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Exhibit 99.1

LOGO

February 14, 2017

Dear Fellow Shareholders:

Our strategy to transform our business into a provider of purchase intent data continues to make excellent progress, despite a very challenging IT environment. IT Deal AlertTM revenues were up 52% in Q4 2016 to $8.9 million. We finished 2016 with over $31 million in IT Deal Alert revenues, up 36% for the year.

The lynchpin of our strategy is our Priority EngineTM and Deal DataTM offerings. Revenue from these combined product lines more than tripled in Q4 2016 compared to Q4 2015 and overall 2016 versus 2015. We had 48 new customers for Priority Engine and Deal Data in the quarter. Very importantly, revenue in the quarter derived from long term contracts represented 15% of online revenue, which is an important part of our overall growth strategy. We believe that we can drive that number to at least 20% in 2017 and at least 25% in 2018.

We just released an updated version of Priority Engine that incorporates improvements based on customer feedback, primarily around ease-of-use and seamless integration with Marketo, Inc.’s marketing automation solution. We will be rolling out seamless integration with other leading marketing automation systems in the near future.

Our overall IT Deal Alert spenders count increased to over 400 in Q4. It is clear to us that integration of our core offerings with our IT Deal Alert products, preferably sold annually, is the right strategy. Selling “Integrated and Annual” programs was the theme of our yearly sales kick-off meeting, hosted by our marketing team in January. On the marketing front, we have brought in a new team to help migrate our positioning from the leader in IT demand generation to the leader in purchase intent data. If you have visited our website (www.techtarget.com) recently, you will have noticed that we have redesigned the site, updated our positioning and introduced a lot of new supporting content.

Q4 2016 Results (Unaudited; $’s in 000’s)

 

    

Three months ended

December 31

   

Years ended

December 31

 
     2016      2015      Change     2016      2015      Change  

Core Online

                

North America Core Online

   $ 9,614       $ 13,379         -28   $ 43,296       $ 51,754         -16

International Core Online

     7,046         8,476         -17     27,127         30,648         -11
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Core Online

     16,660         21,855         -24     70,423         82,402         -15
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

IT Deal Alert

                

North America IT Deal Alert

     7,114         4,998         42     25,743         19,395         33

International IT Deal Alert

     1,811         871         108     5,661         3,777         50
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total IT Deal Alert

     8,925         5,869         52     31,404         23,172         36
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Overall Online

                

North America Online

     16,728         18,377         -9     69,039         71,149         -3

International Online

     8,857         9,347         -5     32,788         34,425         -5
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Overall Online

     25,585         27,724         -8     101,827         105,574         -4
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Events

     1,085         1,680         -35     4,798         6,252         -23
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Revenues

   $ 26,670       $ 29,404         -9   $ 106,625       $ 111,826         -5
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA*

   $ 4,670       $ 7,558         -38   $ 18,536       $ 24,499         -24

 

* Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure that is defined and reconciled to a GAAP measure later in this Letter to Shareholders.

 

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Gross Margins

Total gross profit margin for Q4 2016 and Q4 2015 was 71% and 73%, respectively. Total gross profit margin was 72% for the full year 2016, compared to 73% for 2015. Online gross profit margin was 72% in Q4 2016, compared to 75% for Q4 2015. Online gross profit margin was 73% for the year 2016, compared with 74% for 2015. Events gross profit margin was 43% for Q4 2016, compared to 46% for Q4 2015. Events gross profit margin was 44% for the year 2016, compared with 53% for 2015.

Events Update

As part of this transition to becoming the leading provider of purchase intent data, we have made the decision to phase out our face-to-face events offering. When we went public in 2007, events represented 25% of our revenue. In 2016, events represented less than 5% of our revenue. Over the years, secular trends have created headwinds. Technology vendors have shifted their budgets away from events towards more efficient online marketing vehicles and it has become more difficult to motivate attendees to abandon the convenience of the web to travel to events. With the secular trends continuing, we concluded that the opportunity costs outweighed the benefits. We believe we will see gains from the increased focus this will provide.

Large Account Update

We continued to see weakness from our largest global customers with their Q4 2016 revenue down approximately 18% year over year. The majority of that decline is coming from our four large global accounts that continue to work through major corporate transactions. In Q4 2016, these accounts were down nearly $2 million, representing approximately a 50% year over year decline. This situation is beyond our control and the visibility is limited, but our experience has been that after the integration is completed, marketing budgets recover. We don’t expect the situation with these four accounts, in the aggregate, to improve until at least the second half of 2017.

Core Online Update

Our core online revenue was down 24% in the fourth quarter, which was disproportionately driven by our largest spenders. We have looked extensively at the dynamics between our IT Deal Alert and core online offerings and have evaluated whether our growth in IT Deal Alert customers is taking away from our core online revenues from those same accounts. The data indicates that it is not.

While it is certainly the case that our sales team is leading with IT Deal Alert, and emphasizing the benefits of integration across both IT Deal Alert and core online offerings, if customers do not buy integrated solutions, and instead buy standalone offerings, it is increasingly the case that their purchase may be an IT Deal Alert offering. Our analysis of customer trends, however, indicates that this dynamic is not the major contributor to overall declines in core online.

For the largest global accounts referenced above, the declines in their core online spending are greater than their increases in IT Deal Alert spending. These spending decisions, however, are disconnected. Outside of the large global accounts, we are seeing some very interesting dynamics. Non-global accounts that spent on IT Deal Alert in 2016 grew their core inline spend by 10% on a year over year basis. Therefore, the majority of core online decline outside of global accounts is associated with the accounts that are not yet established IT Deal Alert customers. The takeaway is that IT Deal Alert provides us with the best foundation to grow core online revenue.

International Update

International IT Deal Alert revenue more than doubled in the quarter versus last year and grew 50% in 2016 versus 2015. We are seeing good traction with the introduction of Priority Engine in Europe and we just recently introduced the product in Asia. Our international business continues to face headwinds due to currency, business uncertainty and reliance on global accounts.

 

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Traffic Update

The traffic story continues to be positive. Unpaid traffic represented 95% of overall traffic in the quarter. Traffic from organic search was up 14% in 2016 versus 2015 and up 8% in Q4 2016 compared to Q4 2015.

Stock Repurchase Plan

We continue to believe in our strategy of using excess cash flow to repurchase our stock and reduce the share count. In the quarter we purchased 441,642 shares at an average price of $8.42 for approximately $3.7 million. We have approximately $12 million available under the $20 million repurchase program that we announced in June of 2016.

Balance Sheet

The Company’s balance sheet continued to remain very strong. In December 2016, we elected to make a $10 million payment towards our term loan due to fewer shares being acquired through the 2016 self-tender, and to provide headroom with the term loan covenants. As of December 31, 2016, we had $37.3 million in cash and investments and $38.4 million of outstanding term loan debt.

Foreign Exchange Update

Foreign exchange adversely affected revenue growth by 70 basis points in the quarter. The strong dollar continued to create revenue headwinds for large US-based technology vendors, which affects their marketing expenditures.

2017 and Q1 Guidance

For Q1 2017, we expect revenues between $22.5 million and $23.5 million. We expect adjusted EBITDA between $1 million and $2 million.

For 2017, we expect we can grow online revenue by approximately 10%. We are forecasting that we will be able to grow IT Deal Alert by at least 40% in 2017. We are expecting that core revenue will remain challenged in the first half of the year, while improving in the second half, resulting in a single digit decline in 2017. Overall, we are forecasting revenue growth that will translate into an expected adjusted EBITDA growth of at least 20%, which we expect to translate into net income on a GAAP basis of between 20% and 30% of adjusted EBITDA.

Summary

We are very excited about the momentum we have with IT Deal Alert as we enter 2017. We continue to view the long term opportunity as enormous and we are taking full advantage of the challenging IT environment to gain market share that we believe will pay off in the long run. We are confident that our customers will continue their quest to become data-driven sales and marketing organizations and will rely on our data to help them accomplish this goal. We know that the corporate transactions that have been adversely affecting us will eventually come to a close as those operations are fully integrated and our experience has been that business will bounce back. We are hopeful that some of the business-minded proposals being considered in Washington will spur companies to increase IT spending, which in turn will cause IT marketing budgets to grow. In the meantime, we will continue our stock repurchase program, which we believe will reward all long term shareholders.

Sincerely,

 

LOGO    LOGO
Michael Cotoia    Greg Strakosch
Chief Executive Officer                Executive Chairman

 

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(C) 2017 TechTarget, Inc. All rights reserved. TechTarget and the TechTarget logo are registered trademarks, and IT Deal Alert, Priority Engine and Deal Data are trademarks of TechTarget. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Conference Call and Webcast

TechTarget will discuss these financial results in a conference call at 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) today (February 14, 2017). Supplemental financial information and this Letter to Shareholders will be posted to the Investor Information section of our website.

NOTE: Our Letter to Shareholders will not be read on the conference call. The conference call will include only brief remarks followed by questions and answers.

The public is invited to listen to a live webcast of TechTarget’s conference call, which can be accessed on the Investor Information section of our website at http://investor.techtarget.com. The conference call can also be heard via telephone by dialing 1-888-339-0724 (US callers), 1-855-669-9657 (Canadian callers) or 1-412-902-4191 (International callers).

For those investors unable to participate in the live conference call, a replay of the conference call will be available via telephone beginning February 14, 2017 one (1) hour after the conference call through March 14, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. ET. To listen to the replay, US callers should dial 1-877-344-7529 and use the conference number 10094882. Canadian callers should dial 1-855-669-9658 and also use the conference number 10094882. International callers should dial 1-412-317-0088 and also use the conference number 10094882. The webcast replay will also be available on http://investor.techtarget.com during the same period.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This letter and the accompanying tables include a discussion of adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted net income per share, all of which are non-GAAP financial measures which are provided as a complement to results provided in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”).

Adjusted EBITDA” means earnings before net interest, other income and expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, as further adjusted to exclude stock-based compensation and other one-time charges, if any.

Adjusted net income” means net income adjusted for amortization, stock-based compensation, foreign exchange, interest on the term loan and other one-time charges, if any, as further adjusted for the related income tax impact of the adjustments.

Adjusted net income per share” means adjusted net income divided by adjusted weighted average diluted shares outstanding.

These non-GAAP measures should be considered in addition to results prepared in accordance with GAAP, but should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, GAAP results. In addition, our definition of adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted net income per share may not be comparable to the definitions as reported by other companies. We believe that adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted net income per share provide relevant and useful information to enable us and investors to compare the Company’s operating performance using an additional measurement. We use these measures in our internal management reporting and planning process as primary measures to evaluate the operating performance of our business, as well as potential acquisitions.

The components of adjusted EBITDA include the key revenue and expense items for which our operating managers are responsible and upon which we evaluate their performance. In the case of senior management, adjusted EBITDA is used as one of the principal financial metrics in their annual incentive compensation program. Adjusted EBITDA is also used for planning purposes and in presentations to our board of directors. Adjusted net income is useful to us and investors because it presents an additional measurement of our financial performance, taking into account depreciation, which we believe is an ongoing cost of doing business, but excluding the impact of certain non-cash expenses and items not directly tied to the core operations of our business, including interest on the term loan. Furthermore, we intend to provide these non-GAAP financial

 

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measures as part of our future earnings discussions and, therefore, the inclusion of these non-GAAP financial measures will provide consistency in our financial reporting. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to GAAP is provided in the accompanying tables.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain information included in this news release may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included or referenced in this release that address activities, events or developments which we expect will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the Company and members of our management team. The words “will,” “believe,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “project,” “estimate,” “predict” and similar expressions are also intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements may include those regarding guidance on our future financial results and other projections or measures of our future performance; expectations concerning market opportunities and our ability to capitalize on them; and the amount and timing of the benefits expected from acquisitions, new products or services and other potential sources of additional revenue. These statements speak only as of the date of this release and are based on our current plans and expectations. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future events or results to be different than those described in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those relating to: market acceptance of our products and services, including continued increased sales of our IT Deal Alert offerings and continued increased international growth; relationships with customers, strategic partners and employees; difficulties in integrating acquired businesses; changes in economic or regulatory conditions or other trends affecting the Internet, Internet advertising and information technology industries; and other matters included in our SEC filings, including in our Annual Report on Form 10-K. Actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update our forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

 

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TechTarget, Inc.

Consolidated Statement of Operations

(in 000’s, except per share amounts, unaudited)

 

     Three Months
Ended
December 31,
    Years Ended
December 31,
 
     2016     2015     2016     2015  

Revenues:

        

Online

   $ 25,585      $ 27,724      $ 101,827      $ 105,574   

Events

     1,085        1,680        4,798        6,252   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total revenues

     26,670        29,404        106,625        111,826   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cost of revenues:

        

Online(1)

     7,185        6,912        27,545        26,962   

Events

     623        899        2,672        2,941   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total cost of revenues

     7,808        7,811        30,217        29,903   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Gross profit

     18,862        21,593        76,408        81,923   

Operating expenses:

        

Selling and marketing(1)

     10,985        10,897        44,316        43,722   

Product development(1)

     2,011        1,957        8,038        7,680   

General and administrative(1)

     2,978        3,111        12,370        12,987   

Depreciation

     1,097        959        4,084        3,982   

Amortization of intangible assets

     91        328        809        1,382   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total operating expenses

     17,162        17,252        69,617        69,753   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Operating income

     1,700        4,341        6,791        12,170   

Interest and other expense, net

     (737     (127     (1,774     (249
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Income before provision for income taxes

     963        4,214        5,017        11,921   

Provision for income taxes

     873        2,245        2,598        4,735   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net income

   $ 90      $ 1,969      $ 2,419      $ 7,186   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net income per common share:

        

Basic

   $ —        $ 0.06      $ 0.08      $ 0.22   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Diluted

   $ —        $ 0.06      $ 0.08      $ 0.21   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Weighted average common shares outstanding:

        

Basic

     27,865        32,659        29,954        32,963   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Diluted

     28,298        33,871        30,774        34,476   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

(1) Amounts include stock-based compensation expense as follows:

        

Cost of online revenues

     22        27        112        84   

Selling and marketing

     1,016        1,085        4,119        3,530   

Product development

     35        37        159        111   

General and administrative

     709        684        2,462        2,899   

 

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TechTarget Inc.

Consolidated Balance Sheet

(in 000’s except share and per share data, unaudited)

 

     December 31,  
     2016     2015  

Assets

    

Current assets:

    

Cash and cash equivalents

   $ 18,485      $ 14,783   

Short-term investments

     10,988        10,646   

Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $1,961 and $1,715 as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively

     22,551        26,549   

Prepaid taxes

     1,952        5,306   

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

     3,961        2,192   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total current assets

     57,937        59,476   

Property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation and amortization

     9,232        8,922   

Long-term investments

     7,801        9,262   

Goodwill

     93,469        93,701   

Intangible assets, net of accumulated amortization

     601        1,448   

Deferred tax assets

     139        4,210   

Other assets

     898        840   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total assets

   $ 170,077      $ 177,859   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity

    

Current liabilities:

    

Accounts payable

   $ 2,100      $ 1,807   

Current portion of term loan

     6,157        —     

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities

     2,792        3,112   

Accrued compensation expenses

     698        675   

Income taxes payable

     122        516   

Contingent consideration

     —          1,326   

Deferred revenue

     6,079        7,595   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total current liabilities

     17,948        15,031   

Long-term liabilities:

    

Long-term portion of term loan

     32,286        —     

Deferred rent

     2,080        2,245   

Deferred tax liabilities

     200        582   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total liabilities

     52,514        17,858   

Commitments and contingencies

    

Stockholders’ equity:

    

Preferred stock, 5,000,000 shares authorized; no shares issued or outstanding

     —          —     

Common stock, $0.001 par value per share, 100,000,000 shares authorized; 52,601,284 shares issued and 27,495,539 shares outstanding at December 31, 2016

     52        51   

Treasury stock, 25,105,745 and 18,887,573 shares at December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, at cost

     (162,731     (113,949

Additional paid-in capital

     296,853        293,003   

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

     (248     (322

Accumulated deficit

     (16,363     (18,782
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total stockholders’ equity

     117,563        160,001   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity

   $ 170,077      $ 177,859   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

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TechTarget, Inc.

Reconciliation of Net Income to Adjusted EBITDA

(in 000’s unaudited)

 

     Three Months Ended
December 31,
     Years Ended
December 31,
 
     2016      2015      2016      2015  

Net income

   $ 90       $ 1,969       $ 2,419       $ 7,186   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Interest and other expense, net

     737         127         1,774         249   

Income tax provision

     873         2,245         2,598         4,735   

Depreciation

     1,097         959         4,084         3,982   

Amortization of purchase price adjustment

     —           97         —           341   

Amortization of intangible assets

     91         328         809         1,382   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

EBITDA

     2,888         5,725         11,684         17,875   

Stock-based compensation expense

     1,782         1,833         6,852         6,624   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA

   $ 4,670       $ 7,558       $ 18,536       $ 24,499   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

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TechTarget, Inc.

Reconciliation of Net Income to Adjusted Net Income and Net Income per Diluted

Share to Adjusted Net Income per Share

(in 000’s except per share amounts, unaudited)

 

     Three Months Ended
December 31,
    Years Ended
December 31,
 
     2016     2015     2016     2015  

Net income

   $ 90      $ 1,969      $ 2,419      $ 7,186   

Income tax provision

     873        2,245        2,598        4,735   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net income before taxes

     963        4,214        5,017        11,921   

Amortization of intangible assets

     91        328        809        1,382   

Stock-based compensation

     1,782        1,833        6,852        6,624   

Amortization of purchase price adjustment

     —          97        —          341   

Foreign exchange loss and interest on term loan

     760        142        1,913        302   

Adjusted income tax provision*

     (702     (3,060     (4,573     (8,567
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Adjusted net income

   $ 2,894      $ 3,554      $ 10,018      $ 12,003   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net income per diluted share

   $ —        $ 0.06      $ 0.08      $ 0.21   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Weighted average diluted shares outstanding

     28,298        33,871        30,774        34,476   

Adjusted net income per share

   $ 0.10      $ 0.10      $ 0.33      $ 0.35   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Adjusted weighted average diluted shares outstanding

     28,298        33,871        30,774        34,476   

 

* Adjusted income tax provision was calculated using our effective tax rate, excluding discrete items, for each respective period.

 

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TechTarget, Inc.

Financial Guidance for the Three Months Ended March 31, 2017

(in 000’s, unaudited)

 

     For the Three Months Ended
March 31, 2017
 
     High     Low  

Total Revenues

   $ 23,500      $ 22,500   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA

   $ 2,000      $ 1,000   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Depreciation, amortization and stock-based compensation

     2,729        2,729   

Interest and other expense, net

     354        354   

Benefit from income taxes

     (433     (833
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss

   $ (650   $ (1,250
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

10