Guidewire Software, Inc. (GWRE)

ITEM 2.    Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our condensed consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and the Risk Factors included in Item 1A of Part II of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. All information presented herein is based on our fiscal calendar. Unless otherwise stated, references in this report to particular years or quarters refer to our fiscal years ended in July and the associated quarters of those fiscal years. We assume no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements for any reason, except as required by law.

Overview

Guidewire is the platform that property and casualty (“P&C”) insurers rely on to engage with customers, innovate, and operate more efficiently. Our platform combines core systems of record with digital, analytics, and artificial intelligence (“AI”) capabilities. We serve insurers of all sizes, ranging from global carriers to regional and local providers, helping them navigate a rapidly changing insurance landscape.

Our foundational core products, InsuranceSuite and InsuranceNow, are delivered primarily as cloud-based subscription services. Historically, InsuranceSuite has also been available for self-managed installations. These products serve as transactional systems of record, fully supporting insurance operations, including product definition, policy administration, claims management and billing.

In addition, we provide digital engagement products that enable seamless sales, omnichannel service, and enhanced claims experiences for policyholders, agents, vendors, and field personnel. Our analytics products allow insurers to manage and use data more effectively, gain business insights, improve operational efficiency, and underwrite emerging risks. To support insurers worldwide, we localize our products to address diverse regulatory, language, and currency requirements.

InsuranceSuite is a highly configurable and scalable product, delivered as a service, and primarily comprised of five core applications (PolicyCenter, ClaimCenter, BillingCenter, and the recently announced PricingCenter and UnderwritingCenter) that can be subscribed to separately or together. These applications are built on and optimized for our Guidewire Cloud Platform (“GWCP”) architecture and leverage our in-house cloud operations team. InsuranceSuite is designed to support multiple releases each year to accelerate delivery of new capabilities and ensure that cloud customers remain on the latest version and gain fast access to our innovation efforts. Additionally, InsuranceSuite embeds digital and analytics capabilities natively into our platform. Most new sales and implementations are for InsuranceSuite.

InsuranceNow is a complete, cloud-based application that offers policy administration, claims management, and billing functionality, plus pre-integrated document production, analytics, and other capabilities, that increases agility without adding complexity. Like InsuranceSuite, InsuranceNow is hosted on GWCP and managed by our internal cloud operations team. InsuranceNow is currently only available in the United States and Canada, and is generally suited to mid-market carriers and managing general agents whose needs are often not as complex as a typical InsuranceSuite customer.

We reach customers directly through our global sales team and in partnership with third-party global system integrators (“SI’s”). Because our platform is central to insurers’ operations, customer evaluation cycles are often extensive, particularly when multiple products are involved or when insurers are moving to GWCP for the first time. Sales processes typically include detailed due diligence and customer reference checks. Our growth depends on continuously enhancing existing products, introducing new capabilities, ensuring efficient cloud operations, expanding local content, and providing access to innovation through the Guidewire Marketplace.

We sell our products primarily through subscription services for our platform and cloud-delivered products. We generally price our subscription services for the core products based on the amount of Direct Written Premium (“DWP”) managed on our platform, with certain cloud-delivered products priced based on usage or other metrics. Initial subscription agreements are generally five years in duration, with annual renewals thereafter. In some instances, we have customers that sign contracts with an initial term of seven years or longer. Subscription revenue is recognized ratably over the contract term. We also offer term licenses, primarily for existing on-premise customers, as well as support and professional services. Support is typically priced as a percentage of license fees and recognized ratably, while most professional services are billed monthly on a time-and-materials basis. However, certain services engagements are based on a fixed fee and revenue is recognized on a percentage of completion basis.

Over the past few years, we have primarily been entering into cloud-based subscription arrangements with our new and existing customers, and we anticipate that subscription arrangements will continue to be a significant majority of annual new sales going forward. We may decide to change certain contract terms in new arrangements to remain competitive or otherwise meet market demands which may impact the way we recognize revenue and/or Annual Recurring Revenue (“ARR”).

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To extend our technology leadership in the global market and to drive operating efficiency, we continue to invest in product development and cloud operations to enhance and improve our current products, introduce new products, and advance our ability to securely and cost-effectively deliver our services in the cloud. Continued investment is critical as we seek to assist our customers in achieving their technology goals, maintain our competitive advantage, grow our revenue, expand internationally, and meet evolving customer demands. In certain cases, we may also acquire skills and technologies to manage our cloud infrastructure and accelerate our time to market for new products, solutions, and upgrades.

Our track record of success with customers and their implementations is central to maintaining our strong competitive position. We rely on our global services team and SI partners to ensure that teams with the right combination of product, business, and language skills are used in the most efficient way to meet our customers’ implementation and migration needs. We have extensive relationships with SI, consulting, technology, and other industry partners. Our network of partners has expanded as interest in and adoption of our platform has grown. We encourage our partners to co-market, pursue joint sales initiatives, and drive broader adoption of our technology, helping us grow our business more efficiently and enabling us to focus our resources on continued innovation and further enhancement of our solutions.

We work closely with our network of SI partners to facilitate new sales and implementations of our products. Our partnership with leading SI partners allows us to increase efficiency and scale while reducing customer implementation and migration costs. We continue to invest time and resources to increase the number of qualified consultants employed by our SI partners, develop relationships with new partners in existing and new markets, and ensure that all SI partners are qualified to assist with implementing our products. We believe this model will continue to serve us well, and we intend to continue to expand our network of partners and the number of certified consultants with whom we work so we can leverage our SI partners more effectively, especially for future subscription migrations and implementations.

We face a number of risks in the execution of our strategy, including, but not limited to, risks related to fluctuations in our results due to factors largely outside of our control, reliance on sales to a relatively small number of large customers and the related substantial negotiating leverage of these customers, lengthy and variable sales and implementation cycles, competing effectively in the global market, growing our business and managing our expanding operations, development and use of AI in an evolving regulatory environment, making long-term pricing commitments based on cost estimates that may change, expanding market adoption of our cloud-based offerings, maintaining customer satisfaction and renewals, cost-effectively and securely managing the infrastructure of our cloud-based customers, and the impact of these and other factors, including the impact of AI on the insurance and software industries, on our stock price and its volatility. In response to these and other risks we might face, we continue to invest in many areas of our business, including product development, cloud operations, cybersecurity, introduction of new products and/or new features, implementation and migration services, and sales and marketing.

Seasonality

We have experienced seasonal variations in our license revenue and, to a lesser extent, in our subscription revenue as a result of increased customer orders in our fourth fiscal quarter, which is the quarter ending July 31. We generally see significantly increased orders in our fourth fiscal quarter due to efforts by our sales team to achieve annual incentives. Because we recognize revenue upfront for term licenses compared to over time for subscription services, an increase in term licenses due to renewals or expansion orders, or non-renewals may impact our quarterly results. Subscription sales now represent the significant majority of total sales and, as a result when compared to term license sales, the revenue we recognize in the initial fiscal year of an order is lower, deferred revenue is higher, and our total reported revenue growth may be adversely affected in the near term due to the ratable nature of these arrangements. Over time, this ratable revenue dynamic will dampen the impact of seasonality on our revenue.

Our services revenue is also subject to seasonal fluctuations, though to a lesser degree than our license revenue. Our services revenue is impacted by the number of billable days in a given fiscal quarter. Our second fiscal quarter, which is the quarter ending January 31, usually has fewer billable days due to the impact of calendar year end holidays in Europe and the United States. Our fourth fiscal quarter usually has fewer billable days due to the impact of vacations taken by our services professionals. Because we pay our services professionals the same amount throughout the year, our gross margins on our services revenue are usually lower in these quarters. This seasonal pattern, however, may be absent in any given year.

Global Events

Global events have adversely affected and may continue to adversely affect workforces, organizations, economies, and financial markets globally, leading to economic downturns, inflationary pressures, and increased market volatility. For instance, the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, conflicts in the Middle East, escalating tensions in the South China Sea, currency exchange fluctuations, changes in interest rates, changes in trade policies and practices (including the imposition of tariffs), previous bank failures in the United States and Switzerland, and supply chain issues have contributed to global economic and market volatility in recent years. We are unable to accurately predict the full impact that these global events will have on our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, and cash flows due to numerous uncertainties.

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Our business and financial results have been and may in the future be impact

[Excerpt truncated for page length; source filing is linked above.]

Item 7.Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto included in Item 8 and the Risk Factors included in Item 1A of Part I of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. All information presented herein is based on our fiscal calendar. Unless otherwise stated, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to particular years or quarters refer to our fiscal years ended in July and the associated quarters of those fiscal years. We assume no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements for any reason, except as required by law.

We have elected to omit discussion on the earliest of the three years covered by the consolidated financial statements presented. Refer to Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations located in our Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2024, filed on September 16, 2024, for reference to discussion of the fiscal year ended July 31, 2023, the earliest of the three fiscal years presented.

Overview

Guidewire is the platform that property and casualty (“P&C”) insurers rely on to engage with customers, innovate, and operate more efficiently. Our platform combines core systems of record with digital, analytics, and artificial intelligence (“AI”) capabilities. We serve insurers of all sizes, ranging from global carriers to regional and local providers, helping them navigate a rapidly changing insurance landscape.

Our foundational core products, InsuranceSuite and InsuranceNow, are delivered primarily as cloud-based subscription services. Historically, InsuranceSuite has also been available for self-managed installations. These products serve as transactional systems of record, fully supporting insurance operations, including product definition, policy administration, claims management and billing.

In addition, we provide digital engagement products that enable seamless sales, omnichannel service, and enhanced claims experiences for policyholders, agents, vendors, and field personnel. Our analytics products allow insurers to manage and use data more effectively, gain business insights, improve operational efficiency, and underwrite emerging risks. To support insurers worldwide, we localize our products to address diverse regulatory, language, and currency requirements.

InsuranceSuite is a highly configurable and scalable product, delivered as a service, and primarily comprised of three core applications (PolicyCenter, ClaimCenter, and BillingCenter) that can be subscribed to separately or together. These applications are built on and optimized for our Guidewire Cloud Platform (“GWCP”) architecture and leverage our in-house cloud operations team. InsuranceSuite is designed to support multiple releases each year to accelerate delivery of new capabilities and ensure that cloud customers remain on the latest version and gain fast access to our innovation efforts. Additionally, InsuranceSuite embeds digital and analytics capabilities natively into our platform. Most new sales and implementations are for InsuranceSuite.

InsuranceNow is a complete, cloud-based application that offers policy administration, claims management, and billing functionality, plus pre-integrated document production, analytics, and other capabilities, that increases agility without adding complexity. Like InsuranceSuite, InsuranceNow is hosted on GWCP and managed by our internal cloud operations team. InsuranceNow is currently only available in the United States, and is generally suited to mid-market carriers and managing general agents whose needs are often not as complex as a typical InsuranceSuite customer.

We reach customers directly through our global sales team and in partnership with third-party global system integrators (“SI’s”). Because our platform is central to insurers’ operations, customer evaluation cycles are often extensive, particularly when multiple products are involved or when insurers are moving to GWCP for the first time. Sales processes typically include detailed due diligence and customer reference checks. Our growth depends on continuously enhancing existing products, introducing new capabilities, ensuring efficient cloud operations, expanding local content, and providing access to innovation through the Guidewire Marketplace.

We sell our products primarily through subscription services for our platform and cloud-delivered products. We generally price our subscription services for the core products based on the amount of Direct Written Premium (“DWP”) managed on our platform, with certain cloud-delivered products priced based on usage or other metrics. Initial subscription agreements are generally five years in duration, with annual renewals thereafter. In some instances, we have customers that sign contracts with an initial term of seven years or longer. Subscription revenue is recognized ratably over the contract term. We also offer term licenses, primarily for existing on-premise customers, as well as support and professional services. Support is typically priced as a percentage of license fees and recognized ratably, while most professional services are billed monthly on a time-and-materials basis.

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Over the past few years, we have primarily been entering into cloud-based subscription arrangements with our new and existing customers, and we anticipate that subscription arrangements will continue to be a significant majority of annual new sales going forward. We may decide to change certain contract terms in new arrangements to remain competitive or otherwise meet market demands which may impact the way we recognize revenue and/or ARR.

To extend our technology leadership in the global market and to drive operating efficiency, we continue to invest in product development and cloud operations to enhance and improve our current products, introduce new products, and advance our ability to securely and cost-effectively deliver our services in the cloud. Continued investment is critical as we seek to assist our customers in achieving their technology goals, maintain our competitive advantage, grow our revenue, expand internationally, and meet evolving customer demands. In certain cases, we may also acquire skills and technologies to manage our cloud infrastructure and accelerate our time to market for new products, solutions, and upgrades.

Our track record of success with customers and their implementations is central to maintaining our strong competitive position. We rely on our global services team and SI partners to ensure that teams with the right combination of product, business, and language skills are used in the most efficient way to meet our customers’ implementation and migration needs. We have extensive relationships with SI, consulting, technology, and other industry partners. Our network of partners has expanded as interest in and adoption of our platform has grown. We encourage our partners to co-market, pursue joint sales initiatives, and drive broader adoption of our technology, helping us grow our business more efficiently and enabling us to focus our resources on continued innovation and further enhancement of our solutions.

We work closely with our network of SI partners to facilitate new sales and implementations of our products. Our partnership with leading SI partners allows us to increase efficiency and scale while reducing customer implementation and migration costs. We continue to invest time and resources to increase the number of qualified consultants employed by our SI partners, develop relationships with new partners in existing and new markets, and ensure that all SI partners are qualified to assist with implementing our products. We believe this model will continue to serve us well, and we intend to continue to expand our network of partners and the number of certified consultants with whom we work so we can leverage our SI partners more effectively, especially for future subscription migrations and implementations.

We face a number of risks in the execution of our strategy, including, but not limited to, risks related to fluctuations in our results due to factors largely outside of our control, reliance on sales to a relatively small number of large customers and the related substantial negotiating leverage of these customers, lengthy and variable sales and implementation cycles, competing effectively in the global market, growing our business and managing our expanding operations, development and use of AI in an evolving regulatory environment, making long-term pricing commitments based on cost estimates that may change, expanding market adoption of our cloud-based offerings, maintaining customer satisfaction and renewals, and cost-effectively and securely managing the infrastructure of our cloud-based customers. In response to these and other risks we might face, we continue to invest in many areas of our business, including product development, cloud operations, cybersecurity, introduction of new products and/or new features, implementation and migration services, and sales and marketing.

Seasonality

We have experienced seasonal variations in our license revenue and, to a lesser extent, in our subscription revenue as a result of increased customer orders in our fourth fiscal quarter, which is the quarter ending July 31. We generally see significantly increased orders in our fourth fiscal quarter due to efforts by our sales team to achieve annual incentives. Because we recognize revenue upfront for term licenses compared to over time for subscription services, changes in the mix between term license and subscription services may impact our quarterly results. Additionally, any significant multi-year term license or term license non-renewal could impact quarterly results. Subscription sales now represent the significant majority of total sales and, as a result when compared to term license sales, the revenue we recognize in the initial fiscal year of an order is lower, deferred revenue is higher, and our total reported revenue growth may be adversely affected in the near term due to the ratable nature of these arrangements. Over time, this ratable revenue dynamic will dampen the impact of seasonality on our revenue.

Our services revenue is also subject to seasonal fluctuations, though to a lesser degree than our license revenue and subscription revenue. Our services revenue is impacted by the number of billable days in a given fiscal quarter. Our second fiscal quarter, which is the quarter ending January 31, usually has fewer billable days due to the impact of calendar year end holidays in Europe and the United States. Our fourth fiscal quarter usually has fewer billable days due to the impact of vacations taken by our services professionals. Because we pay our services professionals the same amount throughout the year, our gross margins on our services revenue are usually lower in these quarters. This seasonal pattern, however, may be absent in any given year.

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Global Events

Global events have adversely affected and may continue to adversely affect workforces, organizations, economies, and financial markets globally, leading to economic downturns, inflationary pressures, and increased market volatility. For instance, ongoing conflicts such as the war between Russia and Ukraine, continued geopolitical instability in the Middle East, escalating tensions in the South China Sea, inflationary pressures, currency exchange fluctuations, changes in interest rates, changes in trade policies and practices (including the imposition of tariffs), previous bank failures in the United States and Switzerland, and supply chain issues have contributed to global economic and market volatility in recent years. We are unable to accurately predict the full

[Excerpt truncated for page length; the complete text is on the linked full-MD&A page.]