Israeli tech company NICE Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: NICE; TASE:NICE) beat the analysts in its fourth quarter financial results published today. But the market was disappointed with the company's 2025 guidance and the share price opened 16% lower on Nasdaq, giving a market cap of $9.4 billion.
NICE provides risk management and customer relations management solutions. The fourth quarter was the last under former CEO Barak Eilam, who stepped down after 10 years at the helm, and has been replaced by Scott Russell. NICE reported $722 million revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024, up 16% from the corresponding quarter. GAAP net profit in the fourth quarter was $99.5 million, up 21.9% from the corresponding quarter and non-GAAP net profit was $196 million, or earnings per share of $3.02, above the analysts' expectations of $2.95 per share.
In full-year 2024, the company's revenue was $2.74 billion, up 15% from 2023, GAAP net profit was $443 million, up 30.8% and non-GAAP net profit was $728 million.
The company's 2025 guidance was below market expectations. NICE sees $693-703 million revenue in the first quarter of 2025, up 6% from the corresponding quarter of 2024, with non-GAAP earnings per share of $2.78-2.88 - 3.8% below the analysts' consensus for revenue and 2.4% below for profit.
Full year 2025 forecast is for $2.918-2.938 billion revenue and non-GAAP earnings per share of $12.13-12.33. The analysts' consensus was for $3 billion revenue and earnings per share of $12.32.
CEO provides optimistic message
Russell said, We're pleased to report a strong finish to 2024 capped off by an exceptional fourth quarter with double digit growth in total revenue, cloud revenue and further acceleration of our industry leading profitability," said Scott Russell, CEO of NICE. "Our full-year 2024 strong top line results were fueled by a 25% year-over-year growth in cloud revenue, which reached $2 billion. Further, our leadership in CX AI was exemplified by the strong adoption of our advanced AI solutions which were included in 97% of our large enterprise CXone Mpower deals over $1 million ARR. Our profitability reached new heights with a 150-basis point increase in our non-GAAP operating margin, climbing to 31.1%. Additionally, our outstanding operating cash flow growth in 2024, which increased 48% year-over-year to $833 million, positions us with a significant competitive advantage to drive future organic and inorganic expansion."
He continued, "AI is revolutionizing the CX industry, and CXone Mpower’s agentic AI is unlocking new levels of growth by delivering further efficiency and exceptional customer experiences. I joined NICE for its undisputed leadership and its unique ability to seize this growth opportunity. We will put our industry-leading platforms front and center, we will lead the CX-AI revolution and we will further scale through expansion of our ecosystem. Our decades of deep CX domain expertise, industry-leading AI platform, relentless innovation and great financial strength strongly positions us to capitalize on the opportunities ahead and accelerate into the future."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 20, 2025.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.