Financial Summary
All comparative percentages are on a year-over-year basis unless otherwise noted.
Q4 FY 2023 Highlights
Revenue — Total revenue was up 16% at $15.2 billion, with product revenue up 20% and service revenue up 4%. Revenue by geographic segment was: Americas up 21%, EMEA up 10%, and APJC up 7%. Product revenue performance was led by growth in Secure, Agile Networks up 33%, Optimized Application Experiences up 15%, and Internet for the Future up 3%. Collaboration was down 12%. End-to-End Security was flat.
Gross Margin — On a GAAP basis, total gross margin, product gross margin, and service gross margin were 64.1%, 63.6%, and 65.7%, respectively, as compared with 61.3%, 59.1%, and 67.5%, respectively, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022.
On a non-GAAP basis, total gross margin, product gross margin, and service gross margin were 65.9%, 65.5%, and 67.5%, respectively, as compared with 63.3%, 61.3%, and 69.0%, respectively, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022.
Total gross margins by geographic segment were: 65.0% for the Americas, 68.4% for EMEA and 65.3% for APJC.
Operating Expenses — On a GAAP basis, operating expenses were $5.5 billion, up 20%, and were 36.1% of revenue. Non-GAAP operating expenses were $4.6 billion, up 15%, and were 30.6% of revenue.
Operating Income — GAAP operating income was $4.3 billion, up 24%, with GAAP operating margin of 28.0%. Non-GAAP operating income was $5.4 billion, up 27%, with non-GAAP operating margin at 35.4%.
Provision for Income Taxes — The GAAP tax provision rate was 11.5%. The non-GAAP tax provision rate was 15.5%.
Net Income and EPS — On a GAAP basis, net income was $4.0 billion, an increase of 41%, and EPS was $0.97, an increase of 43%. On a non-GAAP basis, net income was $4.7 billion, an increase of 36%, and EPS was $1.14, an increase of 37%.
Cash Flow from Operating Activities — $6.0 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023, an increase of 62% compared with $3.7 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022.
FY 2023 Highlights
Revenue — Total revenue was $57.0 billion, an increase of 11%.
Net Income and EPS — On a GAAP basis, net income was $12.6 billion, an increase of 7%, and EPS was $3.07, an increase of 9%. On a non-GAAP basis, net income was $16.0 billion, an increase of 13% compared to fiscal 2022, and EPS was $3.89, an increase of 16%.
Cash Flow from Operating Activities — $19.9 billion for fiscal 2023, an increase of 50% compared with $13.2 billion for fiscal 2022.
Balance Sheet and Other Financial Highlights
Cash and Cash Equivalents and Investments — $26.1 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023, compared with $23.3 billion at the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2023, and compared with $19.3 billion at the end of fiscal 2022.
Remaining Performance Obligations (RPO) — $34.9 billion, up 11% in total, with 51% of this amount to be recognized as revenue over the next 12 months. Product RPO were up 12% and service RPO were up 9%.
Deferred Revenue — $25.6 billion, up 10% in total, with deferred product revenue up 10%. Deferred service revenue was up 9%.
Capital Allocation — In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023, we returned $2.8 billion to stockholders through share buybacks and dividends. We declared and paid a cash dividend of $0.39 per common share, or $1.6 billion, and repurchased approximately 25 million shares of common stock under our stock repurchase program at an average price of $50.49 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $1.3 billion. The remaining authorized amount for stock repurchases under the program is $10.9 billion with no termination date.
Acquisitions
In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023, we closed the following acquisitions: Lightspin Technologies Ltd., a privately held cloud security software company; Smartlook, s.r.o., a privately held company that provides a digital experience and product analytics solution that monitors user engagement on websites and mobile applications in real time; and Armorblox, Inc., a privately held company focused on the use of Large Language Models and natural language understanding in cybersecurity.
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