Blucora Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2016 Results

Blucora, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCOR), a leading provider of technology-enabled financial solutions to consumers, small businesses and tax professionals, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2016.
“Our business results exceeded our expectations in the fourth quarter,” said John Clendening, President and Chief Executive Officer of Blucora.  “HD Vest was the primary driver, as segment income was up 13 percent versus last year.  We are pleased with the focus of our teams and the significant progress we made on our multi-stage business transformation.”
2016 Highlights and Recent DevelopmentsExceeded $10 billion in fee-based assets under management, up 7 percent versus prior year
Increased Tax Preparation revenue and segment income by 18 percent and 17 percent, respectively, versus prior year
Repaid $172 million in debt, in part driven by the sales of Infospace and Monoprice
Strengthened leadership team with the appointment of Sanjay Baskaran as President of TaxAct and Bob Oros as HD Vest chief executive officer
Clendening added, “Looking ahead, we continue to build momentum at HD Vest and are strategically investing in technology and upgrading trading platforms to enhance our capabilities.  To enable long-term growth in Tax Preparation, we are in the early stages of re-establishing TaxAct as the challenger brand in the digital space, with a strong user experience at a superior value for customers.  Blucora now consists of HD Vest and TaxAct as our operational foundation, a simplified, streamlined and synergistic business.  With new leadership and an energized team, we are taking the steps necessary to deliver value for Blucora shareholders in 2017 and beyond.”The following presentation includes pro forma financial information and HD Vest.  In addition, it excludes the Search and Content and E-Commerce segments which have been classified as discontinued operations for all periods presented.  The Company believes that this presentation most accurately reflects the financial performance of the Company on a go-forward basis.First Quarter OutlookFor the first quarter of 2017, the Company expects revenues to be between $176.3 million and $181.5 million, GAAP income from continuing operations to be between $14.5 million and $15.2 million, or $0.32 to $0.34 per diluted share, Adjusted EBITDA to be between $51.0 million and $54.5 million, and Non-GAAP income from continuing operations to be between $40.2 million and $43.9 million, or $0.90 to $0.98 per diluted share.
Conference Call and WebcastA conference call and live webcast will be held today at 5:30 a.m. Pacific Time / 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time during which the Company will further discuss fourth quarter and full year results, its outlook for the first quarter, tax season update and other business matters.  We have also provided supplemental financial information to our results that can be accessed in the Investor Relations section of the Blucora corporate website at https://www.blucora.com and filed with the SEC on Form 8-K.  A replay of the call and management’s prepared remarks will also be available on our website.
About Blucora®Blucora, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCOR) is a leading provider of technology-enabled financial solutions to consumers, small businesses and tax professionals.  Our products and services in tax preparation and wealth management, through TaxAct and HD Vest, help consumers manage their financial lives.  TaxAct is an affordable digital tax preparation solution for individuals, business owners and tax professionals.  HD Vest Financial Services ^® supports an independent network of tax professionals who provide comprehensive financial planning solutions.  For more information on Blucora or its businesses, please visit www.blucora.com.This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  Actual results may differ significantly from management’s expectations due to various risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to: general economic, industry, and market sector conditions; the effect of current, pending and future legislation, regulation and regulatory actions, including the DOL rule; the availability of products to sell; the timing and extent of market acceptance of developed products and services and related costs; our dependence on companies to distribute our products and services; the successful execution of the Company’s strategic initiatives, technology enhancements, operating plans, and marketing strategies; the condition of our cash investments; and the Company’s ability to control operating risks, information technology system risks and cybersecurity risks.  A more detailed description of these and certain other factors that could affect actual results is included in Blucora, Inc.’s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and subsequent reports filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release.  Blucora, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events, or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Notes to Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Financial Measures to the Nearest Comparable GAAP Measures⁽¹⁾ We define Adjusted EBITDA differently for this report than we have defined it in the past, due to: (i) restructuring costs related to the upcoming move of our corporate headquarters which was announced in the fourth quarter of 2016, (ii) the impact of noncontrolling interests from the HD Vest acquisition that we began recognizing in the first quarter of 2016, (iii) the discontinued operations treatment of our Search and Content and E-Commerce businesses as determined in the fourth quarter of 2015, (iv) separation-related costs in connection with the departure of our former chief executive office which was announced in the fourth quarter of 2015, and (v) acquisition-related costs in connection with the HD Vest and SimpleTax acquisitions that we would not have otherwise incurred as part of our business operations.  Acquisition-related costs include professional services fees and other direct transaction costs and changes in the fair value of contingent consideration liabilities related to acquired companies.  The HD Vest acquisition closed in the fourth quarter of 2015 and resulted in significant transaction costs.  The SimpleTax acquisition included contingent consideration, for which the fair value of that liability was revalued in the second quarter of 2016.  We define Adjusted EBITDA as operating income (loss), determined in accordance with GAAP, excluding the effects of depreciation, amortization of acquired intangible assets (including acquired technology), stock-based compensation, acquisition-related costs, CEO separation-related costs, and restructuring costs.We believe that Adjusted EBITDA provides meaningful supplemental information regarding our performance.  We use this non-GAAP financial measure for internal management and compensation purposes, when publicly providing guidance on possible future results, and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons.  We believe that Adjusted EBITDA is a common measure used by investors and analysts to evaluate our performance, that it provides a more complete understanding of the results of operations and trends affecting our business when viewed together with GAAP results, and that management and investors benefit from referring to this non-GAAP financial measure.  Items excluded from Adjusted EBITDA are significant and necessary components to the operations of our business and, therefore, Adjusted EBITDA should be considered as a supplement to, and not as a substitute for or superior to, GAAP net loss.  Other companies may calculate Adjusted EBITDA differently and, therefore, our Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.We define non-GAAP net income differently for this report than we have defined it in the past, due to: (i) restructuring costs related to the upcoming move of our corporate headquarters which was announced in the fourth quarter of 2016, (ii) the impact of noncontrolling interests from the HD Vest acquisition that we began recognizing in the first quarter of 2016, (iii) the discontinued operations treatment of our Search and Content and E-Commerce businesses as determined in the fourth quarter of 2015, (iv) separation-related costs in connection with the departure of our former chief executive office which was announced in the fourth quarter of 2015, and (v) acquisition-related costs in connection with the HD Vest and SimpleTax acquisitions that we would not have otherwise incurred as part of our business operations.  Acquisition-related costs are described further under the first paragraph in this note (1).  For this report, we define non-GAAP net income as net loss attributable to Blucora, Inc., determined in accordance with GAAP, excluding the effects of discontinued operations, stock-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets (including acquired technology), accretion of debt discount and accelerated accretion of debt discount on the Convertible Senior Notes, gain on Convertible Senior Notes repurchased, write-off of debt issuance costs on closed TaxAct 2013 credit facility, acquisition-related costs, CEO separation-related costs, restructuring costs, the impact of noncontrolling interests, and the related cash tax impact of those adjustments, and non-cash income taxes.  We exclude the non-cash portion of income taxes because of our ability to offset a substantial portion of our cash tax liabilities by using deferred tax assets, which primarily consist of U.S. federal net operating losses.  The majority of these net operating losses will expire, if unutilized, between 2020 and 2024.We believe that non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP net income per share provide meaningful supplemental information to management, investors, and analysts regarding our performance and the valuation of our business by excluding items in the statement of operations that we do not consider part of our ongoing operations or have not been, or are not expected to be, settled in cash.  Additionally, we believe that non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP net income per share are common measures used by investors and analysts to evaluate our performance and the valuation of our business.  Non-GAAP net income should be evaluated in light of our financial results prepared in accordance with GAAP and should be considered as a supplement to, and not as a substitute for or superior to, GAAP net loss.  Other companies may calculate non-GAAP net income differently, and, therefore, our non-GAAP net income may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.⁽²⁾ As presented in the Preliminary Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (unaudited).  Any difference in “per diluted share” between the Preliminary Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (unaudited) and non-GAAP table is due to using different weighted average shares outstanding in the event that there is GAAP net loss but non-GAAP net income and vice versa.⁽³⁾ Other loss, net primarily includes items such as interest income, interest expense, amortization of debt issuance costs, accretion of debt discounts, gain/loss on debt extinguishment and modification expense, and gain on third party bankruptcy settlement.