deferred tax assets in the fourth quarter of 2021. Non-GAAP diluted net income per share attributable to common stockholders was $0.41, as compared to $0.28 in the same period last year.⁽³⁾

• Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments ended at $1.718 billion.

Full Year Fiscal 2021 Results

• Total revenue was $2.158 billion, an increase of 12.7% year over year. On a constant currency basis, year-over-year growth would have been 11.1%.⁽¹⁾

• Average revenue per paying user was $133.73, as compared to $128.50 in the prior year.

• GAAP gross margin was 79.4%, as compared to 78.3% in the prior year. Non-GAAP gross margin was 80.8%, as compared to 79.4% in the prior year.

• GAAP operating margin was 12.7%, as compared to (14.5%) in the prior year. Non-GAAP operating margin was 30.0%, as compared to 21.4% in the prior year.

• GAAP net income (loss) was $335.8 million, as compared to ($256.3) million in the prior year due to significant impairment charges of $398.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 as a result of the company's decision to shift to a Virtual First work model, as well as an income tax benefit from the release of a valuation allowance of $38.1 million on the company's Irish deferred tax assets in the fourth quarter of 2021. Non-GAAP net income was $609.3 million, as compared to $391.1 million in the prior year.

• Net cash provided by operating activities was $729.8 million, including the cash paid for the company's real estate lease termination of $32.0 million, as compared to $570.8 million in the prior year. Free cash flow was $707.7 million as compared to $490.7 million in the prior year.

• GAAP diluted net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders was $0.85, as compared to ($0.62) in the prior year due to significant impairment charges of $398.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 as a result of the company's decision to shift to a Virtual First work model, as well as an income tax benefit from the release of a valuation allowance of $38.1 million on the company's Irish deferred tax assets in the fourth quarter of 2021. Non-GAAP diluted net income per share attributable to common stockholders was $1.54, as compared to $0.93 in the prior year.⁽⁴⁾

Share Repurchase Authorization

• On February 11, 2022, the Board of Directors authorized Dropbox to repurchase an additional $1.2 billion of its Class A common stock. The repurchase is expected to be executed, subject to general business and market conditions and other investment opportunities, through open market purchases or privately negotiated transactions, including through Rule 10b5-1 plans.

Financial Outlook

Dropbox will provide forward-looking guidance in connection with this quarterly earnings announcement on its conference call, webcast, and on its investor relations website at http://investors.dropbox.com.

Conference Call Information

Dropbox plans to host a conference call today to review its fourth quarter financial results and to discuss its financial outlook. This call is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. ET and can be accessed by dialing (877) 300-7844 from the United States or (786) 815-8440 internationally with reference to the company name and conference title, and a live webcast and replay of the conference call can be accessed from the Dropbox investor relations website at http://investors.dropbox.com. Following the completion of the call, a telephonic replay will be available through 8:00 PM ET on February 24, 2022 at (855) 859-2056 from the United States or (404) 537-3406 internationally with recording access code 7781474

Other Upcoming Events

• Drew Houston, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, will be presenting at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference on Wednesday, March 9th
• Tim Regan, Chief Financial Officer, will be hosting meetings at the JMP Technology Conference on Tuesday, March 8th
• Tim Regan, Chief Financial Officer, will be hosting meetings at the Keybanc Emerging Technology Summit on Tuesday, March 8th

During these events, a live webcast will be accessible from the Dropbox investor relations website at http://investors.dropbox.com. Following the event, a replay will be made available at the same location.

About Dropbox

Dropbox is the one place to keep life organized and keep work moving. With more than 700 million registered users across 180 countries, we're on a mission to design a more enlightened way of working. Dropbox is headquartered in San Francisco, CA, and has offices around the world. For more information on our mission and products, visit http://dropbox.com.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable financial results as determined in accordance with GAAP are included at the end of this press release following the accompanying financial data. For a description of these non-GAAP financial measures, including the reasons management uses each measure, please see the section of the tables titled "About Non-GAAP Financial Measures."

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including, among other things, our expectations regarding distributed work trends, related market opportunities and our ability to capitalize on those opportunities. Words such as "believe," "may," "will," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "expect," "plans," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Dropbox has based these forward-looking statements largely on its current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that Dropbox believes may affect its business, financial condition, and results of operations. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions including, but not limited to: (i) our ability to realize anticipated benefits to our business from our shift to a Virtual First work model as well as impacts to our financial results and business operations as a result of this shift, (ii) impacts to our financial results, business operations and the business of our customers, suppliers, partners and the economy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and related public health measures, as well as the potential for a more permanent global shift to remote work, (iii) our ability to retain and upgrade paying users, and increase our recurring revenue; (iv) our ability to attract new users or convert registered users to paying users; (v) our future financial performance, including trends in revenue, costs of revenue, gross profit or gross margin, operating expenses, paying users, and free cash flow; (vi) our history of net losses and our ability to achieve or maintain profitability; (vii) our liability for any unauthorized access to our data or our users’ content, including through privacy and data security breaches; (viii) significant disruption of service on our platform or loss of content; (ix) any decline in demand for our platform or for content collaboration solutions in general; (x) changes in the interoperability of our platform across devices, operating systems, and third-party applications that we do not control; (xi) competition in our markets; (xii) our ability to respond to rapid technological changes, extend our platform, develop new features or products, or gain market acceptance for such new features or products, particularly in light of potential disruptions to the productivity of our employees that may result from our shift to a Virtual First work model; (xiii) our ability to manage our growth or plan for future growth; (xiv) our acquisition of other businesses and the potential of such acquisitions to require significant management attention, disrupt our business, or dilute stockholder value; (xv) our ability to attract and retain key personnel and highly qualified personnel; (xvi) our capital allocation plans with respect to our stock repurchase program and other investments; and (xvii) the dual class structure of our common stock and its effect of concentrating voting control with certain stockholders who held our capital stock prior to the completion of our initial public offering. Further information on risks that could affect Dropbox’s results is included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2021. Additional information will be made available in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and other reports that we may file with the SEC from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. If the risks materialize or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. Dropbox assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release, except as required by applicable law.

About Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To provide investors and others with additional information regarding Dropbox's results, we have disclosed the following non-GAAP financial measures: revenue growth and Total ARR growth excluding foreign exchange effect, which we refer to as on a constant currency basis, non-GAAP cost of revenue, non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP operating expenses (including research and development, sales and marketing and general and administrative), non-GAAP income from operations, non-GAAP net income, free cash flow ("FCF") and non-GAAP diluted net income per share. Dropbox has provided a reconciliation of each non-GAAP financial measure used in this earnings release to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure. Non-GAAP cost of revenue, gross profit, operating expenses, income from operations, and net income differ from GAAP in that they exclude stock-based compensation expense, amortization of acquired intangible assets, other acquisition-related expenses, which include third-party diligence costs and expenses related to key employee holdback agreements, impairment charges related to real estate assets, and expenses related to our reduction in force. Non-GAAP net income also excludes net gains and losses on equity investments and lease termination, and includes the income tax effect of the aforementioned adjustments, as well as the income tax benefit from the release of a valuation allowance on our Irish deferred tax assets. FCF differs from GAAP net cash provided by operating activities in that it treats capital expenditures as a reduction to net cash provided by operating activities. Free cash flow margin is calculated as FCF divided by revenue. For periods that we are in a GAAP net income position, the weighted average shares used in the computation are the same as the shares used in our non-GAAP diluted net income per share computation. In order to present revenue on a constant currency basis for the quarter ended December 31, 2021, Dropbox calculates constant currency revenue growth rates by applying the prior period weighted average exchange rates to current period results. Dropbox calculates constant currency Total ARR growth rates by applying the current period rate to prior period results. Dropbox presents constant currency information to provide a framework for assessing how our underlying business performed excluding the effect of foreign currency rate fluctuations.

Dropbox's management uses these non-GAAP financial measures to understand and compare operating results across accounting periods, for internal budgeting and forecasting purposes, for short and long-term operating plans, and to evaluate Dropbox's financial performance and the ability to generate cash from operations. Management believes these non-GAAP financial measures reflect Dropbox's ongoing business in a manner that allows for meaningful period-to-period comparisons and analysis of trends in Dropbox's business, as they exclude expenses that are not reflective of ongoing operating results. Management also believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful supplemental information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating Dropbox's operating results and future prospects in the same manner as management and in comparing financial results across accounting periods and to those of peer companies.

We believe that the non-GAAP financial measures, non-GAAP cost of revenue, gross profit, operating expenses, income from operations, net income, and diluted net income per share are meaningful to investors because they help identify underlying trends in our business that could otherwise be masked by the effect of the expenses that we exclude.

We believe that FCF is an indicator of our liquidity over the long term, and provides useful information regarding cash provided by operating activities and cash used for investments in property and equipment required to maintain and grow our business. FCF is presented for supplemental informational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. FCF has limitations as an analytical tool, and it should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of other GAAP financial measures, such as net cash provided by operating activities. Some of the limitations of FCF are that FCF does not reflect our future contractual commitments, excludes investments made to acquire assets under finance leases, includes capital expenditures, and may be calculated differently by other companies in our industry, limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure.

The use of non-GAAP cost of revenue, gross profit, operating expenses, income from operations, net income, free cash flow, and diluted net income per share measures has certain limitations as they do not reflect all items of income, expense, and cash expenditures, as applicable, that affect Dropbox's operations. Dropbox mitigates these limitations by reconciling the non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures. Additionally, we have provided supplemental disclosures in our reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities to free cash flow to include expenses related to reduction in workforce and key employee holdback payments related to the acquisition of HelloSign. These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for or in isolation from, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. Further, these non-GAAP measures may differ from the non-GAAP information used by other companies, including peer companies, and therefore comparability may be limited. Management encourages investors and others to review Dropbox's financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220216006303/en/

Investors:
Kern Kapoor
ir@dropbox.com
or
Media:
Alissa Stewart
press@dropbox.com

Source: Dropbox, Inc.