Unity Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Financial Results

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Unity Software Inc. (NYSE: U), the world’s leading platform for creating and operating interactive, real-time 3D (RT3D) content, today announced fourth quarter 2021 revenue of $315.9 million, which is up 43% from the same period in 2020 and ahead of guidance. Additionally, the company announced full-year 2021 revenue of $1.1 billion, a growth of 44% year-over-year.

“Unity’s strong fourth-quarter and full-year results were driven by exceptional execution and innovation by the Unity teams,” said John Riccitiello, President and Chief Executive Officer, Unity. “We believe that the transition from linear 2D to interactive real-time 3D, presents a massive growth opportunity for the next decades. These are strong tailwinds that help us drive growth for years to come.”

Since becoming a public company in September 2020, Unity has averaged 43% revenue growth. Customers contributing $100,000 or more in revenue in the trailing 12 months increased 33%, from 793 as of December 31, 2020 to 1,052 as of December 31, 2021.

“We are encouraged by our performance in 2021 with strong results across Create and Operate Solutions,” said Luis Visoso, Chief Financial Officer, Unity. “The business momentum coupled with the quality of our innovation plans gives us confidence to guide to a revenue growth range of 34% to 36% in 2022 as we continue to improve margins.”

Fourth Quarter 2021 Financial Highlights

Revenue was $315.9 million, an increase of 43% from the fourth quarter of 2020.
Create Solutions revenue was $99.9 million, an increase of 49%; Operate Solutions revenue was $194.6 million, an increase of 45%; Strategic Partnerships and Other revenue was $21.3 million, an increase of 12%, each as compared to the fourth quarter of 2020.
Loss from operations was $144.8 million, or 46% of revenue, compared to loss from operations of $80.8 million, or 37% of revenue, in the fourth quarter of 2020. These results were impacted by an increase in stock-based compensation expenses.
Non-GAAP loss from operations was $12.0 million, or 4% of revenue, compared to a non-GAAP loss from operations of $20.1 million, or 9% of revenue, in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Basic and diluted net loss per share was $0.56, compared to basic and diluted net loss per share of $0.31 in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Basic and diluted non-GAAP net loss per share was $0.05, compared to basic and diluted non-GAAP net loss per share of $0.10 in the fourth quarter of 2020.
1,052 customers each generated more than $100,000 of revenue in the trailing 12 months as of December 31, 2021, compared to 793 as of December 31, 2020.
Dollar-based net expansion rate as of December 31, 2021 was 140% as compared to 138% as of December 31, 2020.
Net cash used by operating activities was $39.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to net cash provided by operating activities of $14.8 million for the same period last year. Free cash flow in the fourth quarter of 2021 was $(53.5) million, compared to $3.6 million for the same period last year. Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash were $1.1 billion as of December 31, 2021, compared to $1.3 billion as of December 31, 2020.

Full Year 2021 Financial Highlights

Revenue was $1.1 billion, an increase of 44% from 2020.
Create Solutions revenue was $326.6 million, an increase of 41%; Operate Solutions revenue was $709.1 million, an increase of 51%; Strategic Partnerships and Other revenue was $74.8 million, an increase of 7%, each as compared to 2020.
Loss from operations was $531.7 million, or 48% of revenue, compared to loss from operations of $274.8 million, or 36% of revenue, in 2020. The 2021 full-year GAAP results were impacted by an increase in stock-based compensation expense, as well as a charge of $49.8 million related to the termination of a lease agreement.
Non-GAAP loss from operations was $50.7 million, or 5% of revenue, compared to a non-GAAP loss from operations of $50.6, or 7% of revenue, in 2020.
Basic and diluted net loss per share was $1.89, compared to basic and diluted net loss per share of $1.66 in 2020.
Basic and diluted non-GAAP net loss per share was $0.22, compared to basic and diluted non-GAAP net loss per share of $0.39 in 2020.
Net cash used by operating activities was $111.4 million for 2021, compared to net cash provided by operating activities of $19.9 million for the same period last year. Free cash flow in 2021 was $(153.4) million, compared to $(20.2) million for the same period last year.

Recent Business Highlights

Unity expanded its addressable market through strategic acquisitions and product innovations: In 2021, Unity added key capabilities and expanded its addressable market with key acquisitions, heavily focused on supporting artists. In the remote collaboration space, Unity brought on remote access platform Parsec and SyncSketch, which enables cloud-based, secure collaboration between separated creators and artists. With certain tools and technologies from Weta Digital, Interactive Data Visualization (makers of SpeedTree), and most recently, Ziva Dynamics, Unity aims to democratize access to some of artistry’s most exclusive tools and services via the cloud. On the product front, Unity introduced Unity Game Services, which unifies existing solutions and introduces new tools and services to simplify launching cross-platform, multiplayer games. These initiatives expanded the company’s total addressable market, increased its serviceable market and strengthened the value of the Unity platform to customers.
Unity’s Operate Solutions continued to command attention: In 2021, Operate Solutions contributed to the stability and success of more than 200K games. Use of Unity monetization services drove more than 2 billion net-new installs, and as cross-platform, multiplayer games became more mainstream, our Multiplay and Vivox offerings continue to grow. They supported some of the most successful game launches last year including Amazon’s New World and Splitgate by 1047 Games.
Unity’s Create Solutions accelerated throughout the year: Create Solutions experienced a strong year across games and non-gaming. In late 2021 particularly, AAA publishers and platform providers launched made with Unity games, including Riot Games’ Ruined King: A League of Legends Story. Unity continued to expand market share within the top 1,000 mobile games in 2021. Outside of gaming, Unity’s RT3D capabilities led to more customers across industries and use-cases to implement Unity software as part of their digital strategies. For example, Hyundai Motors and Unity partner to connect a physical factory with its digital twin to enhance plant management, drive productivity and innovate in the manufacturing process. eBay partnered with Unity to enable sellers to showcase the actual item they are selling in Unity’s proprietary, interactive 360-view.

Outlook

Unity is providing the following guidance for the first quarter and guidance for the full year ending December 31, 2022.

A reconciliation of non-GAAP guidance measures to corresponding GAAP measures is not available on a forward-looking basis without unreasonable effort due to the uncertainty of expenses that may be incurred in the future and cannot be reasonably determined or predicted at this time, although it is important to note that these factors could be material to Unity’s results computed in accordance with GAAP.

Earnings Webcast Details

Unity plans to host a video webcast for analysts and investors today to discuss its fourth quarter and full-year 2021 financial results and outlook for its first quarter and full-year 2022. The video webcast is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time/5:00 p.m. Eastern Time and can be accessed at the Unity Investor Relations website at investors.unity.com. The video webcast will be available live, and a replay will be available on the Investor Relations website following completion of the live broadcast for approximately 90 days.

About Unity

Unity is the world’s leading platform for creating and operating interactive, real-time 3D content. Our platform provides a comprehensive set of software solutions to create, run, and monetize interactive, real-time 2D and 3D content for mobile phones, tablets, PCs, consoles, and augmented and virtual reality devices. We serve customers of all sizes, at every stage of maturity, from individual creators to large enterprises. For more information, visit unity.com.

Unity uses its Investor Relations website (investors.unity.com), filings with the SEC, press releases, public conference calls, and public webcasts as means of disclosing material nonpublic information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to Unity’s financial results as determined in accordance with GAAP are included at the end of this press release following the accompanying financial data. For a description of these non-GAAP financial measures, including the reasons management uses each measure, please see the section of the tables titled “About Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and the earnings call referencing this press release contain “forward-looking statements,” as that term is defined under federal securities laws, including, but not limited to, statements regarding Unity’s first quarter and full-year 2022 outlook and future financial performance, including the evolution to RT3D content; and Unity’s belief that it presents a massive growth opportunity and strong tailwinds to help Unity drive growth for decades to come; that Unity is committed to improving operating margins as it continues to gain scale; that Unity expects revenue to grow at or above 40% for the long-term and to expand operating margins sequentially, breaking even on a non-GAAP basis within 2023; Unity’s belief that there is significant upside in its non-gaming business due to embedded structural advantages; that innovation, new product initiatives and strategic acquisitions are expected to expand Unity’s total addressable market, increase its serviceable market and the value of the Unity platform to its customers; that since Unity prudently assesses risks when constructing guidance, it can beat guidance if things fall Unity’s way; that Unity continues to make progress across industries and use-cases and expects to build long term partnerships as Unity software is embedded into its customers’ digital strategy; business plans, priorities and objectives, potential market and growth opportunities; product features, functionality, and expected benefits to the business and Unity’s customers; competitive position; product strategies and future product and platform features; technological or market trends; and industry environment. The words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “intend,” “expect,” “plan,” “project,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. If the risks materialize or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. Risks include, but are not limited to: (i) the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on our business, as well as our customers, prospects, partners, and service providers; (ii) our ability to achieve profitability and the timing for any such achievement; (iii) our ability to retain existing customers and expand the use of our platform; (iv) our ability to further expand into new industries and attract new customers; (v) the impact of any changes of terms of service, policies or technical requirements from operating system platform providers or application stores which may result in changes to our or our customers’ business practices; (vi) our ability to maintain favorable relationships with hardware, operating system, device, game console and other technology providers; (vii) our ability to compete effectively in the markets in which we participate; (viii) breaches in our security measures, unauthorized access to our platform, our data, or our customers’ or other users’ personal data; (ix) our ability to manage growth effectively; (x) the rapidly changing and increasingly stringent laws, contractual obligations and industry standards that relate to privacy, data security and the protection of children; (xi) Unity’s ability to successfully integrate Weta Digital’s technology and business; (xii) costs related to the integration; (xiii) whether potential benefits of the transaction extend to Unity and Weta Digital’s customers and other potential creators; (xiv) Unity’s and Weta Digital’s success developing new products or modifying existing products and the degree to which these gain market acceptance; (xvi) any unanticipated impact of accounting for the acquisition; and (xvii) the conditional closing of the transaction. Further information on these and additional risks that could affect Unity’s results is included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on November 9, 2021, and our future reports that we may file with the SEC from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are available on the Unity Investor Relations website. Unity assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

Any unreleased services, features, or functions referenced in this document, our website, or other press releases or public statements that are not currently available are subject to change at Unity’s discretion and may not be delivered as planned or at all. Customers who purchase Unity services should make their purchase decisions based upon services, features, and functions that are currently available.

© 2022 Unity Software Inc. All rights reserved. The Unity design logos, “Unity” and our other registered or common law trademarks, service marks, or trade names are the property of Unity Software Inc. or its affiliates. Other trade names, trademarks, and service marks are the property of their respective owners.

About Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our consolidated financial statements prepared and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (GAAP) we use certain non-GAAP performance financial measures, as described below, to evaluate our ongoing operations and for internal planning and forecasting purposes. We believe the following non-GAAP measures are useful in evaluating our operating performance. We are presenting these non-GAAP financial measures because we believe, when taken collectively, they may be helpful to investors because they provide consistency and comparability with past financial performance.

However, non-GAAP financial measures have limitations in their usefulness to investors because they have no standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and are not prepared under any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. In addition, other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate similarly-titled non-GAAP financial measures differently or may use other measures to evaluate their performance, all of which could reduce the usefulness of our non-GAAP financial measures as tools for comparison. As a result, our non-GAAP financial measures are presented for supplemental informational purposes only and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for our consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with GAAP.

Non-GAAP Gross Profit, Non-GAAP Operating Expenses, and Non-GAAP Loss from Operations

We define non-GAAP gross profit as gross profit excluding stock-based compensation expense, employer tax related to employee stock transactions, and amortization of acquired intangible assets expense. We define non-GAAP research and development expense and non-GAAP sales and marketing expense as research and development expense and sales and marketing expense, respectively, excluding stock-based compensation expense, employer tax related to employee stock transactions, and amortization of acquired intangible assets expense. We define non-GAAP general and administrative expense as general and administrative expense excluding stock-based compensation expense, employer tax related to employee stock transactions, a one-time expense for the termination of a future lease agreement, and non-cash charitable contribution expense. We define non-GAAP loss from operations as loss from operations excluding stock-based compensation expense, employer tax related to employee stock transactions, amortization of acquired intangible assets expense, a one-time expense for the termination of a future lease agreement, and non-cash charitable contribution expense.

We use non-GAAP gross profit and non-GAAP loss from operations in conjunction with traditional GAAP measures to evaluate our financial performance. We believe that non-GAAP gross profit and non-GAAP loss from operations provides our management and investors consistency and comparability with our past financial performance and facilitates period-to-period comparisons of operations, as these metrics exclude stock-based compensation expense, employer tax related to employee stock transactions, amortization of acquired intangible assets expense, a one-time expense for the termination of a future lease agreement, and non-cash charitable contribution expense, which we do not consider to be indicative of our overall operating performance.

Non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP operating expenses, and non-GAAP loss from operations have limitations as analytical tools, and you should not consider them in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are:

they exclude expense associated with our equity compensation plan, although equity compensation has been, and will continue to be, an important part of our compensation strategy;
non-GAAP research and development expense, non-GAAP sales and marketing expense, and non-GAAP loss from operations exclude the expense of amortization of acquired intangible assets, and although these are non-cash expenses, the assets being amortized may have to be replaced in the future and the aforementioned non-GAAP measures do not reflect cash expenditure for such replacements; and
the expenses and other items that we exclude in our calculation of non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP operating expenses, and non-GAAP loss from operations may differ from the expenses and other items, if any, that other companies may exclude from this measure or similarly titled measures, which reduces their usefulness as comparative measures.

Non-GAAP Net Loss and Non-GAAP Net Loss per Share

We define non-GAAP net loss and non-GAAP net loss per share as net loss and net loss per share excluding stock-based compensation expense, employer tax related to employee stock transactions, amortization of acquired intangible assets expense, a one-time expense for the termination of a future lease agreement, and non-cash charitable contribution expense, as well as the related tax effects of these items. Non-GAAP net loss per share also adds back expense relating to deemed dividends representing excess paid over initial issuance price to repurchase convertible preferred stock. We use non-GAAP net loss and non-GAAP net loss per share in conjunction with traditional GAAP measures to evaluate our financial performance. We believe that these non-GAAP measures provide our management and investors consistency and comparability with our past financial performance and facilitates period-to-period comparisons of operations.

Non-GAAP net loss and non-GAAP net loss per share have limitations as analytical tools, and you should not consider them in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are:

they exclude expense associated with our equity compensation plan, although equity compensation has been, and will continue to be, an important part of our compensation strategy;
they exclude the expense of amortization of acquired intangible assets, and although these are non-cash expenses, the assets being amortized may have to be replaced in the future and non-GAAP loss from operations does not reflect cash expenditure for such replacements;
as further described below, we must make certain assumptions in order to determine the income tax effect adjustment for non-GAAP net loss, which assumptions may not prove to be accurate; and
the expenses and other items that we exclude in our calculation of non-GAAP net loss and non-GAAP net loss per share may differ from the expenses and other items, if any, that other companies may exclude from this measure or similarly titled measures, which reduces their usefulness as comparative measures.

Income Tax Effects of Non-GAAP Adjustments

We utilize a fixed projected tax rate in our computation of non-GAAP income tax effects to provide better consistency across interim reporting periods. In projecting this non-GAAP tax rate, we utilize a financial projection that excludes the direct impact of the non-GAAP adjustments described above, and eliminates the effects of non-recurring and period specific items which can vary in size and frequency. The projected rate considers other factors such as our current operating structure, existing tax positions in various jurisdictions, and key legislation in major jurisdictions where we operate. For the year ended December 31, 2020, the non-GAAP tax rate was (17)%. For the year ending December 31, 2021, we have determined the projected non-GAAP tax rate to be (22)%. We will periodically re-evaluate this tax rate, as necessary, for significant events, based on relevant tax law changes, material changes in the forecasted geographic earnings mix, and any significant acquisitions.

Free Cash Flow

We define free cash flow as net cash used in operating activities less cash used for purchases of property and equipment. We believe that free cash flow is a useful indicator of liquidity as it measures our ability to generate cash, or our need to access additional sources of cash, to fund operations and investments.

Free cash flow has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are:

it is not a substitute for net cash used in operating activities;
other companies may calculate free cash flow or similarly titled non-GAAP measures differently or may use other measures to evaluate their performance, all of which could reduce the usefulness of free cash flow as a tool for comparison; and
the utility of free cash flow is further limited as it does not reflect our future contractual commitments and does not represent the total increase or decrease in our cash balance for any given period.

Key Metrics

We monitor the following key metrics to help us evaluate the health of our business, identify trends affecting our growth, formulate goals and objectives, and make strategic decisions.

Customers Contributing More Than $100,000 of Revenue

We focus on the number of customers that generated more than $100,000 of revenue in the trailing 12 months, as this segment of our customer base represents the majority of our revenue and revenue growth. We define a customer as an individual or entity that generated revenue during the measurement period. A single organization with multiple divisions, segments, or subsidiaries is generally counted as a single customer, even though we may enter into commercial agreements with multiple parties within that organization.

Dollar-Based Net Expansion Rate

We track our performance by measuring our dollar-based net expansion rate, which compares our Create and Operate Solutions revenue from the same set of customers across comparable periods, calculated on a trailing 12-month basis. Our dollar-based net expansion rate as of a period end is calculated as current period revenue divided by prior period revenue. Prior period revenue is the trailing 12-month revenue measured as of such prior period end and includes revenue from all customers that contributed revenue during such trailing 12-month period. Current period revenue is the trailing 12-month revenue from these same customers as of the current period end. Our dollar-based net expansion rate includes the effect of any customer renewals, expansion, contraction, and churn but excludes revenue from new customers in the current period.

Source: Unity