The real issue in FQ2 seems to be that deal timing and composition are getting harder to predict. CEO Jim Heppelmann said in the press release that PTC “saw a number of large deals in [the] core business push out at the end of the quarter”. Since PTC relies on big deals, signing 13 in the March-ending quarter, that’s a problem. We don’t know where in the “core business” the problem occurred; it’ll be interesting to see what PTC and DS say about PLM vs CAD vs other parts of their businesses.
Too, the transition to subscriptions continues to be tough to predict. Software revenue will be around $250 million in FQ3 with $84 million from license and subscription solutions, slightly below earlier guidance of $85 million to $90 million in subscriptions as part of total software revenue of $253 million to $258 million.
PTC said that subscription bookings, as a proportion of total software bookings was 16%, rather than the expected 18% for FQ3, as some large IoT buyers opted for perpetual licenses. Professional services revenue came in as expected, at $54 million.
Buyers can choose what mechanism works best for them, so it’s not unusual to have a perpetual deal flip to subscriptions — or, as PTC found, the other way. It’ll be interesting to learn on July 29 whether the deal slippage is tied to indecision on perpetual versus subscriptions; are buyers confused? Do they need help sorting out their options? That’s a PTC problem, and very fixable. If deals are slowing for other reasons, that may be macro-economic, and out of PTC’s control. Often, if it’s a minor slip, companies are quick to add something like “and those deals have already closed.” PTC didn’t do that, but we don’t yet know why.
Stay tuned — much more coming in July 29.
Discover more from Schnitger Corporation
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
