Additionally, a supplemental presentation has been made available on Planet’s investor relations page.
About Planet Labs PBC
Planet is a leading provider of global, daily satellite imagery, and geospatial solutions. Planet is driven by a mission to image the world every day, and make change visible, accessible, and actionable. Founded in 2010 by three NASA scientists, Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest Earth observation fleet of imaging satellites. Planet provides mission-critical data, advanced insights, and software solutions to over 1,000 customers, comprising the world’s leading agriculture, forestry, intelligence, education, and finance companies and government agencies, enabling users to simply and effectively derive unique value from satellite imagery. Planet is a public benefit corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange as PL. To learn more visit www.planet.com and follow us on Twitter.
Planet’s Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release includes Non-GAAP Gross Profit, Non-GAAP Gross Margin, certain Non-GAAP Expenses described further below, Non-GAAP Loss from Operations, Non-GAAP Net Loss, Non-GAAP Net Loss per Diluted Share, Adjusted EBITDA and Backlog, which are non-GAAP measures the Company uses to supplement its results presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The Company includes these non-GAAP financial measures because they are used by management to evaluate the Company’s core operating performance and trends and to make strategic decisions regarding the allocation of capital and new investments.
Non-GAAP Gross Profit and Non-GAAP Gross Margin: The Company defines and calculates Non-GAAP Gross Profit as gross profit adjusted for stock-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets classified as cost of revenue, restructuring costs, and employee transaction bonuses in connection with the Sinergise business combination. The Company defines Non-GAAP Gross Margin as Non-GAAP Gross Profit divided by revenue.
Non-GAAP Expenses: The Company defines and calculates Non-GAAP cost of revenue, Non-GAAP research and development expenses, Non-GAAP sales and marketing expenses, and Non-GAAP general and administrative expenses as, in each case, the corresponding U.S. GAAP financial measure (cost of revenue, research and development expenses, sales and marketing expenses, and general and administrative expenses) adjusted for stock-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets, restructuring costs, and employee transaction bonuses in connection with the Sinergise business combination, that are classified within each of the corresponding U.S. GAAP financial measures.
Non-GAAP Loss from Operations: The Company defines and calculates Non-GAAP Loss from Operations as loss from operations adjusted for stock-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets, restructuring costs, and employee transaction bonuses in connection with the Sinergise business combination.
Non-GAAP Net Loss and Non-GAAP Net Loss per Diluted Share: The Company defines and calculates Non-GAAP Net Loss as net loss adjusted for stock-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets, restructuring costs, and employee transaction bonuses in connection with the Sinergise business combination, and the income tax effects of the non-GAAP adjustments. The Company defines and calculates Non-GAAP Net Loss per Diluted Share as Non-GAAP Net Loss divided by diluted weighted-average common shares outstanding.
Adjusted EBITDA: The Company defines and calculates Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) before the impact of interest income and expense, income tax expense and depreciation and amortization, and further adjusted for the following items: stock-based compensation, change in fair value of warrant liabilities, non-operating income and expenses such as foreign currency exchange gain or loss, restructuring costs, and employee transaction bonuses in connection with the Sinergise business combination.
The Company presents Non-GAAP Gross Profit, Non-GAAP Gross Margin, certain Non-GAAP Expenses described above, Non-GAAP Loss from Operations, Non-GAAP Net Loss, Non-GAAP Net Loss per Diluted Share and Adjusted EBITDA because the Company believes these measures are frequently used by analysts, investors and other interested parties to evaluate companies in Planet’s industry and facilitates comparisons on a consistent basis across reporting periods. Further, the Company believes these measures are helpful in highlighting trends in its operating results because they exclude items that are not indicative of the Company’s core operating performance.
Backlog: The Company defines and calculates Backlog as remaining performance obligations plus the cancellable portion of the contract value for contracts that provide the customer with a right to terminate for convenience without incurring a substantive termination penalty and written orders where funding has not been appropriated. Backlog does not include unexercised contract options. Remaining performance obligations represent the amount of contracted future revenue that has not yet been recognized, which includes both deferred revenue and non-cancelable contracted revenue that will be invoiced and recognized in revenue in future periods. Remaining performance obligations do not include contracts which provide the customer with a right to terminate for convenience without incurring a substantive termination penalty, written orders where funding has not been appropriated and unexercised contract options.
An increasing and meaningful portion of the Company’s revenue is generated from contracts with the U.S. government and other government customers. Cancellation provisions, such as termination for convenience clauses, are common in contracts with the U.S. government and certain other government customers. The Company presents Backlog because the portion of its customer contracts with such cancellation provisions represents a meaningful amount of the Company’s expected future revenues. Management uses backlog to more effectively forecast the Company’s future business and results, which supports decisions around capital allocation. It also helps the Company identify future growth or operating trends that may not otherwise be apparent. The Company also believes Backlog is useful for investors in forecasting the Company’s future results and understanding the growth of its business. Customer cancellation provisions relating to termination for convenience clauses and funding appropriation requirements are outside of the Company’s control, and as a result, the Company may fail to realize the full value of such contracts.
Non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation from, as a substitute for, or superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The non-GAAP financial measures presented are not based on any standardized methodology prescribed by U.S. GAAP and are not necessarily comparable to similarly-titled measures presented by other companies, which may have different definitions from the Company’s. Further, certain of the non-GAAP financial measures presented exclude stock-based compensation expenses, which has recently been, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future, a significant recurring expense for the Company and an important part of its compensation strategy.
Other Key Metrics
ACV and EoP ACV Book of Business: In connection with the calculation of several of the key operational and business metrics we utilize, the Company calculates Annual Contract Value (“ACV”) for contracts of one year or greater as the total amount of value that a customer has contracted to pay for the most recent 12 month period for the contract, excluding customers that are exclusively Sentinel Hub self-service paying users. For short-term contracts (contracts less than 12 months), ACV is equal to total contract value.
The Company also calculates EoP ACV Book of Business in connection with the calculation of several of the key operational and business metrics we utilize. The Company defines EoP ACV Book of Business as the sum of the ACV of all contracts that are active on the last day of the period pursuant to the effective dates and end dates of such contracts, excluding customers that are exclusively Sentinel Hub self-service paying users. Active contracts exclude any contract that has been canceled, expired prior to the last day of the period without renewing, or for any other reason is not expected to generate revenue in the subsequent period. For contracts ending on the last day of the period, the ACV is either updated to reflect the ACV of the renewed contract or, if the contract has not yet renewed or extended, the ACV is excluded from the EoP ACV Book of Business. The Company does not annualize short-term contracts in calculating its EoP ACV Book of Business. The Company calculates the ACV of usage-based contracts based on the committed contracted revenue or the revenue achieved on the usage-based contract in the prior 12-month period.
Percent of Recurring ACV: Percent of Recurring ACV is the portion of the total EoP ACV Book of Business that is recurring in nature. The Company defines EoP ACV Book of Business as the sum of the ACV of all contracts that are active on the last day of the period pursuant to the effective dates and end dates of such contracts, excluding customers that are exclusively Sentinel Hub self-service paying users. The Company defines Percent of Recurring ACV as the dollar value of all data subscription contracts and the committed portion of usage-based contracts (excluding customers that are exclusively Sentinel Hub self-service paying users) divided by the total dollar value of all contracts in our EoP ACV Book of Business. The Company believes Percent of Recurring ACV is useful to investors to better understand how much of the Company’s revenue is from customers that have the potential to renew their contracts over multiple years rather than being one-time in nature. The Company tracks Percent of Recurring ACV to inform estimates for the future revenue growth potential of our business and improve the predictability of our financial results. There are no significant estimates underlying management’s calculation of Percent of Recurring ACV, but management applies judgment as to which customers have an active contract at a period end for the purpose of determining EoP ACV Book of Business, which is used as part of the calculation of Percent of Recurring ACV.
