grepcent public filings, reorganized for comparison

Freshworks Inc. (FRSH) FY 2024 MD&A

Verbatim Item 7 Management's Discussion and Analysis from Freshworks Inc.'s 10-K for fiscal year 2024. Filing date: 2025-02-20. Report date: 2024-12-31. Accession: 0001544522-25-000010.

This page reproduces the company's own Item 7 MD&A text from the linked SEC filing. It is filer text, not grepcent analysis, scoring, or investment advice.

Extracted structurally from real Item 7 body heading to real Item 7A/8 boundary. Confidence: high.

Company profile: FRSH · All MD&A years: index · Previous year: FY 2023 · Next year: FY 2025

Item 7.    Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes that appear elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. As described in the section titled "Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements," the following discussion contains forward-looking statements that reflect our plans, estimates and beliefs. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include those discussed below and elsewhere in this report, particularly in “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

A discussion regarding our financial condition and results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023 is presented below. A discussion regarding our financial condition and results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022 can be found in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on February 16, 2024.

Overview

We provide people-first, AI service software that organizations use to deliver exceptional customer and employee experiences. We provide our solutions in two product families: Customer Experience (CX) and Employee Experience (EX). CX products include Freshdesk, Freshdesk Omni, Freshchat, Freshsales, and Freshmarketer. EX products include Freshservice, Freshservice for Business Teams and Device42. Our latest generative AI solutions, Freddy AI Agent and Freddy AI Copilot, further enhance the customer and employee experience. Freddy AI Agent offers always-on, autonomous, personalized resolutions to customer and employee queries. Freddy AI Copilot provides always-on contextual assistance for customer support, employee support, marketing and sales use cases to boost productivity. Currently, over 72,000 companies choose Freshworks' uncomplicated solutions to increase efficiency and loyalty.

In June 2024, we acquired all outstanding shares of D42 Parent, Inc., an IT asset management company for approximately $238.1 million, which primarily consisted of $225.3 million in cash, and approximately $12.9 million of common stock and stock options. Our consolidated financial statements and key business metrics as of and for the year ended December 31, 2024 include D42 Parent, Inc. since the acquisition date.

We generate revenue primarily from the sale of subscriptions for accessing our cloud-based software products over the contract term. We generally enter into subscription agreements with our customers on monthly, annual, or multi-year terms and invoice customers in advance in either monthly or annual installments. We also sell professional services that include product configuration, data migration, systems integration, and training. With the acquisition of D42 Parent, Inc. in June 2024, we also sell software licenses with associated maintenance.

Our customer base and operations have scaled over time. Our total revenue was $720.4 million, $596.4 million and $498.0 million in the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively, representing year-over-year growth rates of 21% and 20%, respectively. We incurred operating losses of $138.6 million, $170.2 million and $233.4 million in the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and our net losses were $95.4 million, $137.4 million and $232.1 million in the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Macroeconomic and Other Factors

Current macroeconomic uncertainties, including inflationary pressures, significant volatility in global markets, and geopolitical developments have impacted and may continue to impact business spending and the overall economy, and in turn our business. These macroeconomic events could adversely affect demand for our products and services. For example, during fiscal 2024, our net dollar retention rate was adversely impacted by lower expansion within existing customers driven by macroeconomic pressures and we expect these pressures to persist for the foreseeable future. Additionally, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations negatively impacted our revenue growth historically and volatility in the foreign currency market may still exist. For each of the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022 we had approximately 27%, 27%, and 26%,

51

Table of Contents

respectively, of revenue exposure related to the euro and British pound. If adverse conditions arise, they could have a material adverse impact on our results and our ability to accurately predict our future results and earnings.

Given our business model is primarily subscription-based, the effects of the macroeconomic conditions may not be fully reflected in our revenue until future periods. The ultimate impact on our business and operations remains highly uncertain, and it is not possible for us to predict the duration and extent to which this will affect our business, future results of operations, and financial condition. See the section titled “Risk Factors” for further discussion of the challenges and risks we have encountered and could encounter related to these macroeconomic events.

Key Factors Affecting Our Performance

The growth and future success of our business depends on many factors. While each of these factors presents significant opportunities for our business, they also pose important challenges that we must successfully address in order to sustain our growth and improve our results of operations. For complete definitions of our key metrics, please refer to the section titled “Key Business Metrics” below.

Acquiring New Customers

We will continue to invest in acquiring new customers across all of our products. We believe that our focus on offering products that delight our users facilitates our go-to-market strategy, which is designed to be product-led and self-service in nature, reducing the friction new customers have to overcome to adopt our products within their organization. Our approach to acquiring new customers allows us to benefit from user-driven, organic adoption of our products across organizations of all sizes, as well as enable our customers to standardize on our products across the organization. As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, we had more than 72,200 and 67,100 paying customers, respectively.

We have made and continue to make significant investments in strengthening our outbound sales motion to enable adoption of department-specific and organization-wide use cases for mid-market and enterprise customers. We believe that larger businesses can benefit from implementing multiple Freshworks products, as once they are a customer they are able to expand their use of these products. We define annual recurring revenue (ARR) as the sum total of the subscription, software license, and maintenance revenue we would contractually expect to recognize over the next 12 months from all customers at a point in time, assuming no increases, reductions, or cancellations in their subscriptions, and assuming that revenues are recognized ratably over the term of the contract. For monthly subscriptions, we take the recurring revenue run-rate of such subscriptions for the last month of the period and multiply it by 12 to get to ARR. While monthly subscribers as a group have historically maintained or increased their subscriptions over time, there is no guarantee that any particular customer on a monthly subscription will renew its subscription in any given month, and therefore the calculation of ARR for these monthly subscriptions may not accurately reflect revenue to be received over a 12-month period from such customers. As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, 22,558 and 20,261 of our customers contributed more than $5,000 in ARR, respectively, demonstrating the broad appeal of our products to customers of all sizes and geographies, and as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, customers contributing more than $5,000 in ARR represented 90% and 89% of total ARR, respectively. We believe that the number of customers that contribute more than $5,000 in ARR is an indicator of our success in expanding upmarket to larger businesses.

We also run focused programs to acquire startup and incubator customers. These programs include free credits to use our products, and webinars and events specifically tailored to highlight the benefits of our products for these types of customers. By encouraging startups and incubators to use our products early on in their company’s lifecycle, we believe we have the opportunity to convert these organizations to paying customers and grow with these customers as they grow their businesses.

Retaining and Expanding Within Existing Customers

Our business model relies on rapidly and efficiently landing new customers and expanding our relationships with them over time. We have experienced, and expect to continue to experience that, over time, a significant portion of our revenue growth will come from our existing customers expanding their usage of our products and buying additional products.

We measure the rate of expansion within our customer base using net dollar retention rate (as defined under Key Business Metrics), and we believe that our net dollar retention rate demonstrates our rate of expansion within our existing customer base. Our net dollar retention rate was 103% and 108% as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. On constant currency basis, our net dollar retention rate was 105% which was a decrease from prior year primarily due to lower expansion within existing customers driven by macroeconomic pressures offset by the addition of Device42 and a slight improvement in

52

Table of Contents

our overall churn rate. These macroeconomic events could adversely affect demand for our products and services and we expect these pressures to persist for the foreseeable future

We have a significant opportunity to expand within our existing customer base and substantially increase the number of customers that purchase multiple Freshworks products. As of December 31, 2024, approximately 36% of our customers purchased two or more Freshworks products, which includes customers on our Freshdesk Omni and Freshsales Suite subscription plans counting as customers who purchased multiple products. These customers represented 46% of total ARR as of December 31, 2024, illustrating the large opportunity we have to sell additional products to our current customer base and drive growth.

We continue to increase the number of customers that have entered into larger subscriptions with us. We had approximately 3,053 customers each contributing $50,000 or more in ARR as of December 31, 2024, representing an increase of 22% compared to 2,497 customers as of December 31, 2023. As of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, customers contributing more than $50,000 in ARR represented approximately 50% and 48% of total ARR, respectively. We believe that the number of customers contributing $50,000 or more in ARR indicates the strategic importance of our products for our customers and our ability to both initially land significant accounts or grow customers into significant accounts over time. No single customer accounted for more than 1% of ARR and our top 10 customers represented less than 5% of ARR as of December 31, 2024, and we have no significant concentration in a specific industry vertical.

Investing in Our Growth

We believe that we are early in addressing our large market opportunity and we intend to continue to make investments to support the growth and expansion of our business. We have a track record of bringing new products to market and scaling these new products over time. As of December 31, 2024, we have two primary products with over $100 million in ARR, Freshdesk and Freshservice. We intend to invest in growing our research and development team to extend the functionality of our solutions and continue to bring new solutions to market. Our investments in our Neo platform have helped us accelerate the pace of innovation.

We believe that our market remains largely underserved. We intend to invest aggressively in our direct and indirect sales and marketing capabilities, including investments in our outbound sales motion. We have been global from our earliest product sales and our global footprint continues to expand, with customers in approximately 170 countries. During the year ended December 31, 2024, 46%, 38%, and 16% of our revenue was derived from customers in North America; Europe, Middle East and Africa; and the rest of the world, respectively. We have a significant opportunity to further expand globally. We plan to support more languages, recruit partners, hire sales and customer service personnel in additional countries as needed, and expand our presence in countries where we already operate. A critical part of our go-to-market strategy has been our broad and diverse set of partners that enrich our offerings, scale our geographic coverage, and help us reach a broader audience than we would be able to reach on our own, thus amplifying our go-to-market investments. We plan to continue to invest in growing our partner ecosystem to fuel additional customer acquisition and expand use cases within our existing customer base.

We are also focused on attracting new talent and retaining our employees. Our culture is a critical part of our success, and attracting and retaining the best available talent will help us make customer delight easy and continue our growth trajectory.

Key Business Metrics

We monitor and review a number of metrics, including the following key metrics, to evaluate our business, measure our performance, identify trends affecting our business, formulate financial projections, and make strategic decisions. Key business metrics and our financial performance are impacted by various factors discussed below, including fluctuations in the value of foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar. We also review customer data used for calculating these key business metrics on an ongoing basis and make necessary modifications resulting from such review. We believe these key business metrics provide meaningful supplemental information for management and investors in assessing our operating performance.

December 31,
202420232022
Number of customers contributing more than $5,000 in ARR22,55820,26117,722
ARR from customers contributing more than $5,000 in ARR as a percent of total ARR90%89%87%
Net dollar retention rate103%108%108%

53

Table of Contents

Number of Customers Contributing More Than $5,000 in ARR

We define our total customers contributing more than $5,000 in annual recurring revenue (ARR) as of a particular date as the number of business entities or individuals, represented by a unique domain or a unique email address, with one or more paid subscriptions to one or more of our products that contributed more than $5,000 in ARR. We believe that the number of customers that contribute more than $5,000 in ARR is an indicator of our success in attracting, retaining, and expanding with larger businesses.

Net Dollar Retention Rate

Our net dollar retention rate measures our ability to increase revenue across our existing customer base through expansion of users and products associated with a customer as offset by our churn and contraction in the number of users and products associated with a customer. To calculate net dollar retention rate as of a particular date, we first determine "Entering ARR," which is ARR from the population of our customers as of 12 months prior to the end of the reporting period. We then calculate the "Ending ARR" which is ARR from the same set of customers as of the end of the reporting period. We then divide the Ending ARR by the Entering ARR to arrive at our net dollar retention rate. Ending ARR includes upsells, cross-sells, renewals, and expansion as a result of acquisitions during the measurement period and is net of any contraction or attrition over this period.

We define ARR as the sum total of subscription, software license, and maintenance revenue we would contractually expect to recognize over the next 12 months from all customers at a point in time, assuming no increases, reductions, or cancellations in their subscriptions, and assuming that revenues are recognized ratably over the term of the contract. For monthly subscriptions, we take the recurring revenue run-rate of such subscriptions for the last month of the period and multiply it by 12 to get to ARR. While monthly subscribers as a group have historically maintained or increased their subscriptions over time, there is no guarantee that any particular customer on a monthly subscription will renew its subscription in any given month, and therefore the calculation of ARR for these monthly subscriptions may not accurately reflect revenue to be received over a 12-month period from such customers, and net dollar retention rate may reflect a higher rate than the actual rate if customers on monthly subscriptions choose not to renew during the course of the 12 months. Monthly subscriptions represented 14%, 17%, and 20% of ARR as of December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The net dollar retention rate for customers on monthly contracts has generally been lower than our overall net dollar retention rate. In addition, as part of our regular review of customer data that includes reviewing customers purchasing our products via resellers so we can properly attribute them as end customers, we may make adjustments that could impact the calculation of net dollar retention rate.

Our net dollar retention rate was 103% and 108% as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Net dollar retention rate decreased from prior year primarily due to lower expansion within existing customers driven by macroeconomic pressures and an unfavorable foreign currency impact, offset by the addition of Device42 and a slight improvement in our overall churn rate. We expect our net dollar retention rate could fluctuate in future periods due to a number of factors, including, but not limited to, difficult macroeconomic conditions, our expected growth, the level of penetration within our customer base, our ability to upsell and cross-sell products to existing customers, and our ability to retain our customers.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires our management to make estimates, assumptions, and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue, costs and expenses and related disclosures during the applicable periods. We base our estimates, assumptions, and judgments on historical experience and on various other factors that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Different assumptions and judgments would change the estimates used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements, which, in turn, could change the results from those reported. We evaluate our estimates, assumptions, and judgments on an ongoing basis.

Our significant accounting policies are discussed in detail in Note 2—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, to the consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of Part II of this 10-K. The critical accounting estimates, assumptions, and judgments that we believe have the most significant impact on our consolidated financial statements are described below.

Revenue Recognition

We derive revenue from subscription fees, related professional services, and following the acquisition of D42 Parent, Inc. in June 2024, software licenses. We sell subscriptions for our cloud-based solutions directly to customers and indirectly through channel partners through arrangements that are non-cancelable and non-refundable. Our subscription arrangements do not provide customers with the right to take possession of the software supporting the solutions and, as a result, are accounted for as

54

Table of Contents

service arrangements. We also sell software licenses with associated maintenance and professional services based on product offerings introduced upon the acquisition of D42 Parent, Inc. in June 2024. Software license revenue is recognized upon making the software available to the customer and maintenance revenue is recognized as support and updates are provided, which is generally ratably over the contract term. We record revenue net of sales or value-added taxes.

Subscription Revenue

Subscription revenue is primarily comprised of fees paid by our customers for accessing our cloud-based software during the term of the arrangement. Our cloud-based services allow customers to use the multi-tenant software without requiring them to take possession of the software. Given that access to the cloud-based software represents a series of distinct services that comprise a single performance obligation that is satisfied over time, subscription revenue is recognized ratably over the contract term beginning on the commencement date of each contract, which is the date that the cloud-based software is made available to customers.

Professional Services Revenue

Professional services revenue is comprised of fees charged for services ranging from product configuration, data migration, systems integration and training. Professional services revenue is recognized as services are performed and represents less than 5% of total revenue.

Software License Revenue

Software license revenue is generally sold as bundled arrangements that include the rights to a software license and maintenance and cloud-based software in some cases. Software license revenue consists of term licenses and is recognized upfront, upon making the software available to the customer. The associated software maintenance revenue is generally recognized ratably over the contract term as support and updates are provided to the customers over the term of the arrangement.

Customers with Multiple Performance Obligations

Some of our contracts with customers contain both subscriptions, professional services and software licenses. For these contracts, we account for individual performance obligations separately. The transaction price is allocated to the separate performance obligations on the basis of relative standalone selling price (SSP). We determine SSP by taking into consideration historical selling price of these performance obligations in similar transactions, as well as current pricing practices and other observable inputs including, but not limited to, customer size and geography. As our go-to-market strategies evolve, we may modify our pricing practices in the future, which could result in changes to SSP.

Evaluating the terms and conditions of our customer contracts for appropriate revenue recognition and determining whether products and services are considered distinct performance obligations may require significant judgment. Judgment is also used to estimate the contract's transaction price and allocate it to each performance obligation.

Deferred Contract Acquisition Costs

Deferred contract acquisition costs are incremental costs that are associated with acquiring customer contracts and consist primarily of sales commissions and the associated payroll taxes and certain referral fees paid to third party resellers. The costs incurred upon the execution of initial and expansion contracts are primarily deferred and amortized over an estimated benefit period of three years. The estimated benefit period is determined by taking into consideration our contracts with customers, technology life cycle and other factors. We consider the estimated benefit period to exceed the initial contract term for certain costs because of anticipated renewals and because sales commission rates for renewal contracts are not commensurate with sales commissions for initial contracts. Significant judgment is used to determine the benefit period by taking into consideration our technology life cycle and an estimated customer relationship period, including expected contract renewals.

Stock-Based Compensation

We issue stock options and RSUs to employees, consultants, and directors, and stock purchase rights granted under the 2021 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) to employees based on their estimated fair value on the date of the grant. Stock-based compensation expense related to stock options and ESPP is recognized in the consolidated statements of operations on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period, which is the vesting period of the respective awards. Forfeitures are accounted for when they occur.

Prior to our Initial Public Offering (IPO), we determined the fair value of the common stock underlying stock options and RSUs by considering numerous objective and subjective factors including, but not limited to: (i) independent third-party

55

Table of Contents

valuations, (ii) the prices, rights, preferences, and privileges of our redeemable convertible preferred stock relative to its common stock, (iii) the lack of marketability of the common stock, (iv) current business conditions and financial projections, and (iv) the likelihood of achieving an IPO or sale event. Subsequent to the IPO, the fair values of stock options and the stock purchase rights under the ESPP are estimated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, which requires the input of highly subjective assumptions. These assumptions represent our best estimates and involve inherent uncertainties and the application of our judgment.

We also granted a performance-based award with both a service-based vesting condition and a market condition involving a certain range of stock price targets, and the fair value of such award was determined by using the Monte-Carlo simulation model. The associated stock-based compensation expense is recognized over the longer of the derived service period or the requisite service period, using the accelerated attribution method.

Changes in the assumptions, which are subjective and generally require significant analysis and judgment to develop, can materially affect the valuation of our equity awards and impact how much stock-based compensation expense is recognized.

Leases

We determine whether an arrangement constitutes a lease and record lease liabilities and right-of-use assets on our consolidated balance sheets at the lease commencement date. Lease liabilities are measured based on the present value of the total lease payments not yet paid, discounted based on either the rate implicit in the lease or our incremental borrowing rate (the estimated rate we would be required to pay for a collateralized borrowing equal to the total lease payments over the term of the lease), whichever is more readily determinable. The incremental borrowing rate is based on an estimate of our expected unsecured borrowing rate for our notes, adjusted for tenor and collateralized security features. We estimate the incremental borrowing rate using yields for maturities that are in line with the duration of the lease payments.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to our results determined in accordance with GAAP, we believe the following non-GAAP financial measures are useful in evaluating our operating performance: non-GAAP income (loss) from operations, non-GAAP net income (loss), and free cash flow. We use these non-GAAP financial measures to evaluate our ongoing operations and for internal planning and forecasting purposes. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures may be helpful to investors because they provide consistency and comparability with past financial performance.

Non-GAAP financial measures have limitations in their usefulness to investors and should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for financial information presented under GAAP. Non-GAAP financial measures have no standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and are not prepared under any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. In addition, other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate similarly titled non-GAAP financial measures differently or may use other measures to evaluate their performance, all of which could reduce the usefulness of our non-GAAP financial measures as tools for comparison. As a result, our non-GAAP financial measures are presented for supplemental informational purposes only.

We exclude the following items from one or more of our non-GAAP financial measures:

•Stock-based compensation expense. We exclude stock-based compensation, which is a non-cash expense, from certain of our non-GAAP financial measures because we believe that excluding this expense provides meaningful supplemental information regarding operational performance. In particular, stock-based compensation expense is not comparable across companies given the variety of valuation methodologies and assumptions.

•Employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions. We exclude the amount of employer payroll taxes on equity awards from certain of our non-GAAP financial measures because they are dependent on our stock price at the time of vesting or exercise and other factors that are beyond our control and do not believe these expenses have a direct correlation to the operation of the business.

•Amortization of acquired intangibles. We exclude amortization of acquired intangibles, which is a non-cash expense, from certain of our non-GAAP financial measures. Our expenses for amortization of acquired intangibles are inconsistent in amount and frequency because they are significantly affected by the timing, size of acquisitions, and the allocation of purchase price. We exclude these amortization expenses because we do not believe these expenses have a direct correlation to the operating performance of our business.

•Restructuring charges. We exclude restructuring charges, which primarily consist of employee severance and other employee termination benefits associated with the restructuring plan initiated in November 2024, from our non-GAAP

56

Table of Contents

financial measures, because we do not believe these expenses have a direct correlation to the operating performance of our business.

•Income tax effect and adjustments. We exclude the income tax effect of the above adjustments and income tax effect associated with acquisitions from our non-GAAP financial measures. We exclude these costs because we do not believe these expenses have a direct correlation to the operating performance of our business.

Non-GAAP Income (Loss) From Operations and Non-GAAP Net Income (Loss)

We define non-GAAP income (loss) from operations as GAAP loss from operations excluding stock-based compensation expense, employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions, amortization of acquired intangibles, and restructuring charges.

We define non-GAAP net income (loss) as GAAP net loss, excluding stock-based compensation expense, employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions, amortization of acquired intangibles, and restructuring charges, and income tax adjustments.

The following tables present a reconciliation of our GAAP loss from operations to our non-GAAP income (loss) from operations and our GAAP net loss to our non-GAAP net income (loss) for each of the periods presented (in thousands):

Non-GAAP Income (Loss) from Operations

Year Ended December 31,
202420232022
Loss from operations$(138,610)$(170,172)$(233,372)
Non-GAAP adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense216,706210,707207,696
Employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions3,2233,7111,827
Amortization of acquired intangibles8,1603031,591
Restructuring charges9,664
Non-GAAP income (loss) from operations$99,143$44,549$(22,258)

Non-GAAP Net Income (Loss)

Year Ended December 31,
202420232022
Net loss$(95,368)$(137,436)$(232,132)
Non-GAAP adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense216,706210,707207,696
Employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions3,2233,7111,827
Amortization of acquired intangibles8,1603031,591
Restructuring charges9,664
Income tax adjustments(12,017)1,3981,978
Non-GAAP net income (loss)$130,368$78,683$(19,040)

Free Cash Flow

We define free cash flow as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities, less purchases of property and equipment, and capitalized internal-use software costs. We believe that free cash flow is a useful indicator of liquidity as it measures our ability to generate cash from our core operations after purchases of property and equipment. Free cash flow is a measure to determine, among other things, cash available for strategic initiatives, including further investments in our business and potential acquisitions of businesses.

57

Table of Contents

The following table presents a reconciliation of free cash flow to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities, the most directly comparable measure calculated in accordance with GAAP for each of the periods presented (in thousands):

Year Ended December 31,
202420232022
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities$160,646$86,178$(2,525)
Less:
Purchases of property and equipment(9,177)(2,069)(7,129)
Capitalized internal-use software(5,485)(6,271)(5,116)
Free cash flow, including restructuring costs (1)$145,984$77,838$(14,770)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities$38,803$158,499$(284,827)
Net cash used in financing activities$(67,260)$(60,619)$(156,354)

(1) Free cash flow includes $7.3 million of restructuring costs paid during the year ended December 31, 2024.

Components of Our Results of Operations

Revenue

Substantially all of our revenue is derived from subscriptions, which is comprised of fees paid by customers for accessing our cloud-based software products during the term of the subscription. Subscription revenue is recognized ratably over the contract term beginning on the commencement date of each subscription, which is the date that the cloud-based software is made available to customers. We also sell software licenses with associated maintenance and professional services based on product offerings introduced upon the acquisition of D42 Parent, Inc. in June 2024. Software license revenue is recognized upon making the software available to the customer and maintenance revenue is recognized as support and updates are provided, which is generally ratably over the contract term.

Professional services revenue comprises less than 5% of total revenue and includes fees charged for product configuration, data migration, systems integration, and training. Professional services revenue is recognized as services are performed.

We generally enter into subscription and software license agreements with our customers on monthly, annual, or multi-year terms and invoice customers in advance in either monthly or annual installments. Our payment terms generally require the customers to pay the invoiced amount in advance or within 30 days from the invoice date. Our maintenance and professional services are generally billed in advance along with the related subscription and software license arrangements.

Cost of Revenue

Cost of revenue consists primarily of personnel-related expenses (including salaries, related benefits, and stock-based compensation expense) for employees associated with our cloud-based infrastructure, payment gateway fees, voice, product support, and professional services organizations, as well as costs for hosting capabilities. Cost of revenue also includes third-party license fees, amortization of acquired technology intangibles, amortization of capitalized internal-use software, and allocation of general overhead costs such as facilities and information technology.

We expect our cost of revenue to continue to increase in dollar amount as we invest additional resources in our cloud-based infrastructure and customer support and professional services organizations. However, our gross profit and gross margin may fluctuate from period to period due to the timing and extent of our investments in third-party hosting capacity, expansion of our cloud-based infrastructure, customer support, and professional services organizations, as well as the amortization of costs associated with capitalized internal-use software.

Overhead Allocation

We allocate shared costs, such as facilities costs (including rent, utilities, and depreciation on capital expenditures related to facilities shared by multiple departments), information technology costs, and certain administrative personnel costs to all departments based on headcount and location. Allocated shared costs are reflected in each of the expense categories described below, in addition to cost of revenue as described above.

Operating Expenses

Research and Development. Research and development expense consists primarily of personnel-related costs, including salaries, related benefits, and stock-based compensation expense for engineering and product development employees and

58

Table of Contents

certain executives, software license fees, rental of office premises, third-party product development services and consulting expenses, and depreciation expense for equipment used in research and development activities. We capitalize a portion of our research and development expenses that meet the criteria for capitalization of internal-use software. All other research and development costs are expensed as incurred.

We believe that continued investment in our products is important for our growth, and as such, we expect that our research and development expenses will continue to increase in dollar amount for the foreseeable future, but such expenses as a percentage of revenue may fluctuate from period to period depending upon the timing and amount of these expenses.

Sales and Marketing. Sales and marketing expense consists primarily of personnel-related costs, including salaries, related benefits, and stock-based compensation expense for our sales personnel and certain executives, sales commissions for our sales force and reseller commissions for our channel sales partners, as well as costs associated with marketing activities, travel and entertainment costs, software license fees, and rental of office premises. Sales commissions that are considered incremental costs incurred to obtain contracts with customers, are deferred and amortized over the benefit period of three years. Marketing activities include online lead generation, advertising, and promotional events.

We expect to continue to make significant investments as we expand our customer acquisition, retention efforts and marketing events and associated business travel. As a result, we expect that our sales and marketing expenses will continue to increase in dollar amount for the foreseeable future, however, we expect it to decline as a percentage of revenue over the longer term. This percentage may fluctuate from period to period depending upon the timing and amount of these expenses.

General and Administrative. General and administrative expense consists primarily of personnel-related costs, including salaries, related benefits, and stock-based compensation expense for certain executives and other general and administrative personnel, third-party professional services fees, costs of director and officer insurance, and costs associated with acquisitions of businesses, software license fees, and rental of office premises.

We expect to increase personnel-related and professional service expenses associated with ongoing compliance and reporting obligations and costs to broaden our IT related infrastructure. Our general and administrative expenses are expected to continue to increase in dollar amount for the foreseeable future, however, we expect it to decline as a percentage of revenue over the longer term. This percentage may fluctuate from period to period depending upon the timing and amount of our general and administrative expenses.

Restructuring Charges. Restructuring charges primarily consist of employee severance and other employee termination benefits associated with the restructuring plan that we initiated in November 2024. Refer to Note 13—Restructuring Charges of our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.

Interest and Other Income, Net

Interest and other income, net primarily consists of interest income from our investment portfolios, amortization of premium or discount on marketable securities, and foreign currency gains and losses.

Provision for Income Taxes

Provision for income taxes consists primarily of income taxes related to U.S. states and foreign jurisdictions in which we conduct business. We maintain a full valuation allowance on our U.S. federal and state net deferred tax assets as we have concluded that it is not more likely than not that the deferred tax assets will be realized. Provision for income taxes could also include changes in valuation allowance. Our effective tax rate is affected by tax rates in foreign jurisdictions and the relative amounts of income we earn in those jurisdictions, as well as non-deductible expenses, such as stock-based compensation, and changes in our valuation allowance.

59

Table of Contents

Results of Operations

The following tables set forth our consolidated statements of operations data for the periods presented (in thousands):

Year Ended December 31,
202420232022
Revenue$720,420$596,432$497,999
Cost of revenue (1)113,330103,36995,772
Gross profit607,090493,063402,227
Operating expenses:
Research and development (1)164,590137,756135,543
Sales and marketing (1)390,817357,781343,207
General and administrative (1)180,629167,698156,849
Restructuring charges9,664
Total operating expenses745,700663,235635,599
Loss from operations(138,610)(170,172)(233,372)
Interest and other income, net47,77346,40312,582
Loss before income taxes(90,837)(123,769)(220,790)
Provision for income taxes4,53113,66711,342
Net loss$(95,368)$(137,436)$(232,132)

__________________

(1)Includes stock-based compensation expense as follows:

Year Ended December 31,
202420232022
Cost of revenue$6,565$6,774$7,039
Research and development (1)41,51237,52436,413
Sales and marketing (2)63,21966,75564,328
General and administration (3)105,41099,65499,916
Total stock-based compensation expense$216,706$210,707$207,696

(1) Stock-based compensation expense recorded to research and development in the consolidated statements of operations excludes amounts that were capitalized for internal-use software.

(2) Sales and marketing expense for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022 includes $6.5 million, $9.6 million, and $3.2 million, respectively, of stock-based compensation expense associated with RSUs, PRSUs and options granted to the President. After the appointment of the President as our Chief Executive Officer, stock-based compensation expenses were included in General and Administrative.

(3) General and administrative expense includes stock-based compensation expense associated with RSUs and PRSUs primarily granted to the Executive Chairman of $50.4 million, $55.9 million and $55.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

60

Table of Contents

The following table sets forth our consolidated statements of operations for the periods presented, as a percentage of revenue:

Year Ended December 31,
202420232022
Revenue100%100%100%
Cost of revenue161719
Gross profit848381
Operating expense:
Research and development232327
Sales and marketing546069
General administrative252932
Restructuring charges2
Total operating expenses104112128
Loss from operations(20)(29)(47)
Interest and other income, net782
Loss before income taxes(13)(21)(45)
Provision for income taxes122
Net loss(14)%(23)%(47)%

Comparison of Fiscal Years Ended December 31, 2024 and 2023

Revenue

Year Ended December 31,Change
20242023$%
(dollars in thousands)
Subscription services, software licenses and maintenance$710,744$582,868$127,87622%
Professional services$9,676$13,564$(3,888)(29%)
Total revenue$720,420$596,432$123,98821%

Revenue increased by $124.0 million, or 21%, for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. Of the total increase in revenue, approximately $74.3 million was attributable to revenue from existing customers as of December 31, 2023, net of contraction and churn, and approximately $49.7 million was attributable to revenue from new customers acquired during the year ended December 31, 2024, net of contraction and churn, as well as all revenue from D42 Parent, Inc. during the year. Our net dollar retention rate of 103% for the year ended December 31, 2024 reflects the expansion within existing customers and the sale of additional products to these customers.

Cost of Revenue and Gross Margin

Year Ended December 31,Change
20242023$%
(dollars in thousands)
Cost of revenue$113,330$103,369$9,96110%
Gross margin84%83%

Cost of revenue increased by $10.0 million, or 10%, for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. This increase was primarily due to increases of $2.8 million in amortization of developed technology, $1.8 million in software license fees, $1.6 million in third-party hosting costs, $1.3 million in professional service fees, and $1.2 million in personnel-related costs. Our gross margin increased to 84% from 83% as we increased revenue and realized benefits from economies of scale primarily related to our third-party hosting costs.

61

Table of Contents

Operating Expenses

Year Ended December 31,Change
20242023$%
(dollars in thousands)
Research and development$164,590$137,756$26,83419%
Sales and marketing390,817357,78133,0369%
General and administrative180,629167,69812,9318%
Restructuring charges9,6649,664100%
Total operating expenses$745,700$663,235$82,465

The increases in our operating expenses in the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023 were primarily driven by increases in personnel-related costs due to annual compensation adjustments, net of certain changes in employee incentives, changes in stock-based compensation expense, and increases in advertising, marketing and branding expenses and professional service fees.

Research and Development

Research and development expense increased by $26.8 million, or 19%, for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. This increase was primarily due to increases of $17.8 million in personnel-related costs due to compensation adjustments, $4.0 million in stock-based compensation expense, and $2.2 million in software license and third-party hosting fees.

Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing expense increased by $33.0 million, or 9%, for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. This increase was primarily due to increases of $16.9 million in personnel-related costs due to compensation adjustments, $4.7 million amortization of acquired intangible assets, $4.0 million in advertising, branding and event costs, $2.7 million in travel related expenses for events, $2.3 million in reseller commissions, $2.3 million in professional services fees, and $1.3 million in software license fees, partially offset by a decrease of $3.5 million in stock-based compensation expense.

General and Administrative

General and administrative expense increased by $12.9 million, or 8%, for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. This increase was primarily due to increases of $7.1 million in personnel-related costs due to compensation adjustments, $5.8 million in stock-based compensation expenses, $1.1 million in professional services fees, comprised primarily of legal, accounting, and consulting fees, partially offset by decreases of $1.7 million in tax reserves in accordance with ASC 450 and $1.6 million in directors and officers insurance.

Restructuring Charges

Restructuring charges of $9.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, consisted of employee severance and termination benefits related to a restructuring plan that we initiated in November 2024.

Interest and Other Income, Net

Year Ended December 31,Change
20242023$%
(dollars in thousands)
Interest income$51,696$45,895$5,80113%
Other income (expense) net(3,923)508(4,431)*
Interest and other income, net$47,773$46,403$1,3703%

•not meaningful

Interest income increased by $5.8 million primarily due to higher interest rates and increased interest income earned on larger balances maintained in our marketable securities portfolios.

62

Table of Contents

Other income (expense), net changed by $4.4 million, primarily due to an unfavorable impact from changes in British pound against the U.S. dollar.

Provision for Income Taxes

Year Ended December 31,Change
20242023$%
(dollars in thousands)
Provision for income taxes$4,531$13,667$(9,136)(67%)

We are subject to federal and state income taxes in the United States and taxes in foreign jurisdictions. For the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, we recorded a provision for income taxes of $4.5 million, and $13.7 million, respectively, on loss before taxes of $90.8 million and $123.8 million, respectively. The effective tax rates for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 were (5.0)% and (11.0)% respectively. The effective tax rates differ from the statutory rate of 21% primarily due to nondeductible compensation and change in the valuation allowance. The $9.1 million decrease in tax expense was primarily related to the tax benefit of $14.3 million from D42 Parent, Inc. acquisition, partially offset by higher tax expenses due to higher pre-tax earnings from foreign subsidiaries.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2024 our principal sources of liquidity were cash and cash equivalents of $620.3 million and marketable securities of $449.8 million, which were primarily held for working capital resources. As of December 31, 2024, we had an accumulated deficit of $3.7 billion. Our operating activities resulted in cash inflows of $160.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2024.

As of December 31, 2024, we did not have any relationships with unconsolidated organizations or financial partnerships, such as structured finance or special purpose entities that would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements or other contractually narrow or limited purposes.

Our material cash requirements from known contractual obligations consists of our obligations under operating leases for office space and contractual obligations for third-party cloud infrastructure. See Item 8 of Part I, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data — Note 8—Leases and Note 9—Commitments and Contingencies" for additional discussion of our principal contractual commitments.

In November 2024, our board of directors approved the share repurchase program, which authorized the repurchase of up to $400 million of our outstanding Class A common stock. Under the repurchase program, we may repurchase shares of our outstanding Class A common stock from time to time in the open market, through privately negotiated transactions and/or other means in compliance with the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder. Open market repurchases may be structured to occur in accordance with the requirements of Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act. We may also, from time to time, enter into Rule 10b5-1 plans to facilitate repurchases of shares of common stock under this authorization. The timing, manner, price, and amount of any repurchases will be determined by us at our discretion, and will depend on a variety of factors, including business, economic and market conditions, prevailing stock prices, corporate and regulatory requirements, and other considerations. The repurchase program may be suspended or discontinued at any time. For the year ended December 31, 2024, we repurchased a total of 985,234 shares of Class A common stock under this program in open market transactions for an aggregate purchase price of $15.5 million. As of December 31, 2024, $384.5 million remained available for future share repurchases.

We believe our existing sources of liquidity will be sufficient to meet our working capital and capital expenditure needs for at least the next 12 months. We believe we will meet longer term expected future cash requirements and obligations through a combination of our existing cash available balances, cash flow from operations, and issuances of equity securities or debt offerings, as needed. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including the rate of our revenue growth, the timing and extent of spending on research and development efforts, the expansion of sales and marketing activities, the introduction of new and enhanced product offerings, and other business initiatives and the continuing market adoption of our products. We may in the future enter into arrangements to acquire or invest in complementary businesses, services, and technologies, including intellectual property rights. We may be required to seek additional equity or debt financing in connection with such activities. If we raise additional funds through the incurrence of indebtedness, such indebtedness may have rights that are senior to holders of our equity securities and could contain covenants that restrict our operational flexibility. Any additional equity or convertible debt financing may be dilutive to stockholders. In the event that additional financing is required from outside sources, we may not be able to raise such financing on terms acceptable to us or at all.

63

Table of Contents

Cash Flows

The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods presented (in thousands):

Year Ended December 31,
202420232022
Net cash provided by operating activities$160,646$86,178$(2,525)
Net cash provided by investing activities$38,803$158,499$(284,827)
Net cash used in financing activities$(67,260)$(60,619)$(156,354)

Operating Activities

Net cash provided by operating activities of $160.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 reflects our net loss of $95.4 million, adjusted for non-cash items such as stock-based compensation of $216.7 million, amortization of deferred contract acquisition costs of $28.6 million, depreciation and amortization of $19.4 million, non-cash lease expense of $8.8 million, offset by $16.0 million from discount amortization on marketable securities and $12.6 million from changes in deferred income taxes. Additionally, net cash inflows from changes in operating assets and liabilities were $9.7 million. The net cash inflows from changes in operating assets and liabilities were due to increases of operating liabilities of $54.8 million in deferred revenue and $14.5 million in accrued and other liabilities; partially offset by increases in operating assets of $34.5 million in deferred contract acquisition costs, $17.1 million in accounts receivable, $1.4 million in prepaid expenses and other assets and decreases of operating liabilities of $4.3 million in operating lease liabilities and $2.2 million in accounts payable.

Net cash provided by operating activities of $86.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 reflects our net loss of $137.4 million, adjusted for non-cash items such as stock-based compensation of $210.7 million, depreciation and amortization of $12.1 million, amortization of deferred contract acquisition costs of $24.0 million, non-cash lease expense of $7.7 million, premium amortization on marketable securities of $15.7 million, and net cash outflows of $14.1 million from changes in operating assets and liabilities. The net cash outflows from changes in operating assets and liabilities were due to increases of operating assets of $27.0 million in deferred contract acquisition costs, $27.0 million in accounts receivable, $7.4 million in prepaid expenses and other assets and decreases of $12.9 million in operating lease liabilities and $2.4 million in accounts payable; partially offset by increases in operating liabilities of $60.8 million in deferred revenue and $1.8 million in accrued and other liabilities.

Investing Activities

Net cash provided by investing activities of $38.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 consisted of $267.1 million in proceeds from maturities and sales, net of purchases of marketable securities; partially offset by $213.9 million cash paid for the business combination, net of cash acquired, $8.9 million in purchases, net of proceeds from sale, of property and equipment, and $5.5 million related to the capitalization of internal-use software.

Net cash provided by investing activities of $158.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 consisted of $166.7 million in proceeds from maturities and sales, net of purchases of marketable securities; partially offset by $2.0 million in purchases, net of proceeds from sale of property and equipment, and $6.3 million related to the capitalization of internal-use software.

Financing Activities

Net cash used in financing activities of $67.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 consisted primarily of $60.3 million in payment of withholding taxes on net share settlement of equity awards, $13.7 million cash paid to repurchase shares of our common stock; partially offset by $6.6 million in proceeds from issuance of common stock under our employee stock purchase plan, net.

Net cash used in financing activities of $60.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 consisted primarily of $68.0 million in payment of withholding taxes on net share settlement of equity awards, partially offset by $7.3 million in proceeds from issuance of common stock under our employee stock purchase plan, net.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

See “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” in Note 2 of the notes to our consolidated financial statements for more information.

64

Table of Contents

Back to the FRSH company profile or the MD&A index.