MeridianLink Reports Third Quarter 2023 Results

Revenue of $76.5 million grows 7% year-over-year driven by lending software solutions revenue of $58.9 million, reflecting growth of 12% year-over-year

MeridianLink, Inc. (NYSE: MLNK), a leading provider of modern software platforms for financial institutions and consumer reporting agencies, today announced financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2023.

“Q3 was another solid quarter of execution, and the strategic key drivers of our business continue to yield consistent performance,” said Nicolaas Vlok, chief executive officer of MeridianLink. “We are continuously improving MeridianLink® One through product innovation and value-added partner integrations. In addition, we have a talented Go-to-Market team capturing strong demand as financial institutions invest in enhancing the consumer experience through improving their digital capabilities.”

Quarterly Financial Highlights:

• Revenue of $76.5 million, an increase of 7% year-over-year
• Lending software solutions revenue of $58.9 million, an increase of 12% year-over-year
• Operating income of $5.6 million, or 7% of revenue, and non-GAAP operating income of $14.0 million, or 18% of revenue
• Net loss of $(2.1) million, or (3)% of revenue, and adjusted EBITDA of $29.8 million, or 39% of revenue
• Cash flows from operations of $21.3 million, or 28% of revenue, and free cash flow of $18.8 million, or 25% of revenue

Business and Operating Highlights:

• MeridianLink® captured strong demand for MeridianLink One, as demonstrated by an impressive roster of new logo and cross-sell wins, including a solid bookings quarter in mortgage lending.
• The Company launched its new point-of-sale solution, MeridianLink® Access, for MeridianLink® Consumer and MeridianLink® Mortgage, to provide enhanced configurability and a more personalized consumer experience.
• MeridianLink continued to innovate in the data and analytics space by launching MeridianLink® Data Connect, a solution that brings transactional data in-house for the customer to gain more insightful reporting, and expanding MeridianLink® Insight, our business intelligence tool, to integrate with MeridianLink® Engage and MeridianLink® Collect.
• The Company integrated with a variety of leading partner solutions such as Experian’s Verify™ and PowerCurve®, designed to automate loan approvals and decisioning, as well as Cox Automotive’s Dealertrack®, a comprehensive suite of indirect lending solutions for the auto industry’s largest dealer-lender network.

Business Outlook

Based on information as of today, November 1, 2023, the Company issues fourth quarter financial guidance and reaffirms full year 2023 financial guidance as follows:

Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2023:

• Revenue is expected to be in the range of $73.0 million to $77.0 million
• Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $22.0 million to $26.0 million

Full Year 2023:

• Revenue is expected to be in the range of $302.0 million to $306.0 million
• Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $104.0 million to $108.0 million

Conference Call Information

MeridianLink will hold a conference call to discuss our third quarter results today, November 1, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time). The conference call can be accessed by dialing (888) 259-6580 from North America toll-free or the International number of (416) 764-8624 with Conference ID 96695077. A live webcast of the conference call can be accessed from the investor relations page of MeridianLink’s website at ir.meridianlink.com. An archived replay of the webcast will be available at the same website following the conclusion of the call. A telephonic replay will be available until 8:59 p.m. Pacific Time (11:59 p.m. Eastern Time) on Wednesday, November 8, 2023, by dialing (877) 674-7070 from North America or the International number of (416) 764-8692 with Playback Passcode 695077.

About MeridianLink

MeridianLink® (NYSE: MLNK), headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, powers digital lending and account opening for financial institutions and provides data verification solutions for consumer reporting agencies. MeridianLink’s scalable, cloud-based platforms help customers build deeper relationships with consumers through data-driven, personalized experiences across the entire lending life cycle.

MeridianLink enables customers to accelerate revenue growth, reduce risk, and exceed consumer expectations through seamless digital experiences. Its partner marketplace supports hundreds of integrations for tailored innovation. For more than 20 years, MeridianLink has prioritized the democratization of lending for consumers, businesses, and communities.

Learn more at www.meridianlink.com.

Operational Measures Definitions

We reference bookings, which is an internal operational measure of the business. Bookings is defined as the total of the minimum annual contracted value for newly sold capabilities of our software-as-a-service, or SaaS, products over a given time period, inclusive of any corresponding vendor fees owed to Third Parties.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement the financial measures presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, we provide certain non-GAAP financial measures, such as adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin; non-GAAP operating income (loss); non-GAAP net income (loss); non-GAAP cost of revenue; non-GAAP sales and marketing expenses; non-GAAP research and development expenses; non-GAAP general and administrative expenses; and free cash flow. The presentation of these financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. Rather, we believe that these non-GAAP financial measures, when viewed in addition to and not in lieu of our reported GAAP financial results, provide investors with additional meaningful information to assess our financial performance and trends, enable comparison of financial results between periods, and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics utilized internally in analyzing and operating our business. The following definitions are provided:

• Non-GAAP operating income (loss): GAAP operating income (loss), excluding the impact of share-based compensation, employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions, restructuring related costs, and sponsor and third-party acquisition-related costs.

• Non-GAAP net income (loss): GAAP net income (loss), excluding the impact of share-based compensation, employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions, restructuring related costs, sponsor and third-party acquisition-related costs, and the effect of income taxes on non-GAAP items. The effects of income taxes on non-GAAP items reflect a fixed long-term projected tax rate of 24%.
  
  
  
  The Company employs a structural long-term projected non-GAAP income tax rate of 24% for greater consistency across reporting periods, eliminating effects of items not directly related to the Company's operating structure that may vary in size and frequency. This long-term projected non-GAAP income tax rate is determined by analyzing a mix of historical and projected tax filing positions, assumes no additional acquisitions during the projection period, and takes into account various factors, including the Company’s anticipated tax structure, its tax positions in different jurisdictions, and current impacts from key U.S. legislation where the Company operates. We will reevaluate this tax rate, as necessary, for significant events such as significant alterations in the U.S. tax environment, substantial changes in the Company’s geographic earnings mix due to acquisition activity, or other shifts in the Company’s strategy or business operations.
  
  

• Adjusted EBITDA: net income (loss) before interest expense, taxes, depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation expense, employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions, restructuring related costs, sponsor and third-party acquisition related costs, and deferred revenue reductions from purchase accounting for acquisitions prior to the adoption of ASU 2021-08, “Business Combinations (Topic 805): Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers,” which we early adopted on January 1, 2022 on a prospective basis. As of September 30, 2023, the remaining deferred revenue from acquisitions prior to the adoption of ASU 2021-08 was less than $0.1 million, which will be recognized on a straight line basis through December 31, 2023.

• Non-GAAP cost of revenue: GAAP cost of revenue, excluding the impact of share-based compensation, employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions, and amortization of developed technology.

• Non-GAAP operating expenses: GAAP operating expenses, excluding the impact of share-based compensation, employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions, and depreciation and amortization, as applicable.

• Free cash flow: GAAP cash flow from operating activities less GAAP purchases of property and equipment (Capital Expenditures) and capitalized costs related to developed technology (Capitalized Software).

Reconciliations to comparable GAAP financial measures are available in the accompanying schedules, which are posted as part of this earnings release on our website. No reconciliation is provided with respect to certain forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures as the GAAP measures are not accessible on a forward-looking basis. We cannot reliably predict all necessary components or their impact to reconcile such financial measures without unreasonable effort. The events necessitating a non-GAAP adjustment are inherently unpredictable and may have a significant impact on our future GAAP financial results.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains, and our above-referenced conference call and webcast will contain, statements which are not historical facts and are considered forward-looking within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Generally, these statements can be identified by the use of words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “projects,” “seeks,” “should,” “will,” and variations of such words or similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Further, statements describing our strategy, outlook, guidance, plans, intentions, or goals are also forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect our predictions, expectations, or forecasts, including, but not limited to, statements regarding, and guidance with respect to, our strategy, our future financial and operational performance, future economic and market conditions, our strategic initiatives, including anticipated benefits and integration of an acquisition, our stock repurchase program, including the execution and amount of repurchases, our restructuring plan, including expected associated timing, benefits, and costs, our ability to retain and attract customers and product partners, potential losses related to any commercial disputes, our development or delivery of new or enhanced solutions and anticipated results of those solutions for our customers, our ability to effectively implement, integrate, and service our customers, our market size and growth opportunities, our competitive positioning, projected costs, technological capabilities and plans, and objectives of management. Actual results may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements and will be affected by a variety of risks and factors that are beyond our control including, without limitation, risks related to our business and industry, as well as those set forth in Item 1A. Risk Factors, or elsewhere, in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year, any updates in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed for periods subsequent to such Form 10-K, and our other SEC filings. These forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions as of the date hereof. The plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements may not be achieved, and you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. We undertake no obligation, other than as required by applicable law, to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

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