National Instruments Reports Q3 2016 Revenue of $306 Million

Strong Revenue Growth in Software and Record Revenue in RF

Q3 2016 Highlights

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Revenue of $306 million, up 2 percent year over year in U.S. dollar terms with core revenue up 4 percent year over year

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GAAP gross margin of 75 percent, up 70 basis points year over year

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Non-GAAP gross margin of 75.7 percent, up 30 basis points year over year

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Fully diluted GAAP EPS of $0.19 and fully diluted non-GAAP EPS of $0.25

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Currency volatility in Q3 resulted in a $0.8 million loss on foreign exchange

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EBITDA of $46 million

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Cash and short-term investments of $353 million as of Sept. 30, 2016

AUSTIN, Texas – Oct. 27, 2016 – National Instruments (Nasdaq: NATI) today announced Q3 2016 revenue of $306 million, up 2 percent year over year in U.S. dollar terms with core revenue up 4 percent year over year. The company's definition of core revenue is GAAP revenue excluding the impact of NI's largest customer and the impact of foreign currency exchange. A reconciliation of GAAP revenue to core revenue is included with this news release.

In Q3 2016, NI received $5 million in orders from its largest customer compared with $6 million in orders from this customer in Q3 2015. Excluding NI's largest customer, the company's total order growth was up 5 percent in U.S. dollar terms for the quarter. The impact of foreign currency exchange reduced our year-over-year order growth by 3 percent. Orders under $20,000 were down 3 percent year over year; orders between $20,000 and $100,000 were up 2 percent year over year; and orders above $100,000 were up 34 percent year over year.

GAAP net income for Q3 was $24.5 million, with fully diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.19, and non-GAAP net income was $32.1 million, with non-GAAP fully diluted EPS of $0.25. EBITDA, or Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization, was $46.1 million.

In Q3, GAAP gross margin was 75.0 percent and non-GAAP gross margin was 75.7 percent. Total GAAP operating expenses were $200 million, up 5 percent year over year. Total non-GAAP operating expenses were $194 million, up 6 percent year over year. GAAP operating margin was 9.6 percent in Q3, with GAAP operating income of $29.4 million. Non-GAAP operating margin was 12.5 percent in Q3, with non-GAAP operating income of $38.3 million.

"Over the last decade, we have made the long-term strategic investments necessary to make NI a company built to last," said James Truchard, NI president, co-founder and CEO. "I believe the strong platform-based product offering and ecosystem we have today, coupled with significant progress in key areas including RF, FPGA and software puts NI in a strategically differentiated position."

Alex Davern, NI COO and CFO, said, "We continued to execute well in the third quarter, delivering revenue growth year-over-year. I am encouraged by our order growth this quarter and believe that the strong growth in orders over $100,000 reflects improving confidence among our larger customers. We believe we will continue to build on the multi-year investments that we have made to help deliver continued revenue growth and drive towards our 18 percent non-GAAP operating margin target."

Geographic revenue in U.S. dollar terms for Q3 2016 compared with Q3 2015 was up 3 percent in the Americas and down 6 percent in EMEIA. Revenue growth in APAC was strong at approximately 12 percent year over year. In constant currency terms, revenue was up 3 percent in the Americas, up 1 percent in EMEIA and up 12 percent in APAC. Historical revenue from these three regions can be found on NI's investor website at www.ni.com/nati.

As of Sept. 30, 2016, NI had $353 million in cash and short-term investments. During the quarter, NI paid $26 million in dividends and repaid $15 million of the outstanding balance under its line of credit. The NI Board of Directors approved a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share payable on Dec. 5, 2016, to stockholders of record on Nov.14, 2016.

The company's non-GAAP results exclude the impact of stock-based compensation, amortization of acquisition-related intangibles, acquisition-related transaction costs, taxes levied on the transfer of acquired intellectual property, foreign exchange loss on acquisitions and restructuring charges. Reconciliations of the company's GAAP and non-GAAP results are included as part of this news release.

Guidance for Q4 2016

NI currently expects Q4 revenue to be in the range of $323 million to $353 million. Based on current exchange rates, the company expects that the impact of the strengthening U.S. dollar will reduce the company's year-over-year dollar revenue growth rate by approximately 2 percent in Q4. We are expecting our non-GAAP effective tax rate to be approximately 25 percent in Q4. For 2017, we are expecting our non-GAAP effective tax rate to be in the range of 18 percent to 20 percent. The company currently expects that GAAP fully diluted EPS will be in the range of $0.23 to $0.37 for Q4, with non-GAAP fully diluted EPS expected to be in the range of $0.31 to $0.45.

When presenting non-GAAP information, the company includes a reconciliation of the non-GAAP results to the GAAP results. Management believes that including the non-GAAP results assists investors in assessing the company's operational performance and its performance relative to its competitors. The company presents these non-GAAP results as a complement to results provided in accordance with GAAP, and these results should not be regarded as a substitute for GAAP. Management uses these non-GAAP measures to manage and assess the profitability and performance of its business and does not consider stock-based compensation expense, amortization of acquisition-related intangibles, acquisition-related transaction costs, taxes levied on the transfer of acquired intellectual property, foreign exchange loss on acquisitions, and restructuring charges in managing its operations. Specifically, management uses non-GAAP measures to plan and forecast future periods; to establish operational goals; to compare with its business plan and individual operating budgets; to measure management performance for the purposes of executive compensation, including payments to be made under bonus plans; to assist the public in measuring the company's performance relative to the company's long-term public performance goals; to allocate resources; and, relative to the company's historical financial performance, to enable comparability between periods. Management also considers such non-GAAP results to be an important supplemental measure of its performance.

This news release discloses the company's EBITDA for the three- month periods ending Sept. 30, 2016 and 2015. The company believes that including the EBITDA results assists investors in assessing the company's operational performance relative to its competitors. A reconciliation of EBITDA to GAAP net income is included with this news release. This news release also discloses the year over year change in the company's core revenue for the three- month period ending September 30, 2016.  The company believes that including its core revenue assists investors in assessing the company's operational performance. A reconciliation of GAAP revenue to core revenue is included with this news release.

Conference Call Information and Availability of Presentation Materials

Interested parties can listen to the Q3 2016 earnings conference call with NI management today, Oct. 27, at 4:00 p.m. CT at www.ni.com/call. Replay information is available by calling (855) 859-2056, confirmation code 89727566, shortly after the call through Oct. 30 at 11:00 p.m. CT or by visiting the company's website at www.ni.com/call. Presentation materials referred to on the conference call can be found at www.ni.com/nati.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains "forward-looking statements" including statements regarding making NI a company built to last, that the strong platform-based product offering and ecosystem we have today, coupled with significant progress in key areas including RF, FPGA and software puts NI in a strategically differentiated position, being encouraged by our order growth this quarter, belief that the strong growth in orders over $100,000 reflects improving confidence among our larger customers, that we will continue to build on the multi-year investments that we have made to help deliver continued revenue growth and drive towards our 18% non-GAAP operating margin target, expecting Q4 revenue to be in the range of $323 million to $353 million, that the impact of the strengthening of the U.S. dollar will reduce the company's year-over-year dollar revenue growth rate by approximately 2 percent in Q4, expecting our non-GAAP effective tax rate to be approximately 25 percent in Q4, that for 2017 we are expecting our non-GAAP effective tax rate to be in the range of 18 percent to 20 percent, and our guidance for GAAP fully diluted EPS and non-GAAP fully diluted EPS for Q4.  These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the risk of adverse changes or fluctuations in the global economy, foreign exchange fluctuations, fluctuations in demand for NI products including orders from NI's largest customer, component shortages, delays in the release of new products, the company's ability to effectively manage its operating expenses, manufacturing inefficiencies and the level of capacity utilization, the impact of any recent or future acquisitions by NI, expense overruns, adverse effects of price changes or effective tax rates. Actual results may differ materially from the expected results.

The company directs readers to its Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2015, its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2016; and the other documents it files with the SEC for other risks associated with the company's future performance.

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