Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE:NET) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

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Matthew Prince: Yeah. I think that the big thing, Tim, I’d point to is that they tend to be purely usage-based models, and that the good of usage-based models is that they react very quickly, both up and down. And so, I think — whereas we tend to be much more of a subscription-based model, and the good of that is that it has a lot more stability. But — and that stability helps you when things are slowing down. So, we had significantly faster growth than the hyperscalers in the last few quarters and we’re now around where they are, this quarter. And so, I think, we are a little bit more moderated than some of the more usage-based models. And I think that explains some of it. I think the second thing that I’d add is that for some of the products, especially around the AI products, is as Thomas said, we’re really optimizing around adoption, and while we published pricing and that pricing was extremely well received in addition to being very, very attractive for us from a margin perspective this — in the last month, that’s something that is — it’s still not a place where we are heavily monetizing yet.

But again, I think as I listed some of the examples, we see plenty of opportunity there and we think that when we decide the time is right to turn on some of those monetization, it will help contribute to our top-line growth.

Tim Horan: And just a quick follow-up. Are you seeing any real other competitors coming into what you offer on a global serverless low latency basis? And I guess you’re implying at some point revenue growth should really accelerate here. I mean, in a more stable macro environment or more visibility, I mean, everything we’ve been talking about on this call seems like my predecessor said incredibly positive. And your guide for the second half down to 26% just seems like very, very low versus what it potentially could be. I guess, do you think these steps will enable you to accelerate in the next couple of years?

Matthew Prince: So, on the competition front, we really don’t. We think that we are in a very unique position. We don’t see anybody else that is yet rolling out the type of connectivity cloud with true serverless architecture. There are people who are buying some legacy businesses. There are people who sort of talk a good game, but it turns out when you pull the covers back, don’t have very much business in the space at all. And so, we’re, I think, unique in the position that we’re offering. I don’t think that’ll stay true forever. Other people will provide services here, but we have a clear lead. We have the richest ecosystem. And I think that what’s great about Cloudflare’s business is that we have existing very stable businesses that continue to perform.

We have newer businesses for us like our Zero Trust and SASE businesses, which are just accelerating up the S curve. And then, we have a lot of leading edge opportunity with things like our Workers platform. And so, Cloudflare is all about stacking S curves, one behind another, behind another. And so, where I think a lot of companies run out of TAM, run out of market, we are able to continue to add and innovate into new areas in a way that I think we’ll achieve what we want, which is we think we’re going to be one of the truly iconic technology companies and we’re investing for that long term, including at times, making the choice of optimizing for adoption, rather than trying to figure out how we make money from every single customer with every single transaction.

And we think that that’s the right formula for building what is an iconic technology company over the long term.

Tim Horan: Very helpful. Thank you.

Operator: That concludes our question-and-answer session. I will now turn the call back over to Matthew Prince for some closing remarks.

Matthew Prince: I just want to thank our entire team for executing. I know that in the world right now, there’s a lot of scary things going on. There’s a lot of tension. And what we do every day of making sure that the Internet continues to function, that it continues to be a force that drives the economy around the world going forward, I can’t imagine anything more important to be working on. So, thank you for the entire team for delivering yet another terrific quarter. We’re getting back to work now and we’ll see you all again next quarter. Thank you.

Operator: This concludes today’s conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

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