Digital media measurement and analytics provider DoubleVerify (NYSE:DV) reported results in line with analyst expectations in Q4 FY2022 quarter, with revenue up 26.6% year on year to $133.6 million. The company expects that next quarter's revenue would be around $118 million, which is the midpoint of the guidance range. That was roughly in line with analyst expectations. DoubleVerify made a GAAP profit of $18.1 million, down on its profit of $28.3 million, in the same quarter last year.
DoubleVerify (DV) Q4 FY2022 Highlights:
- Revenue: $133.6 million vs analyst estimates of $133.0 million (small beat)
- EPS: $0.11 vs analyst expectations of $0.11 (2.2% miss)
- Revenue guidance for Q1 2023 is $118 million at the midpoint, roughly in line with what analysts were expecting
- Management's revenue guidance for upcoming financial year 2023 is $557 million at the midpoint, in line with analyst expectations and predicting 23.1% growth (vs 37.1% in FY2022)
- Free cash flow of $24.2 million, up 37% from previous quarter
- Gross Margin (GAAP): 82.9%, in line with same quarter last year
When Oren Netzer saw a digital ad for US-based Target while sitting in his Tel Aviv apartment, he knew there was an unsolved problem, so he started DoubleVerify (NYSE: DV), a provider of advertising solutions to businesses that helps with ad verification, fraud prevention, and brand safety.
The advertising industry continues to shift from traditional mediums to an expanding array of digital channels and platforms. Digital advertisers have historically relied on inconsistent, self-reported data from a large number of publishers, social media platforms and programmatic ad servers to understand how and where their ad budgets are being spent. The need to understand where ads are being served has accelerated in recent years as more and more objectionable content and ad fraud have found their way into the online advertising ecosystem.
DoubleVerify’s solution is an independent third party measurement provider which big brands can use to track and optimize the performance of their digital advertising dollars. The company’s DV Authentic Ad metric measures whether a digital ad is displayed in a fraud-free, brand-safe environment and is fully viewable in the intended geography. DoubleVerify’s customers can use this metric in real time, allowing advertisers to use the data to improve the efficiency of their advertising campaigns. Central to DoubleVerify’s competitive advantage is its integration across all the major platforms across the entire digital advertising ecosystem, and platforms from social, video, mobile in-app and connected TVs.
The digital advertising market is large, growing and becoming more diverse, both in terms of audiences and media. This as a result drives a growing need for a software that enables advertisers to use data to automate and optimize ad placements.
DoubleVerify’s competitors include large vendors such as Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE), and Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM), along with Oracle’s Moat and Grapeshot (NYSE:ORCL), and Integral Ad Science (NASDAQ:IAS). Smaller private companies that compete directly include White Ops and OpenSlate.
Sales Growth
As you can see below, DoubleVerify's revenue growth has been very strong over the last two years, growing from quarterly revenue of $78.6 million in Q4 FY2020, to $133.6 million.
This quarter, DoubleVerify's quarterly revenue was once again up a very solid 26.6% year on year. On top of that, revenue increased $21.4 million quarter on quarter, a very strong improvement on the $2.45 million increase in Q3 2022, which shows acceleration of growth, and is great to see.
Guidance for the next quarter indicates DoubleVerify is expecting revenue to grow 22% year on year to $118 million, slowing down from the 43.1% year-over-year increase in revenue the company had recorded in the same quarter last year. For the upcoming financial year management expects revenue to be $557 million at the midpoint, growing 23.1% compared to 36% increase in FY2022.
Profitability
What makes the software as a service business so attractive is that once the software is developed, it typically shouldn't cost much to provide it as an ongoing service to customers. DoubleVerify's gross profit margin, an important metric measuring how much money there is left after paying for servers, licenses, technical support and other necessary running expenses was at 82.9% in Q4.
That means that for every $1 in revenue the company had $0.83 left to spend on developing new products, marketing & sales and the general administrative overhead. This is a great gross margin, that allows companies like DoubleVerify to fund large investments in product and sales during periods of rapid growth and be profitable when they reach maturity. It is good to see that the gross margin is staying stable which indicates that DoubleVerify is doing a good job controlling costs and is not under pressure from competition to lower prices.
Cash Is King
If you have followed StockStory for a while, you know that we put an emphasis on cash flow. Why, you ask? We believe that in the end cash is king, as you can't use accounting profits to pay the bills. DoubleVerify's free cash flow came in at $24.2 million in Q4, up 18.7% year on year.
DoubleVerify has generated $54.9 million in free cash flow over the last twelve months, a solid 12.1% of revenues. This strong FCF margin is a result of DoubleVerify asset lite business model and provides it plenty of cash to invest in the business.
Key Takeaways from DoubleVerify's Q4 Results
With a market capitalization of $4.33 billion DoubleVerify is among smaller companies, but its more than $267.8 million in cash and positive free cash flow over the last twelve months give us confidence that DoubleVerify has the resources it needs to pursue a high growth business strategy.
DoubleVerify delivered solid revenue growth and free cash flow generation this quarter. Those features of the results really stood out as positives. Although revenue guidance for the next quarter and upcoming year were relatively in line, we thought this was a solid quarter. The company is up 11.5% on the results and currently trades at $29 per share.
Is Now The Time?
DoubleVerify may have had a bad quarter, but investors should also consider its valuation and business qualities, when assessing the investment opportunity. There are a number of reasons why we think DoubleVerify is a great business. While we would expect growth rates to moderate from here, its revenue growth has been strong, over the last two years. On top of that, its impressive gross margins are indicative of excellent business economics, and its very efficient customer acquisition hints at the potential for strong profitability.
The market is certainly expecting long term growth from DoubleVerify given its price to sales ratio based on the next twelve months is 8.0x. Looking at the tech landscape today, DoubleVerify's qualities stand out, and we like the stock at this price.
The Wall St analysts covering the company had a one year price target of $31.5 per share right before these results, implying that they saw upside in buying DoubleVerify even in the short term.To get the best start with StockStory check out our most recent Stock picks, and then sign up to our earnings alerts by adding companies to your watchlist here. We typically have the quarterly earnings results analyzed within seconds from the data being released, and especially for the companies reporting pre-market, this often gives investors the chance to react to the results before the market has fully absorbed the information.