Blucora Reports Third Quarter Results

BELLEVUE, WA--(Marketwired - November 05, 2014) - Blucora, Inc. (NASDAQ: BCOR) today announced financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2014.

"Our multi-year transformation continues to progress," said Bill Ruckelshaus, President and Chief Executive Officer of Blucora. "Results for the third quarter were in line with expectations as we continue to navigate market pressures in our search and content segment. The challenges at InfoSpace underscore the importance of our diversification strategy, and the continued execution at TaxACT and Monoprice."

Segment Information

Search and Content
Search and content segment income for the third quarter of 2014 was $12.7 million or 17 percent of segment revenue for the third quarter of 2014.

Tax Preparation
Tax preparation segment loss for the third quarter of 2014 was $1.9 million.

E-Commerce
E-Commerce segment income for the third quarter of 2014 was $3.3 million or 9 percent of segment revenue for the third quarter of 2014. 

Corporate Operating Expenses
Unallocated corporate operating expenses for the third quarter of 2014 were $3.5 million, compared to $4.0 million for the third quarter of 2013.

Fourth Quarter Outlook
For the fourth quarter of 2014, the Company expects revenues to be between $97.5 million and $108.5 million, Adjusted EBITDA to be between $2.4 million and $6.4 million, Non-GAAP Net Income (Loss) to be between ($1.5) million and $2.5 million, or ($0.04) to $0.06 per diluted share, and GAAP Net Loss to be between $9.1 million and $6.4 million, or ($0.22) to ($0.16) per share. 

Conference Call and Webcast
A conference call and live webcast will be held today at 2 p.m. Pacific Time / 5 p.m. Eastern Time during which the Company will further discuss third quarter results, and its outlook for the fourth quarter of 2014. The live webcast and supplemental materials are included in a current report on form 8-K filed today and can be accessed in the Investor Relations section of the Blucora corporate website at http://www.blucora.com. A replay of the call will also be available on our website.

About Blucora®
Blucora, Inc. (NASDAQ: BCOR) operates a diverse group of Internet businesses. Its mission is to deliver long-term value to its customers, partners and shareholders through financial discipline, operational expertise, and technology innovation. Named one of Fortune® Magazine's 100 Fastest-Growing Companies for the past two years, Blucora's online businesses reach millions of users worldwide every day. Blucora is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. For more information, please visit www.Blucora.com. Follow and subscribe to Blucora on Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

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 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 ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses; future acquisitions; the successful execution of the Company's strategic initiatives, technology enhancements, operating plans, and marketing strategies; and the condition of our cash investments. 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 as net income, determined in accordance with the accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP"), excluding the effects of income taxes, depreciation, amortization of intangible assets, stock-based compensation, and other loss, net (as described in note ⁽³⁾ below).

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 income. 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 adjustments recorded in other loss, net that resulted from finalizing Monoprice's 2013 federal and state tax returns in the third quarter of 2014. For this report, we define non-GAAP net income as net income, determined in accordance with GAAP, excluding the effects of stock-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets, accretion of debt discount on the Convertible Senior Notes, loss on debt extinguishment and modification expense, loss on derivative instrument, other-than-temporary impairment loss on equity investments, changes in non-cash pre-acquisition liabilities, 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 consist primarily of U.S. federal net operating losses. The majority of these deferred tax assets 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 income. 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).

⁽³⁾ Other loss, net primarily includes items such as interest income, interest expense, amortization of debt issuance costs, accretion of debt discounts, loss on debt extinguishment and modification expense, loss on derivative instrument, other-than-temporary impairment loss on equity investments, and adjustments to contingent liabilities related to business combinations.