NICE Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: NICE; TASE: NICE) beat the consensus analysts' estimates with its third quarter results on both revenue and profit. Nice also raised its guidance for 2018 as a whole, and included in its guidance Mattersight, the acquisition of which it recently completed for $103 million.
Nice now expects 2018 non-GAAP revenue to total $1,450 million to $1,466 million, representing growth of 7.7-8.9% over 2017. Mattersight's annual revenue is $32-38 million. Non-GAAP fully diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $4.53 to $4.69, which compares with previous guidance of $4.46-$4.66, and 2017 earnings per share of $4.10.
Nice Systems provides customer relations management and risk management solutions. Its third quarter revenue totaled $365 million, 10% more than in the corresponding quarter of 2017, and 4.2% more than in the previous quarter. Revenue from cloud solutions was $117 million in the quarter, 21.4% up on the corresponding quarter.
On a GAAP basis, Nice posted a third quarter net profit of $39.3 million, up 50% on the corresponding quarter. On a non-GAAP basis, quarterly profit was $71.6 million, up 21.5% on the corresponding quarter. Non-GAAP earnings per share were $1.12, $0.05 ahead of the consensus analysts' estimate.
Nice had $656 million cash at the end of the third quarter, after completing the Mattersight acquisition. Its market cap is $6.6 billion, following a 25.5% rise in its share price in the past year.
"The results reported for the third quarter of 2018 reflect our continued focus on driving excellent execution around our strategic pillars of cloud, analytics and artificial intelligence that led to strong growth on both the top and bottom lines. As we look forward to ending the year on a high note, we now expect to exit 2018 with a cloud revenue run rate of $550 million up from our previous expectation of $500 million, while continuing to drive profitability," said Nice CEO Barak Eilam.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on November 8, 2018
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