MeridianLink® Reports Third Quarter 2022 Results

Revenue of $71.8 million grows 7% 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, 2022.

“Our solid third quarter performance spotlights the strength of our diverse portfolio, with digital lending driving our growth as more organizations take advantage of our MeridianLink One platform to better serve their consumers and communities. GAAP revenue grew 7% year-over-year to $71.8 million with 36% adjusted EBITDA margins. Lending software solutions revenue grew 17% year-over-year to $52.4 million,” said Nicolaas Vlok, chief executive officer of MeridianLink. “I am proud of our team and appreciate the effort in delivering on our multi-year cloud migration initiative a quarter early. The complete cloud migration is an important milestone, enabling greater speed and scalability while ensuring our customers benefit from enhanced security and automatic innovation updates.”

Quarterly Financial Highlights:

Revenue of $71.8 million, an increase of 7% year-over-year
Operating income of $4.5 million, or 6% of revenue and Non-GAAP operating profit of $12.1 million, or 17% of revenue
Adjusted EBITDA of $25.9 million, or 36% of revenue and a net loss of $(2.9) million
Cash flow from operations of $88.1 million and free cash flow of $79.4 million for the last twelve month period

Business and Operating Highlights:

MeridianLink announced the acquisition of OpenClose, a leader in mortgage lending technology, with a particular focus on supporting depository institutions. This transaction is expected to create a premier platform that will solidify our position in the market by providing more advanced, more open, and more customer-friendly capabilities.
A full quarter ahead of schedule, we completed the migration of the MeridianLink One functionality to the public cloud. As a result, we have already begun to see the benefits of increased security, speed, and scalability of deployment.
MeridianLink achieved both faster software module delivery to customers and increased uptake of the functions to more deeply automate lending processes.

Business Outlook

Based on information as of today, November 7, 2022, the Company issues fourth quarter financial guidance and updates full year 2022 financial guidance as follows:

Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2022:

Revenue is expected to be in the range of $65.0 million to $67.0 million
Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $19.0 million to $21.0 million

Full Year 2022:

Revenue is expected to be in the range of $282.5 million to $284.5 million
Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $107.0 million to $109.0 million

Conference Call Information

MeridianLink will hold a conference call to discuss our third quarter results today, November 7, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time). The conference call can be accessed by dialing (888) 396-8049 from North America toll-free or the Participant Local number of (416) 764-8646 with Conference ID 03374737. 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 approximately 8:59 p.m. Pacific Time (11:59 p.m. Eastern Time) on Monday, November 14, 2022, at (877) 674-7070 from North America or (416) 764-8692 as a Participant Local with Conference ID 374737.

For More Information:

Press Contact

Becky Frost
(714) 784-5839
media@meridianlink.com

Investor Relations Contact

Erik Schneider
(714) 332-6357
InvestorRelations@meridianlink.com

About MeridianLink

MeridianLink^® (NYSE: MLNK) is a leading provider of cloud-based software solutions for financial institutions, including banks, credit unions, mortgage lenders, specialty lending providers and consumer reporting agencies. Headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, MeridianLink provides services to more than 1,900 customers, including a majority of the financial institutions on Forbes’ 2021 lists of America’s Best Credit Unions and Banks. Further information can be found at www.meridianlink.com.

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:

Adjusted EBITDA: net income (loss) before interest expense, taxes, depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation expense, employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions, certain expenses associated with our IPO, sponsor and third-party acquisition related costs, losses resulting from early repayment of debt, lease termination charges, and deferred revenue reductions from purchase accounting for acquisitions prior to 2022
Non-GAAP operating income (loss): GAAP operating income (loss), excluding the impact of share-based compensation, employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions, 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, and sponsor and third-party acquisition-related costs
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
Free cash flow: GAAP cash flow from operating activities plus 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 future financial and operational performance, future economic conditions, our strategic initiatives, including anticipated benefits and integration of an acquisition, the potential benefits of our migration to the public cloud, our stock repurchase program, including the execution and amount of repurchases, our development or delivery of new or enhanced solutions, our market size and growth opportunities, and our competitive positioning. 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 year ended December 31, 2021, any updates in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed for periods subsequent to such Form 10-K, and our other SEC filings. Any forward-looking statement contained herein or provided on the related conference call is based on reasonable assumptions as of the date hereof. 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.