Madeline Brooks

Madeline Brooks from Bank of America questioned why Paylocity's updated long-term target for sales and marketing as a percentage of revenue decreased, despite a ripe market opportunity and AI-driven technological shifts, suggesting that AI efficiencies typically supplement rather than reduce total OpEx.

Answer

Toby Williams, President and CEO, explained that Paylocity believes its go-to-market investments are right-sized for the opportunity, noting that the updated target's top end is consistent with last year's actual spend, indicating no significant reduction. He emphasized a focus on productivity, efficiency, and delivery, while Ryan Glenn, Chief Financial Officer, added that Paylocity is invested to maintain its position as the fastest-growing HCM provider.

Madeline Brooks questioned why the updated long-term target for sales and marketing as a percentage of revenue decreased, asking why the company isn't investing more heavily in go-to-market given the ripe opportunity and AI efficiencies typically supplementing rather than reducing OpEx.

Answer

President and CEO Toby Williams stated that Paylocity feels its go-to-market investments are right-sized, with the adjusted target (21.6% last year, now 15-20%) reflecting appropriate investment for productivity and efficiency without under-investing in the significant opportunity. He emphasized the company's strong position as the fastest-growing HCM provider and its investment strategy to maintain that trajectory.

Madeline Brooks asked management to reconcile its conservative macro commentary with its raised full-year guidance and strong second-half optimism, particularly in light of the current Net Retention Rate (NRR).

Answer

CEO Todd Nightingale explained the guidance is intentionally conservative and contains several potential upsides. These include a possible positive policy change for TikTok, further traffic gains from the Edgio situation, and accelerating the growth turnaround in the top 10 customer cohort, which would bring its performance more in line with the 17% growth seen across the rest of the customer base.

Madeline Brooks questioned the security segment's growth, noting it appears weak compared to the market and larger, faster-growing competitors, suggesting underlying issues beyond go-to-market. She also asked if additional talent hires are needed to drive a differentiated strategy and meet growth goals.

Answer

CEO Todd Nightingale acknowledged that Fastly can improve on its 17% security growth. He argued that Fastly's competitive advantage lies in its focus on edge-delivered security for web applications and its high-performance platform. He believes the biggest lever for 2025 is go-to-market execution, supported by recent leadership hires with strong security backgrounds, such as the new heads of SE and U.S. enterprise sales.

An analyst on behalf of Madeline Brooks asked if the Q3 strength was expected, whether one-off events like the Olympics contributed, and how the revenue mix is expected to shift away from Network Services into 2025.

Answer

CFO Ron Kisling confirmed Q3 results were better than expected, driven by live sporting events, gaming, and stronger-than-anticipated growth outside the top 10. CEO Todd Nightingale stated his belief that Network Services revenue will eventually fall below 70% and even two-thirds of total revenue as the portfolio continues to diversify with security and compute offerings.

Madeline Brooks asked for clarification on whether the $100 million compute deal and the new 5-year delivery contract were with the same customer, and further questioned the specific reasons beyond geography for the customer choosing Akamai.

Answer

CEO F. Leighton confirmed it is the same customer for both deals. He elaborated that the customer chose Akamai due to superior performance and better pricing, leveraging Akamai's highly connected European points of presence which allow for efficient data handling at a favorable price point.

Madeline Brooks asked if the 7% FY'26 revenue growth guide includes new product upside and what Okta can do to reinvigorate core market growth to avoid potential share loss.

Answer

CFO Brett Tighe confirmed all current products are included in the guide. CEO Todd McKinnon stated that maintaining a strong security posture via the Secure Identity Commitment is paramount and is already building customer momentum. He expressed confidence that with this and improved go-to-market execution, including specialization, Okta will grow at or above the market rate and will not lose share.

Madeline Brooks from Bank of America asked why companies are rationalizing workforce identity spend given recent high-profile breaches, and separately, whether the federal business had an outsized impact on the quarter's results.

Answer

CEO Todd McKinnon explained that new products with quicker security ROI are helping drive adoption. CFO Brett Tighe clarified that rationalization isn't about cutting identity, but about customers being more cautious with hiring projections, thus buying fewer incremental licenses than in previous years. He also confirmed the federal business performance was normalized and not an outsized factor in the quarter.

Questioned the discrepancy between strong metrics like endpoint and ARPC growth versus slower ARR growth, the impact of the completed legacy business transition, and whether the company would consider disclosing product adoption metrics.

Answer

The company views strong endpoint and ARPC growth as leading indicators of future ARR growth, driven by their Partner First strategy. The impact from the legacy business transition is now largely behind them. Regarding disclosures, the company is considering providing product adoption metrics in the future as its portfolio of new products expands.

Asked for clarification on whether the conservative guidance for the renewal cohort is due to concerns over customer churn (GRR) or pricing pressure/discounting (NRR).

Answer

The company prioritizes retaining customers, so the conservatism in the guidance is more reflective of potential pressure on Net Retention Rate (NRR) rather than Gross Retention Rate (GRR). If customers face budget constraints, the company will work with them on a win-win economic solution, which would impact NRR through pricing or terms rather than result in losing the customer.

Madeline Brooks sought confirmation that the quarter's strength was driven by a breadth of deals rather than a few large ones, and asked for updates on metrics like core PAM growth versus other solutions and Net Retention Rate (NRR).

Answer

CEO Matt Cohen confirmed the quarter's success was broad-based, with consistent contribution from top deals and a strong 245 new logos. He noted that while emerging solutions are growing faster, the core PAM business also continues to grow, keeping the overall product mix stable. He stated it was too early to disclose a specific NRR but emphasized strong expansion within the existing customer base.