Novanta Announces Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023

BEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Novanta Inc. (Formerly Known As GSI Group) (Nasdaq: NOVT) (“Novanta” or the “Company”), a trusted technology partner to medical and advanced technology equipment manufacturers, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2023.

“Novanta delivered for the full year a record $882 million in revenue, adjusted gross margin of 46.8%, and adjusted EBITDA of $196 million,” said Matthijs Glastra, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Novanta. “In the fourth quarter, and for the full year, our teams delivered revenue and profit performance above our expectations in a dynamic operating environment. In addition, the recently closed acquisition of Motion Solutions enhances our portfolio and further expands our presence in the highly attractive medical and precision medicine space.”

Matthijs Glastra continued, “We are proud of the business we have created over the last decade, providing innovations that matter to our customers. We feel we are well positioned with diversified exposure to markets and applications with long-term secular tailwinds, such as robotics and automation, healthcare productivity and precision medicine. Combined with continuing to institutionalize the Novanta Growth System deep into our Company’s culture, our playbook will continue to deliver predictable, consistent, long-term growth and shareholder value.”

Fourth Quarter

During the fourth quarter of 2023, Novanta generated GAAP revenue of $211.6 million, a decrease of $6.8 million, or 3.1%, versus the fourth quarter of 2022. There was no impact on revenue in the fourth quarter of 2023 from our acquisition activities. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates year over year favorably impacted our revenue by $2.6 million, or 1.2%, during the fourth quarter of 2023. Our year-over-year Organic Revenue Growth, which excludes the net impact of acquisitions and changes in foreign currency exchange rates, was a decrease of 4.3% for the fourth quarter of 2023 (see “Organic Revenue Growth” in the non-GAAP reconciliations below).

In the fourth quarter of 2023, GAAP operating income was $21.7 million, compared to $26.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. GAAP net income was $12.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to $15.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. GAAP diluted earnings per share (“EPS”) was $0.35 in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to $0.42 in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Adjusted Diluted EPS was $0.63 in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to $0.75 in the fourth quarter of 2022. The Company ended the fourth quarter of 2023 with 36.1 million diluted weighted average shares outstanding. Adjusted EBITDA was $45.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to $46.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Operating cash flow for the fourth quarter of 2023 was $39.0 million, compared to $40.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2022.

Full Year

For the full year 2023, Novanta generated GAAP revenue of $881.7 million, an increase of $20.8 million, or 2.4%, versus the full year 2022. The Company’s acquisition activities resulted in an increase in revenue of $8.1 million, or 0.9%. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates year over year favorably impacted our revenue by $1.3 million, or 0.2%, in 2023. Our year-over-year Organic Revenue Growth, which excludes the net impact of acquisitions and changes in foreign currency exchange rates, was an increase of 1.3% for the full year 2023 (see “Organic Revenue Growth” in Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures below).

For the full year 2023, GAAP operating income was $110.5 million, compared to $103.1 million for 2022. GAAP net income was $72.9 million for the full year 2023, compared to $74.1 million for 2022. GAAP diluted EPS was $2.02 for the full year 2023, compared to $2.06 for 2022.

Adjusted Diluted EPS was $3.02 for the full year 2023, compared to $3.07 for 2022. For the full year 2023, the Company had 36.0 million diluted weighted average shares outstanding. Adjusted EBITDA was $196.2 million for the full year 2023, compared to $184.1 million for 2022.

Operating cash flow for the full year 2023 was $120.1 million, compared to $90.8 million for 2022. The Company finished the year with approximately $354.4 million of total debt and $105.1 million of total cash. Net Debt, as defined in the non-GAAP reconciliation below, was $253.0 million.

Financial Guidance

“In 2024, we are well positioned to continue to deliver innovative products to our customers that help them differentiate in their end markets,” said Matthijs Glastra. “We believe we are in the right secular high-growth markets, with the right technologies, and with a world-class team, dedicated and aligned to the Novanta mission. In this coming year, we look forward to delivering on an attractive financial framework and sustaining long-term shareholder value.”

For the full year 2024, the Company expects GAAP revenue of approximately $975 million to $1 billion. The Company expects Adjusted Gross Profit Margin to be approximately 46.0% to 47.0%. The Company expects Adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $215 million to $225 million and Adjusted Diluted EPS to be in the range of $3.10 to $3.35. The Company’s guidance assumes no significant changes in foreign exchange rates.

For the first quarter 2024, the Company expects GAAP revenue of approximately $225 million to $230 million. The Company expects Adjusted Gross Profit Margin to be approximately 45.5% to 46.0%. The Company expects Adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $45 million to $48 million and Adjusted Diluted EPS to be in the range of $0.55 to $0.60. The Company’s guidance assumes no significant changes in foreign exchange rates.

Novanta provides earnings guidance on a non-GAAP basis and does not provide earnings guidance on a GAAP basis, with the exception of GAAP revenue guidance. A reconciliation of the Company’s forward-looking Adjusted Gross Profit Margin, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Diluted EPS guidance to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures is not provided because of the inherent difficulty in forecasting and quantifying certain amounts that are necessary for such reconciliations, including acquisitions and related expenses; impact of purchase price allocations for recently completed acquisitions; future changes in the fair value of contingent considerations; future restructuring expenses; foreign exchange gains/(losses); significant discrete income tax expenses (benefits); benefits or expenses associated with the completion of tax audits; divestitures and related expenses; gains and losses from sale of real estate assets; costs related to product line closures; intangible asset impairment charges and related asset write-offs; and other charges reflected in the Company’s reconciliation of historical non-GAAP financial measures, the amounts of which, based on past experience, could be material. For additional information regarding Novanta’s non-GAAP financial measures, see “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below.

Conference Call Information

The Company will host a conference call on Wednesday, February 28, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. ET to discuss these results and to provide a business update. To access the call, please dial (888) 346-3959 prior to the scheduled conference call time. Alternatively, the conference call can be accessed online via a live webcast on the Events & Presentations page of the Investors section of the Company’s website at www.novanta.com.

A replay of the audio webcast will be available approximately three hours after the conclusion of the call in the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website at www.novanta.com. The replay will remain available until Monday, April 1, 2024.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The non-GAAP financial measures used in this press release are Organic Revenue Growth, Adjusted Gross Profit, Adjusted Gross Profit Margin, Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Operating Margin, Adjusted Income Before Income Taxes, Adjusted Income Tax Provision/(Benefit) and Effective Tax Rate, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Diluted EPS, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Free Cash Flow, Free Cash Flow as a Percentage of Net Income, and Net Debt.

The Company believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful and supplementary information to investors regarding the operating performance of the Company. It is management’s belief that these non-GAAP financial measures would be particularly useful to investors because of the significant changes that have occurred outside of the Company’s day-to-day business in accordance with the execution of the Company’s strategy. This strategy includes streamlining the Company’s existing operations through site and functional consolidations, strategic divestitures and product line closures, expanding the Company’s business through significant internal investments, and broadening the Company’s product and service offerings through acquisitions of innovative and complementary technologies and solutions. The financial impact of certain elements of these activities, particularly acquisitions, divestitures, and site and functional restructurings, is often large relative to the Company’s overall financial performance and can adversely affect the comparability of its operating results and investors’ ability to analyze the business from period to period.

The Company’s Adjusted EBITDA, Organic Revenue Growth and Adjusted Gross Margin are used by management to evaluate operating performance, communicate financial results to the Board of Directors, benchmark results against historical performance and the performance of peers, and evaluate investment opportunities, including acquisitions and divestitures. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA, Organic Revenue Growth and Adjusted Gross Margin are used to determine bonus payments for senior management and employees. The Company has also used in the past, and may use in the future, Adjusted Diluted EPS and Adjusted EBITDA as performance targets for certain performance-based restricted stock units. Accordingly, the Company believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide greater transparency and insight into management’s method of analysis.

Non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered as substitutes for, or superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. They are limited in value because they exclude charges that have a material effect on the Company’s reported results and, therefore, should not be relied upon as the sole financial measures to evaluate the Company’s financial results. The non-GAAP financial measures are meant to supplement, and to be viewed in conjunction with, GAAP financial measures. Investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures as provided in the tables accompanying this press release.

Safe Harbor and Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements in this release are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements contained in this news release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, and are generally identified by words such as “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “believe,” “future,” “could,” “should,” “plan,” “aim,” and other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding anticipated financial performance and financial position, including our financial outlook for the first quarter and full year 2024; expectations for our end markets and market position; our competitive position, including our positioning for long-term growth; expectations regarding our ability to navigate difficult macroeconomic conditions and other statements that are not historical facts.

These forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements for many reasons, including, but not limited to, the following: economic and political conditions and the effects of these conditions on our customers’ businesses, capital expenditures and level of business activities; risks associated with epidemics or pandemics and other events outside our control; our dependence upon our ability to respond to fluctuations in product demand; our ability to continually innovate, introduce new products timely, and successfully commercialize our innovations; failure to introduce new products in a timely manner; customer order timing and other similar factors may cause fluctuations in our operating results; cyberattacks, disruptions or other breaches in security of our and our third-party providers’ information technology systems; risks associated with our operations in foreign countries; our increased outsourcing of components manufacturing in different countries than our manufacturing facilities; our exposure to increased tariffs, trade restrictions or taxes on our products; violations of our intellectual property rights and our ability to protect our intellectual property against infringement by third parties; risk of losing our competitive advantage; our failure to successfully integrate recent and future acquisitions into our business; our ability to attract and retain key personnel; our restructuring and realignment activities and disruptions to our operations as a result of consolidation of our operations; product defects or problems integrating our products with other vendors’ products; disruptions in the supply of certain key components or other goods from our suppliers; our failure to accurately forecast component and raw material requirements leading to excess inventories or delays in the delivery of our products; production difficulties and product delivery delays or disruptions; our exposure to medical device regulations, which may impede or hinder the approval or sale of our products and, in some cases, may ultimately result in an inability to obtain approval of certain products or may result in the recall or seizure of previously approved products; potential penalties for violating foreign, U.S. federal, and state healthcare laws and regulations; impact of healthcare industry cost containment and healthcare reform measures; changes in governmental regulations affecting our business or products; our failure to comply with data privacy regulations; our failure to implement new information technology systems and software successfully; changes in interest rates, credit ratings or foreign currency exchange rates; our failure to realize the full value of our intangible assets; our reliance on original equipment manufacturer customers; increasing scrutiny and changing expectations from investors, customers, and governments with respect to corporate sustainability policies and practices; effects of climate change and related regulatory responses; being subject to U.S. federal income taxation even though we are a non-U.S. corporation; changes in tax laws, and fluctuations in our effective tax rates; any need for additional capital to adequately respond to business challenges or opportunities and repay or refinance our existing indebtedness, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all; our existing indebtedness limiting our ability to engage in certain activities; volatility in the market price for our common shares; our exposure to the credit risk of some of our customers and in weakened markets; and our failure to maintain appropriate internal controls in the future.

Other important risk factors that could affect the outcome of the events set forth in these statements and that could affect the Company’s operating results and financial condition are discussed in Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, as updated by our subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such statements are based on the Company’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to the Company. The Company disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any such forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this document except as required by law.

About Novanta

Novanta is a leading global supplier of core technology solutions that give medical and advanced industrial original equipment manufacturers a competitive advantage. We combine deep proprietary technology expertise and competencies in precision medicine and manufacturing, medical solutions, and robotics and automation with a proven ability to solve complex technical challenges. This enables Novanta to engineer core components and sub-systems that deliver extreme precision and performance, tailored to our customers’ demanding applications. The driving force behind our growth is the team of innovative professionals who share a commitment to innovation and customer success. Novanta’s common shares are quoted on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “NOVT.”

More information about Novanta is available on the Company’s website at www.novanta.com. For additional information, please contact Novanta Investor Relations at (781) 266-5137 or InvestorRelations@novanta.com.