Infinera Corporation Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2015 Financial Results

SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwired - February 11, 2016) -  Infinera Corporation, provider of Intelligent Transport Networks, today released financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 26, 2015.

GAAP revenue for the quarter was $260.0 million compared to $232.5 million in the third quarter of 2015 and $186.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2014.

GAAP gross margin for the quarter was 44.5% compared to 44.2% in the third quarter of 2015 and 45.3% in the fourth quarter of 2014. GAAP operating margin for the quarter was 5.3% compared to 6.1% in the third quarter of 2015 and 6.9% in the fourth quarter of 2014.

GAAP net income for the quarter was $12.6 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, compared to $8.5 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2015, and $8.4 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Non-GAAP revenue for the quarter was $260.6 million compared to $233.2 million in the third quarter of 2015 and $186.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Non-GAAP gross margin for the quarter was 48.3% compared to 47.5% in the third quarter of 2015 and 46.1% in the fourth quarter of 2014. Non-GAAP operating margin for the quarter was 12.7% compared to 14.4% in the third quarter of 2015 and 11.0% in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Non-GAAP net income for the quarter was $32.0 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, compared to $32.2 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2015, and $18.0 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2014. 

GAAP revenue for the year was $886.7 million compared to $668.1 million in 2014.

GAAP gross margin for the year was 45.5% compared to 43.2% in 2014. GAAP operating margin for the year was 6.7% compared to 4.1% in 2014. GAAP net income for the year was $51.4 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, compared to $13.7 million, or $0.11 per diluted share in 2014.

Non-GAAP revenue for the year was $888.0 million compared to $668.1 million in 2014.

Non-GAAP gross margin for the year was 47.8% compared to 44.0% in 2014. Non-GAAP operating margin for the year was 13.1% compared to 8.3% in 2014. Non-GAAP net income for the year was $112.0 million, or $0.78 per diluted share, compared to $49.8 million, or $0.39 per diluted share in 2014. 

A further explanation of the use of non-GAAP financial information and a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the GAAP equivalents can be found at the end of this release.

"Our fourth quarter performance capped off an exceptional year of revenue and profitability growth, expansion of our product portfolio to serve the end-to-end market and the continuation of our commitment to deliver the Infinera Experience to our customers," said Tom Fallon, Infinera's Chief Executive Officer. 

"With customers increasingly relying on optical transport as the foundation of their next generation networks, Infinera will continue to deliver the most innovative, scalable and programmable Intelligent Transport solutions in the industry. We exited 2015 on a $1 billion annual revenue run rate and are well positioned to address the significant future opportunities associated with this optical networking transformation."

Conference Call Information

Infinera will host a conference call for analysts and investors to discuss its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2015 results and its outlook for the first quarter of 2016 today at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (2:00 p.m. Pacific Time). Interested parties may join the conference call by dialing 1-866-270-1533 (toll free) or 1-412-317-0797 (international). A live webcast of the conference call will also be accessible from the Events & Webcasts section of Infinera's website at investors.infinera.com. Replay of the audio webcast will be available at investors.infinera.com approximately two hours after the end of the live call.

About Infinera

Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN) provides Intelligent Transport Networks, enabling carriers, cloud operators, governments and enterprises to scale network bandwidth, accelerate service innovation and simplify optical network operations. Infinera's end-to-end packet-optical portfolio is designed for long-haul, subsea, datacenter interconnect and metro applications. Infinera's unique large scale photonic integrated circuits enable innovative optical networking solutions for the most demanding networks. To learn more about Infinera visit www.infinera.com, follow us on Twitter @Infinera and read our latest blog posts at blog.infinera.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, Infinera's ability to continue to deliver the most innovative, scalable and programmable Intelligent Transport solutions in the industry; and Infinera's ability to address future opportunities in the optical networking market. Forward-looking statements can also be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "will," and "would" or similar words. These statements are based on information available to Infinera as of the date hereof and actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied due to risks and uncertainties. The risks and uncertainties that could cause Infinera's results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include delays in the development and introduction of new products or updates to existing products and market acceptance of these products; Infinera's ability to successfully integrate the Infinera and Transmode businesses; the effect that changes in product pricing or mix, and/or increases in component costs could have on Infinera's gross margin; Infinera's ability to respond to rapid technological changes; Infinera's reliance on single-source suppliers; aggressive business tactics by Infinera's competitors; Infinera's ability to protect Infinera's intellectual property; claims by others that Infinera infringes their intellectual property; global macroeconomic conditions; war, terrorism, public health issues, natural disasters and other circumstances that could disrupt supply, delivery or demand of products; and other risks and uncertainties detailed in Infinera's SEC filings from time to time. More information on potential factors that may impact Infinera's business are set forth in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended on September 26, 2015 as filed with the SEC on November 5, 2015, as well as subsequent reports filed with or furnished to the SEC from time to time. These reports are available on Infinera's website at www.infinera.com and the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Infinera assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information

In addition to disclosing financial measures prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), this press release and the accompanying tables contain certain non-GAAP measures that exclude non-cash stock-based compensation expenses, acquisition-related costs, certain purchase accounting adjustments and amortization of debt discount on Infinera's convertible senior notes. Infinera believes these adjustments are appropriate to enhance an overall understanding of its underlying financial performance and also its prospects for the future and are considered by management for the purpose of making operational decisions. In addition, these results are the primary indicators management uses as a basis for its planning and forecasting of future periods. The presentation of this additional information is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net income, basic and diluted net income per share, gross margin or operating margin prepared in accordance with GAAP. Non-GAAP financial measures are not based on a comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles and are subject to limitations. For a description of these non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, please see the section titled, "GAAP to Non-GAAP Reconciliations." Infinera anticipates disclosing forward-looking non-GAAP information in its conference call to discuss its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2015 results, including an estimate of certain non-GAAP financial measures for the first quarter of 2016 that excludes non-cash stock-based compensation expenses, acquisition-related costs, certain purchase accounting adjustments and amortization of debt discount on Infinera's convertible senior notes.

A copy of this press release can be found on the Investor Relations page of Infinera's website at www.infinera.com.

Infinera and the Infinera logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Infinera Corporation. All other trademarks used or mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.

⁽¹⁾ Business combination accounting principles require Infinera to write down to fair value its maintanence support contracts assumed in the Transmode acquisition. The revenue for these support contracts is deferred and typically recognized over a one year period, so Infinera's GAAP revenue for the one year period after the acquisition will not reflect the full amount of revenue that would have been reported if the acquired deferred revenue was not written down to fair value. The non-GAAP adjustment eliminates the effect of the deferred revenue write-down. Management believes these adjustments to the revenue from these support contracts are useful to investors as an additional means to reflect revenue trends of Infinera's business.

⁽²⁾ Stock-based compensation expense is calculated in accordance with the fair value recognition provisions of Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 718, Compensation-Stock Compensation effective January 1, 2006. The following table summarizes the effects of stock-based compensation related to employees and non-employees (in thousands):

⁽³⁾ Amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets consists of amortization of developed technology, trade names, and customer relationships acquired in connection with the Transmode acquisition. U.S. GAAP accounting requires that acquired intangible assets are recorded at fair value and amortized over their useful lives. As this amortization is non-cash, Infinera has excluded it from its non-GAAP operating expenses, gross margin and net income measures. Management believes the amortization of acquired intangible assets is not indicative of ongoing operating performance and its exclusion provide a better indication of Infinera's underlying business performance.

⁽⁴⁾ Business combination accounting principles require Infinera to measure acquired inventory at fair value as of the date of the acquisition. The fair value of inventory reflects the acquired company's cost of manufacturing plus a portion of the expected profit margin. The non-GAAP adjustment to Infinera's cost of sales excludes the amortization of the step-up in carrying value for units sold in the quarter. Management believes the adjustment is useful to investors as an additional means to reflect cost of sales and gross margin trends of Infinera's business.

⁽⁵⁾ Acquisition-related costs related to Transmode acquisition, which closed during the third quarter of 2015, include legal, financial, employee retention costs and other professional fees incurred in connection with the transaction. These amounts have been adjusted in arriving at Infinera's non-GAAP results because management believes that these expenses are non-recurring, not indicative of ongoing operating performance and their exclusion provides a better indication of Infinera's underlying business performance.

⁽⁶⁾ In April 2015, Infinera entered into a foreign currency forward contract and in July 2015, Infinera entered into a series of foreign currency exchange option contracts to hedge currency exposures associated with the cash portion of the offer to acquire Transmode. The forward contract and option contracts were subsequently closed during the third quarter of 2015. Management has excluded the impact of these gains and losses from Infinera's non-GAAP results because they are non-recurring and management believes that these gains are not indicative of ongoing operating performance.

⁽⁷⁾ Under GAAP, certain convertible debt instruments that may be settled in cash on conversion are required to be separately accounted for as liability (debt) and equity (conversion option) components of the instrument in a manner that reflects the issuer's non-convertible debt borrowing rate. Accordingly, for GAAP purposes, Infinera is required to amortize as a debt discount an amount equal to the fair value of the conversion option that was recorded in equity as interest expense on its $150 million 1.75% convertible debt issuance in May 2013 over the term of the notes. Interest expense has been excluded from Infinera's non-GAAP results because management believes that this non-cash expense is not indicative of ongoing operating performance and provides a better indication of Infinera's underlying business performance.

⁽⁸⁾ The difference between the GAAP and non-GAAP tax is due to the net tax effects of the purchase accounting adjustments related to the Transmode acquisition, which closed during the third quarter of 2015.

⁽¹⁾ Non-GAAP adjustments include non-cash stock-based compensation expense, certain purchase accounting adjustments and amortization of acquired intangible assets. For a description of this non-GAAP financial measure, please see the section titled, "GAAP to Non-GAAP Reconciliations" of the press release dated February 11, 2016 for a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.
⁽²⁾ Infinera calculates non-GAAP inventory turns as annualized non-GAAP cost of revenue before adjustments for non-cash stock-based compensation expense and certain purchase accounting adjustments, divided by the average inventory for the quarter.