Blend Labs, Inc. (NYSE:BLND) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

We expect to see this growth accelerate even further as we continue to work through our slate of Consumer Banking deployments and convert more of our sales pipeline. We expect this to translate into the mid-30s compounded annual growth outlook over the next three years which we first shared with you at our Investor Day. We also generated $2.1 million in professional services revenue up 18% from last year due to fees associated with our ongoing slate of Consumer Banking deployments. We reported Title revenue of $11.9 million near the high end of our original guidance and in line with our expectations amidst a challenging environment. Moving on to gross profit. Total company non-GAAP gross profit was $22.3 million which was 3% above the same period last year despite a 27% decline in our total revenue.

Our non-GAAP platform gross margin showed continued improvement reaching 71% compared with 68% a year prior. For software we reported non-GAAP software gross margins of 79% up from 76% from the same period last year. Our gross margin expansion reflects the benefits of increased higher margin consumer banking suite revenues as well as the vendor optimizations we’ve implemented within our mortgage suite. We continue to be optimistic regarding our gross margin performance and affirm our belief that 80% represents an achievable target for non-GAAP software gross margins next year. Our professional services business margins experienced some headwinds this quarter relating to the timing of certain project milestones. I want to call out that, we are evolving our professional services model away from a fixed scope structure for new contracts and are instead moving towards time and materials pricing.

As more effort is directed towards Consumer Banking deployments and new pricing is increasingly adopted for key renewals. We expect our Professional Services margins to stabilize and generate consistent positive contribution. Our non-GAAP Title margins improved to 17% for the third quarter increasing meaningfully year-over-year from 5% in the third quarter this time last year and improving six percentage points quarter-over-quarter. This improvement reflects the ongoing cost optimization programs we’ve undertaken and highlights our ability to align the cost to deliver this service within their current economic climate. We’ve made substantial progress aligning our cost base and generating higher positive non-GAAP gross margin from our Title business but this market remains incredibly dynamic.

The next two quarters represent seasonally low levels of activity for our Title business, compounded by elevated 30-year fixed rates. While our approach to align our cost base remains unchanged, uncertainty regarding the level of refinancing activity in the next two quarters could place modest pressures on these margins. We have earmarked the margins we reported this quarter, as a benchmark for next year. Non-GAAP operating costs for the third quarter totaled $38.2 million compared with $58.7 million in the previous year. This improvement reflects the full realization of the January 2023 cost initiatives and two months of the platform realignment savings program, we introduced during the last quarter We remain on track to nearly half our annual non-GAAP operating expenses in 2024 compared to 2022 levels.

Our non-GAAP loss from operations was $15.9 million in Q3, at the lower end of our revised range and representing the sixth consecutive quarter of improvement as we progress along our goal of achieving operating non-GAAP profitability next year. The improvement in our non-GAAP operating loss met our expectations, benefiting from resilient revenue in our mortgage business, sustained higher margins and the adoption of greater financial leverage through continued improvement in our operating efficiency. We remain on track to achieve our goal of generating positive non-GAAP operating profit by the fourth quarter next year. While we continue to take efficiency actions that we believe could accelerate this earlier in the year, the timing will ultimately remain dependent on the level of origination activity, which is uncertain.