BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Owen Ryan: I think, listen, from our vantage point, while we have a very strong relationship with SAP, we are continuing to build relationships with others that want to do business with us. And that’s what we will continue to execute again. So and remember, a big piece of our business is still very direct from our own sales force to various customers as well. We built a product that is ERP agnostic. So we’re able to connect to all the leading players out there. We’re going to continue to ensure that we have that flexibility as we go forward.

Pat Walravens: Great. Thank you both.

Therese Tucker: Thank you, Pat.

Operator: Thank you. One moment for the next question. The next question will come from Koji Ikeda of Bank of America. Your line is open.

Koji Ikeda: Hey, Owen. Hey, Therese. Thanks for taking the questions. I just have one. Hey. So I know you have medium-term targets out there. And you guided 2023 target out there, and I know you’re not guiding to 2024 today. But looking at some of the metrics, let’s look at billing’s growth of 12% in the quarter. That’s accelerating from 11% last quarter. But RPO is decelerating sequentially. And the fourth quarter revenue guide implies a growth rate of about, I think about 10%. So putting all those things together and triangulate, I guess we’re just trying to triangulate how should we be thinking about the growth algorithm over the near term?

Mark Partin: Yes. I’ll start. Hi, Koji. I’ll start because that’ll give maybe Owen and chance to double team this answer is when we laid out our model, we – and even where we’re trending today we’ve got a number of growth levers that we are pulling over the coming years. And as macro demand returns, we think we’re in the best position. We’ve been really fighting for our leadership position for years and maintaining that through not just now innovating and bringing product to market, but also in our acquisition strategy to drive the platform. And so for us, really, really sort of accelerating our progress towards the platform is the key to getting the growth profile back on track. And so, like I said, we’ll talk a little more about that.

On the bottom-line and the margin profile even today and heading into next year, we – our confidence level is high on our ability to sustain levels of profitability from here to that 20 plus percent margin profile, given the strength of the gross margin profile, the efficiency with which we think we can run this business on the sales and marketing in the coming years. So we’ve got a high confidence on that operating model profile. Yes, with respect to growth algorithm, do you want to talk about this?

Owen Ryan: Okay.

Mark Partin: Yes.

Owen Ryan: Go ahead. I’ll lay it on.

Mark Partin: Yes. Look for us, the key again is really monetizing the 4,000 plus customers around the globe. This is a flywheel of growth that we are in with customer success teams and account managers. We’ve got a new expanding portfolio of products that really changes the games for companies when they meet that digital transformation initiative. We can expand customers above 500,000, above $1 million, and that’s the fastest growing part of our business. And so our focus really needs to lean towards keeping customers engaged happy, and letting them expand when they’re ready. And oftentimes that’s macro. And other times that’s just budget priority and other sorts of internal things we have to work through. So that’s the growth algorithm that we sort of committed to from here for the next several years.

Koji Ikeda: Got it. Thanks, Owen. Thanks, Mark. Thanks Therese for taking the question. Appreciate it.

Operator: Thank you. One moment for the next question. Our next question will be coming from William McNamara of BTIG. Your line is open.

William McNamara: Hi. Thanks for taking my question. Just kind of wanted to know what the customer accounts is greater than $1 million in spending seems to be growing well. Have there been any changes in strategy with channel partner engagement, or would you say this is a result of just more brand awareness or features available?