National Instruments reports record annual revenue for 2013

GAAP net income for Q4 was $32 million, with fully diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.25, and non-GAAP net income was $39 million, with non-GAAP fully diluted EPS of $0.31. EBITDA, or Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation, was $56 million, or $0.44 per share for Q4. In Q4, GAAP gross margin increased to 75 per cent and non-GAAP gross margin was 76 per cent, up 70 basis points from Q3 2013. Total GAAP operating expenses were down 4 per cent sequentially and were down 6 per cent year-over-year. Total non-GAAP operating expenses were down approximately 4 per cent sequentially and were down 3 per cent year-over-year.

GAAP operating margin was 13 per cent in Q4, with GAAP operating income of $40 million, up 93 per cent sequentially and up 42 per cent year-over-year. Non-GAAP operating margin was 17 per cent in Q4, with non-GAAP operating income of $51 million, up 56 per cent sequentially and up 12 per cent year-over-year.

The company's non-GAAP results exclude the impact of stock-based compensation, amortisation of acquisition-related intangibles, acquisition accounting for deferred revenue, acquisition-related adjustments and acquisition-related transaction costs. Reconciliations of the company's GAAP and non-GAAP results are included as part of this news release.

Dr James Truchard, NI president, CEO and co-founder, says: "In 2013, NI continued to advance our software-based approach for test and measurement and deliver our 35th year of growth despite weakness in the industry. I believe we have made the investments necessary to build on our highly differentiated platform and I am focused on developing our high-performance management team in our quest to reach our goal of $2 billion in annual revenue."

Emerging markets

Geographic revenue in US dollar terms for Q4 2013 compared with Q4 2012 was up 6 per cent in the Americas and up 14 per cent in Europe. However, revenue declined 15 per cent in East Asia because the majority of revenue from the company's largest customer is recognised in this region, and revenue was down 20 per cent year-over-year in Emerging Markets primarily from a significant decline in orders over $100,000. In local currency terms, revenue was up 11 per cent in Europe, down 13 per cent in East Asia and down 14 per cent in Emerging Markets.

As of December 31, NI had $393 million in cash and short-term investments, up $49 million from September 30, 2013. The NI Board of Directors also approved an increase in the quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share on the company's common stock payable on March 10 to stockholders of record on February 18.

FY 2013 highlights

• Record revenue of $1.17 billion, up 3 per cent year-over-year
• Strong growth in RF and CompactRIO products
• Fully diluted GAAP EPS of $0.64 and fully diluted non-GAAP EPS of $0.88
• NI named to the Great Place to Work Institute's 25 Best Multinational Companies to Work For list for the third consecutive year and its 100 Best Companies to Work For list for the 15th consecutive year
• EBITDA of $164 million
• or $1.31 per share
• Dividend of $0.56 per share

Full-year 2013 revenue was $1.17 billion, up 3 per cent year-over-year. GAAP net income for 2013 was $81 million, with fully diluted GAAP EPS of $0.64, and non-GAAP net income was $110 million, with fully diluted EPS of $0.88.

Alex Davern, NI COO and CFO, says: "We believe our ability to gain market share despite challenges in the test and measurement industry demonstrated the strength of our disruptive approach. Our goals for 2014 are to continue to leverage the investments we have already made to drive sustained revenue growth and to continue to drive toward our long-term target of 18 per cent non-GAAP operating margin."

Guidance for Q1 2014

Though pleased to see the recent recovery in the Global PMI, NI continues to be conservative in planning for the first half of 2014 because it believes customers are being cautious about their capital spending. NI currently expects revenue for Q1 2014 to be between $272 million and $302 million. NI expects fully diluted EPS to be in the range of $0.09 to $0.21 for Q1, with non-GAAP fully diluted EPS expected to be in the range of $0.15 to $0.27. The company's non-GAAP tax rate in Q1 2013 was 10 per cent as a result of the retroactive renewal of the R&D tax credit in January 2013. For 2014, the R&D tax credit has not yet been approved and as a result, NI expects its non-GAAP effective tax rate for Q1 2014 to be approximately 24 per cent.

For further information about NI revenue figures, please go to www.ni.com.