To help investors understand Trimble's past financial performance and future results, as well as its performance relative to competitors, Trimble supplements the financial results that the Company provides in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, with non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP measures can be used to evaluate Trimble's historical and prospective financial performance, as well as its performance relative to competitors. The Company's management regularly uses supplemental non-GAAP financial measures internally to understand, manage, and evaluate the business, and to make operating decisions. These non-GAAP measures are among the primary factors management uses in planning for and forecasting future periods. Trimble believes that these non-GAAP financial measures reflect an additional way of viewing aspects of the Company's operations that, when viewed with GAAP results, provide a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting the business. Further, Trimble believes some of the Company's investors track "core operating performance" as a means of evaluating performance in the ordinary, ongoing, and customary course of the Company's operations. Core operating performance excludes items that are non-cash, not expected to recur, or not reflective of ongoing financial results. Management also believes that looking at Trimble's core operating performance provides a supplemental way to provide consistency in period to period comparisons.
The method the Company uses to produce non-GAAP results is not computed according to GAAP and may differ from the methods used by other companies including industry peer companies, limiting the usefulness of these measures for comparative purposes.
Our non-GAAP results are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP measures and should be read only in conjunction with Trimble's consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. The non-GAAP financial measures included in the previous table as well as detailed explanations to the adjustments to comparable GAAP measures are set forth below:
Non-GAAP revenue
We believe this measure helps investors understand the performance of our business, as non-GAAP revenue excludes the effects of certain acquired deferred revenue that was written down to fair value in purchase accounting. Management believes that excluding fair value purchase accounting adjustments more closely correlates with the ordinary and ongoing course of the acquired company's operations and facilitates analysis of revenue growth and business trends.
Non-GAAP gross margin
We believe our investors benefit by understanding our non-GAAP gross margin as a way of understanding how product mix, pricing decisions, and manufacturing costs influence our business. Non-GAAP gross margin excludes the effects of acquired deferred revenue that was written down to fair value in purchase accounting, restructuring charges, COVID-19 expenses, amortization of purchased intangible assets, stock-based compensation, deferred compensation, and acquisition/divestiture items associated with the acceleration of acquisition stock options from GAAP gross margin. We believe that these adjustments offer investors additional information that may be useful to view trends in our gross margin performance.
Non-GAAP operating expenses
We believe this measure is important to investors evaluating our non-GAAP spending in relation to revenue. Non-GAAP operating expenses exclude restructuring charges, COVID-19 expenses, amortization of purchased intangible assets, stock-based compensation, deferred compensation, and acquisition/divestiture items associated with external and incremental costs resulting directly from merger and acquisition activities such as: legal, due diligence, integration, and other costs including the acceleration of acquisition stock options, adjustments to the fair value of earn-out liabilities, and the effects of certain acquired capitalized commissions that were eliminated in purchase accounting from GAAP operating expenses. We believe that these adjustments offer investors supplemental information to facilitate comparison of our operating expenses to our prior results.
Non-GAAP operating income
We believe our investors benefit by understanding our non-GAAP operating income trends, which are driven by revenue, gross margin, and spending. Non-GAAP operating income excludes the effects of purchase accounting adjustments to certain acquired deferred revenue and acquired capitalized commissions, restructuring charges, COVID-19 expenses, amortization of purchased intangible assets, stock-based compensation, deferred compensation, and acquisition/divestiture items from GAAP operating income. We believe that these adjustments offer an alternative means for our investors to evaluate current operating performance compared to results of other periods.
Non-GAAP non-operating expense, net
We believe this measure helps investors evaluate our non-operating income trends. Non-GAAP non-operating expense, net, excludes deferred compensation, acquisition/divestiture gains/losses associated with unusual acquisition related items such as intangible asset impairment charges, gains or losses related to the acquisitions or sale of certain businesses and investments. We believe that these exclusions provide investors with a supplemental view of our ongoing financial results.
Non-GAAP income tax provision
We believe that providing investors with the non-GAAP income tax provision is beneficial because it provides for consistent treatment of the excluded items in our non-GAAP presentation.
Non-GAAP net income
This measure provides a supplemental view of net income trends, which are driven by non-GAAP income before taxes and our non-GAAP tax rate. Non-GAAP net income excludes the effects of purchase accounting adjustments to certain acquired deferred revenue and acquired capitalized commissions, restructuring charges, COVID-19 expenses, amortization of purchased intangible assets, stock-based compensation, deferred compensation, acquisition/divestiture items, and non-GAAP tax adjustments from GAAP net income. We believe our investors benefit from understanding these adjustments and from an alternative view of our net income performance as compared to our past net income performance.
Non-GAAP diluted net income per share
We believe our investors benefit by understanding our non-GAAP operating performance as reflected in a per share calculation as a way of measuring non-GAAP operating performance by ownership in the company. Non-GAAP diluted net income per share excludes the effects of purchase accounting adjustments to certain acquired deferred revenue and acquired capitalized commissions, restructuring charges, COVID-19 expenses, amortization of purchased intangible assets, stock-based compensation, deferred compensation, acquisition/divestiture items, and non-GAAP tax adjustments from GAAP diluted net income per share. We believe that these adjustments offer investors a useful view of our diluted net income per share as compared to our past diluted net income per share.
Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA is a financial performance measure that we believe offers a useful view of the overall operations of our business. We believe these adjustments are useful because they facilitate company-to-company operating performance comparisons by removing potential differences caused by variations unrelated to operating performance, such as capital structures (interest expense), income taxes, and the age and book appreciation of property/equipment (and related depreciation expense). Adjusted EBITDA refers to non-GAAP operating income plus depreciation plus income from equity method investments, net. Our investors should consider the limitations of using Adjusted EBITDA, including the fact that this measure does not provide a complete measure of our operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA is not intended to purport to be an alternative to operating income as a measure of operating performance or to cash flow from operating activities as a measure of liquidity. In particular, Adjusted EBITDA is not intended to be a measure of cash flow available for our discretionary expenditures, as this measure does not consider certain cash requirements, such as COVID-19 expenses, restructuring charges, acquisition and divestiture items, interest payments, tax payments and other debt service requirements.
These non-GAAP measures can be used to evaluate our historical and prospective financial performance, as well as our performance relative to competitors. We believe some of our investors track our "core operating performance" as a means of evaluating our performance in the ordinary, ongoing, and customary course of our operations. Core operating performance excludes items that are non-cash, not expected to recur, or not reflective of ongoing financial results. Management also believes that looking at our core operating performance provides a supplemental way to provide consistency in period to period comparisons. Accordingly, management excludes from non-GAAP those items relating to the effects of purchase accounting adjustments to certain acquired deferred revenue and acquired capitalized commissions, restructuring charges, COVID-19 expenses, amortization of purchased intangible assets, stock-based compensation, deferred compensation, acquisition/divestiture items, and non-GAAP tax adjustments.
(A) | Acquired deferred revenue adjustment. Purchase accounting generally requires us to write-down acquired deferred revenue to fair value. Our GAAP revenue includes the fair value impact from purchase accounting for post-contract support and subscriptions contracts assumed in connection with our acquisitions. The non-GAAP adjustment to our revenue is intended to reflect the full amount of such revenue. We believe this adjustment is useful to investors as a measure of the ongoing performance of our business and facilitates analysis of revenue growth and business trends. |
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| (B) | Restructuring charges . Included in our GAAP presentation of cost of sales and operating expenses, restructuring charges recorded are primarily for employee compensation resulting from reductions in employee headcount in connection with our company restructurings. We exclude restructuring charges from our non-GAAP measures because we believe they do not reflect expected future operating expenses, they are not indicative of our core operating performance, and they are not meaningful in comparisons to our past operating performance. We have incurred restructuring expense in each of the periods presented. However the amount incurred can vary significantly based on whether a restructuring has occurred in the period and the timing of headcount reductions. |
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| (C) | COVID-19 expenses. Included in our GAAP presentation of operating expenses, COVID-19 expenses consist of costs incurred as a direct impact from the COVID-19 virus pandemic, such as cancellation fees of trade shows due to public safety issues, additional costs for disinfecting facilities, personal protective equipment, and labor. We exclude COVID-19 expenses from our non-GAAP measures because we believe they are one-time costs that vary significantly in amount and timing and are not indicative of our core operating performance. |
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| (D) | Amortization of purchased intangible assets . Included in our GAAP presentation of gross margin and operating expenses is amortization of purchased intangible assets. U.S. GAAP accounting requires that intangible assets are recorded at fair value and amortized over their useful lives. Consequently, the timing and size of our acquisitions will cause our operating results to vary from period to period, making a comparison to past performance difficult for investors. This accounting treatment may cause differences when comparing our results to companies that grow internally because the fair value assigned to the intangible assets acquired through acquisition may significantly exceed the equivalent expenses that a company may incur for similar efforts when performed internally. Furthermore, the useful life that we use to amortize our intangible assets over may be substantially different from the time period that an internal growth company incurs and recognizes such expenses. We believe that by excluding the amortization of purchased intangible assets, which primarily represents technology and/or customer relationships already developed, this provides an alternative way for investors to compare our operations pre-acquisition to those post-acquisition and to those of our competitors that have pursued internal growth strategies. However, we note that companies that grow internally will incur costs to develop intangible assets that will be expensed in the period incurred, which may make a direct comparison more difficult. |
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| (E) | Stock-based compensation and deferred compensation . Included in our GAAP presentation of cost of sales and operating expenses are stock-based compensation consists of expenses for employee stock options and awards and purchase rights under our employee stock purchase plan. Additionally included in our GAAP presentation of cost of sales and operating expenses are income or expense associated with movement in our non-qualified deferred compensation plan liabilities. Changes in non-qualified deferred compensation plan assets, included in non-operating expense, net, offset the income or expense in the plan liabilities. We exclude them from our non-GAAP measures because some investors may view it as not reflective of our core operating performance as they are a non-cash item. |
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| (F) | Acquisition / divestiture items . Included in our GAAP presentation of cost of sales and operating expenses, acquisition costs consist of external and incremental costs resulting directly from merger and acquisition and strategic investment activities such as legal, due diligence, integration, and other closing costs including the acceleration of acquisition stock options and adjustments to the fair value of earn-out liabilities. Included in our GAAP presentation of non-operating expense, net, acquisition/divestiture items includes unusual acquisition, investment, and/or divestiture gains/losses. Although we do numerous acquisitions, the costs that have been excluded from the non-GAAP measures are costs specific to particular acquisitions. These are one-time costs that vary significantly in amount and timing and are not indicative of our core operating performance. |
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| (G) | Amortization of acquired capitalized commissions . Purchase accounting generally requires us to eliminate capitalized sales commissions balances as of the acquisition date. Our GAAP sales and marketing expenses generally do not reflect the amortization of these capitalized sales commissions balances. The non-GAAP adjustment to increase our sales and marketing expenses is intended to reflect the full amount of amortization related to such balances as though the acquired companies operated independently in the periods presented. We believe this adjustment to sales and marketing expenses is useful to investors as a measure of the ongoing performance of our business. |
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| (H) | Non-GAAP items tax effected . This amount adjusts the provision for income taxes to reflect the effect of the non-GAAP items (A) - (G) on non-GAAP net income. We believe this information is useful to investors because it provides for consistent treatment of the excluded items in this non-GAAP presentation. |
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| (I) | Difference in GAAP and Non-GAAP tax rate . This amount represents the difference between the GAAP and Non-GAAP tax rates applied to the Non-GAAP operating income plus the Non-GAAP non-operating expense, net. The non-GAAP tax rate excludes net deferred tax impacts resulting from a non-U.S. intercompany transfer of intellectual property. We believe that investors benefit from excluding this amount from our non-GAAP income tax provision because it facilitates a comparison of the non-GAAP tax provision in the current and prior periods. |
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| (J) | GAAP and non-GAAP tax rate percentages . These percentages are defined as GAAP income tax provision as a percentage of GAAP income before taxes and non-GAAP income tax provision as a percentage of non-GAAP income before taxes. We believe that investors benefit from a presentation of non-GAAP tax rate percentage as a way of facilitating a comparison to non-GAAP tax rates in prior periods. |
