The recommendations of Wall Street analysts are often relied on by investors when deciding whether to buy, sell, or hold a stock. Media reports about these brokerage-firm-employed (or sell-side) analysts changing their ratings often affect a stock's price. Do they really matter, though? Let's take a look at what these Wall Street heavyweights have to say about Nice (NICE) before we discuss the reliability of brokerage recommendations and how to use them to your advantage. Nice currently has an average broke ...

Nice (NICE) shares have risen 4.3% in the past month, outperforming the Zacks Computer & Technology sector's decline of 2.2%. The upside can be attributed to Nice's diverse portfolio, which is helping it gain new customers. Actimize, Evidencentral, CXone and Inform Elite are some of the solutions that have been gaining popularity. NICE's focus on its Evidencentral platform has been a key catalyst. Nice recently announced that the Pinal County Attorney's Office in Arizona would be adopting its NICE Justice d ...

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Taking full advantage of the stock market and investing with confidence are common goals for new and old investors, and Zacks Premium offers many different ways to do both. The research service features daily updates of the Zacks Rank and Zacks Industry Rank, full access to the Zacks #1 Rank List, Equity Research reports, and Premium stock screens, all of which will help you become a smarter, more confident investor. It also includes access to the Zacks Style Scores. What are the Zacks Style Scores? The Zac ...

NICE (NICE) reported adjusted earnings of $2.64 per share in second-quarter 2024, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.33% and increasing 24% year over year. Non-GAAP revenues of $664 million trumped the consensus mark by 0.23% and rose 14% year over year. The uptick was primarily driven by the continued strength of its cloud business and the ongoing expansion of its customer base. Revenues in Americas were $562 million, up 16% year over year. The same in EMEA was $70 million in the reported quarter, u ...

Financial Data and Key Metrics - Total revenue for Q2 2024 was $664 million, a 14% YoY increase, with cloud revenue growing 26% to $482 million [7] - Cloud gross margin reached 70.2%, driven by highly profitable AI solutions [7] - Operating income grew 19% YoY to $202 million, with operating margin increasing 120 basis points to 30.4% [7] - Non-GAAP EPS for Q2 was $2.64, a 24% YoY increase, exceeding the high end of guidance [7] - Operating cash flow for Q2 was $170 million, a 160% YoY increase, with free cash flow reaching $639 million over the last 12 months [8][9] - Recurring revenue increased to 89% of total revenue, with cloud revenue representing 73% of total revenue [22] Business Line Performance - Customer engagement revenue, representing 84% of total revenue, grew 15% YoY to $556 million, driven by CXone platform adoption [26] - Financial Crime and Compliance revenue, representing 16% of total revenue, grew 9% YoY to $109 million, driven by cloud revenue growth [26] - AI revenue surged 38% in Q2, with bookings for Autopilot and Copilot combined soaring 134% YoY [12] - Portfolio deals increased 71% YoY, with new customer portfolio deals jumping 150% [16] Market Performance - Americas region, representing 85% of total revenue, grew 16% YoY, driven by CXone adoption [23] - EMEA region, representing 10% of total revenue, grew 16% YoY [24] - APAC region, representing 5% of total revenue, decreased 9% YoY due to the transition to cloud-based revenue models [24] - The company signed its largest-ever international CXone deal in the APAC region, with an estimated TCV of over $100 million [25] Company Strategy and Industry Competition - The company is leveraging its AI and CXone platform to drive market leadership, with a focus on large enterprises and international markets [25] - CXone is positioned as the only platform capable of meeting extensive CX operational requirements and workflows, while also providing future-proof AI capabilities [17] - The company is investing in R&D, expanding its go-to-market strategy, and seeking potential acquisitions to drive growth [9] - The company is disrupting the SMB market with its $5 UCaaS offering, One CX, which is fully integrated with CX [46] Management Commentary on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - The company is seeing a shift from hype to reality in the adoption of AI, with enterprises adopting a more mature and systematic approach to leveraging AI [10] - The company expects to reach its 75% cloud gross margin target in the medium term [26] - Full-year 2024 revenue guidance is maintained at $2.715 billion to $2.735 billion, with EPS guidance raised to $10.60 to $10.80, representing a 22% YoY increase at the midpoint [29] - The company expects free cash flow generation for 2024 to exceed $700 million, a 47% YoY increase [27] Other Important Information - The company announced the appointment of Scott Russell as the next CEO, effective January 2025, following a thorough search by the Board of Directors [6] - The company repurchased $146 million worth of shares in Q2 and plans to complete its $300 million share buyback program by the end of Q3, followed by a $500 million buyback program [28] Q&A Session Summary Question: Performance of LiveVox acquisition and cross-selling opportunities [31] - LiveVox is performing as expected, with increasing cross-selling and upselling opportunities observed [32] Question: Confidence in back-half acceleration and seasonality [33][38] - The company is confident in back-half acceleration due to record CXone bookings and a stable customer base [34] - Seasonality is expected to follow historical trends, with Q4 typically showing stronger growth [40] Question: Non-enterprise business performance and cloud growth targets [43] - SMB performance was stable, with sequential cloud growth impacted by large enterprise deals taking longer to ramp [44] - The company maintains its 18% organic cloud growth target for 2024 [44] Question: Timing of large enterprise deal ramps and cloud growth reacceleration [47] - Cloud growth is expected to reaccelerate in Q4, following historical seasonal trends [48] Question: Financial Crime and Compliance (FCC) business trends [51] - The FCC business is transitioning to the cloud, with fluctuations in product revenue expected during the transition [53] Question: Customer migration trends and AI adoption [54][70] - Customers are increasingly adopting AI, with a focus on functional AI for customer service, driving platform adoption [55][71] Question: Margin expansion and GenAI investment impact [72] - The company has made significant investments in AI, with cloud gross margins expected to accelerate in the medium term [72] Question: Competitive landscape and Microsoft's entry into the market [82] - The company is gaining market share, with competitors lacking the scalability and richness of its platform [82] - Microsoft's entry into the market has not impacted the company's competitive position [83] Question: Macro environment and deal cycle impact [85] - The company has not observed significant changes in the macro environment or deal cycles due to AI adoption [86]

Nice (NICE) reported $664.4 million in revenue for the quarter ended June 2024, representing a year-over-year increase of 14.3%. EPS of $2.64 for the same period compares to $2.13 a year ago. The reported revenue represents a surprise of +0.23% over the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $662.88 million. With the consensus EPS estimate being $2.58, the EPS surprise was +2.33%. While investors closely watch year-over-year changes in headline numbers -- revenue and earnings -- and how they compare to Wall Street exp ...

Financial Performance - Total revenue for Q2 2024 increased 14% to $664.4 million compared to $581.1 million in Q2 2023[3] - Cloud revenue grew 26% year over year, reaching $481.7 million in Q2 2024[5] - Operating income for Q2 2024 was $201.7 million, a 19% increase from $169.6 million in Q2 2023[11] - Diluted EPS for Q2 2024 increased 24% to $2.64 compared to $2.13 in Q2 2023[12] - Net income for Q2 2024 rose 33% to $115.8 million, with a net income margin of 17.4%[8] - GAAP revenues for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, were $664,400 million, up from $581,113 million in the same quarter of 2023, representing a growth of 14.3%[35] - GAAP net income for the quarter was $115,785 million, compared to $87,355 million in the same quarter of 2023, marking a year-over-year increase of 32.5%[35] - Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $2.64, up from $2.13 in the same quarter of 2023, indicating a growth of 24%[35] - Gross profit for the quarter was $439,617,000, compared to $391,400,000 in the previous year, reflecting a 12.3% increase[40] - Operating income increased to $128,824,000, a 22.2% rise from $105,429,000 in the same quarter last year[40] Cash Flow and Investments - Operating cash flow for Q2 2024 was $169.7 million, reflecting a 160% increase year over year[18] - Net cash provided by operating activities for the quarter was $169.668 million, compared to $65.254 million in the prior year, reflecting a significant increase of 160.0%[29] - Free Cash Flow for the quarter was $147,975, up from $46,250 in the same quarter of the previous year, indicating a growth of 219%[53] - The company reported a net cash used in investing activities of $75.713 million for the quarter, compared to $33.168 million in the same quarter last year[29] - The company’s purchase of investments for the quarter was $105.991 million, down from $121.817 million in the same quarter last year, indicating a decrease of 13.0%[29] Guidance and Future Outlook - Full-year 2024 non-GAAP EPS guidance increased to a range of $10.60 to $10.80, representing 22% growth at the midpoint[14] - Third-quarter 2024 non-GAAP total revenues are expected to be between $676 million and $686 million, indicating 13% growth year over year at the midpoint[13] - The company anticipates continued growth in cloud, analytics, and artificial intelligence business segments, with forward-looking statements indicating positive revenue and earnings guidance[42] - The company cautions that forward-looking statements are subject to significant uncertainties and risks, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed[33] Assets and Liabilities - Total cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2024, were $1,503.6 million, with net cash and investments of $1,045.7 million after accounting for $457.9 million in debt[9] - Total current assets as of June 30, 2024, were $2,300,607,000, slightly down from $2,312,882,000 at the end of December 2023[43] - Total assets decreased to $5,051,819,000 from $5,117,634,000 at the end of December 2023[43] - Total liabilities increased to $1,584,957,000 from $1,763,134,000 at the end of December 2023[43] Expenses - Share-based compensation for the quarter was $42.226 million, up from $39.314 million in the same quarter last year, indicating an increase of 4.9%[29] - GAAP operating expenses for the quarter were $310,793 million, an increase from $285,971 million in the same quarter of 2023, representing an increase of 8.7%[35] - Non-GAAP operating expenses for the year to date were $535,537 million, compared to $493,167 million in the previous year, reflecting an increase of 8.6%[35] - Research and development expenses for 2024 totaled $330 million, while sales and marketing expenses reached $643 million, and general and administrative expenses were $877 million[52] Deferred Revenue and Trade Payables - The company reported a significant increase in deferred revenue, which reached $50.281 million for the year-to-date, compared to $14.823 million in the previous year[29] - The company experienced a decrease in trade payables, which amounted to $17.702 million for the quarter, compared to a decrease of $9.668 million in the same quarter last year[29]

NICE (NICE) is set to release second-quarter 2024 results on Aug 15. For the second quarter, NICE projects non-GAAP revenues to be between $657 million and $667 million, indicating 14% growth at the midpoint. Non-GAAP earnings are estimated in the $2.53-$2.63 per share band, suggesting 21% year-over-year growth at the midpoint. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $662.88 million, indicating an increase of 14.07% from the year-ago quarter's reported figure. The consensus mark for earnings ...