Workday has released its financial results for the fiscal 2024 first quarter with total revenues at $1.68bn, an increase of 17.4 percent from the first quarter of fiscal 2023, showing continued momentum toward its $10bn target.
The company saw subscription revenues of $1.53bn, an increase of 20.1 percent from the same period last year. Two-year backlog also increased by 22.9 percent year-on-year to $9.79bn, continually besting the 20 percent growth target and bringing total subscription revenue backlog to $16.65bn, up 31.6 percent YoY.
The company reported an operating loss of $19.8m, or negative of 1.2 percent of revenues, compared to an operating loss of $72.8m, or negative 5.1 percent of revenues, in the same period last year. For the first quarter, non-GAAP operating income was $395.9m, or 23.5 percent of revenues, compared to $288.6m, or 20.1 percent of revenues in the same period last year.
Operating cash flows were $277.3m compared to $439.7m as of April 30, 2023. Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were $6.33bn as of April 30, 2023.
In addition to the announcement of its results, Workday has recently appointed Zane Rowe as chief financial officer, effective June 12, 2023. The former VMware CFO, Rowe, will now oversee Workday’s overall finance and accounting functions, internal audit and investor relations and advise on the company’s business strategy and product development. The appointment follows nine-year Workday CFO, Barbara Larson, stepping down to focus on family.
Workday has had a strong first quarter, having announced continued momentum for Workday Financial Management with new customers including Halifax Hospital Medical Center, Prometeia SpA and more, as well as an expansion of partnerships with companies such as Alight.
“Workday had a strong first quarter, underscoring the value proposition of the full Workday platform combined with our unique approach to artificial intelligence and machine learning,” said Aneel Bhusri, co-founder, co-CEO and chair, Workday. “We’ve been delivering AI and ML capabilities for nearly a decade and approach its application with a heavy emphasis on being human-centric, using these capabilities to augment people and organizations to make them more productive, better informed, and to help them reduce business risk. We remain committed to innovation and infusing AI and ML across our entire product portfolio, while adhering to our core values, and expanding the value we bring to our global customer community.”
“Our continued global momentum illustrates how companies have come to rely on Workday as the intelligent digital backbone supporting their most critical assets: people and money,” said Carl Eschenbach, co-CEO, Workday. “As we look ahead, we will continue to innovate even faster, take an industry-first approach, and maintain a vibrant and engaged partner ecosystem, which will help us drive strong customer satisfaction in the markets in which we operate around the world.”
Speaking of his appointment, Rowe said: “I am thrilled to be joining Workday at this exciting time in its growth journey. I have known Aneel, Carl and many members of the Workday team for a long time and look forward to working with them to continue to drive the company forward.”
