N-able's preliminary Q1 2022 quarterly financial results generally mirror the overall MSP technology market's growth. Take a closer look, and anecdotal evidence suggests N-able's MSP partner base remains loyal and continues to increase it's technology spend with the MSP software provider, particularly across data protection and cybersecurity services.
Still, competition from faster-growth MSP software rivals and multiple upstarts remains fierce, ChannelE2E notes. Moreover, the N-able results provide a key MSP software industry bellwether amid Kaseya's pending buyout of Datto.
Among the anecdotes to note from N-able's Q1 of fiscal 2022:
- Total revenue of $90.9 million, up 9% year-over-year, or approximately 12% year-over-year growth on a constant currency basis. By contrast, the overall MSP technology market is growing 8% to 12% annually depending on various market segments, according to ChannelE2E's ongoing market coverage.
- N-able's Net Revenue Retention Rate (NRR) is 108% -- a solid figure that essentially means MSPs are maintaining their relationship with N-able, and increasing their spending with the company.
- Net income of $5.1 million, compared to a net loss of $4.3 million in Q1 of fiscal 2021.
The figures -- released May 12, 2022 -- generally beat Wall Street's expectations, according to SeekingAlpha. And looking ahead, N-able expects annual revenue of roughly $376 million to $379 million, representing 9% year-over-year growth, or 13% to 14% year-over-year growth on a constant currency basis, the company said.
N-able MSP Software Revenue Mix: RMM, Cloud Backup, Cybersecurity
N-able continues to tout the software company's expansion beyond RMM (remote monitoring and management) to data protection and cybersecurity solutions that help MSPs safeguard SMB customer systems. An EDR (endpoint detection and response) security partnership with SentinelOne now protects 1 million customer endpoints, N-able notes. And 4,000 MSPs now leverage N-able's backup solution for Microsoft 365 to protect more than 25,000 customer domains and over 900,000 email inboxes. N-able has also rebranded its cloud-first data protection service as Cove.
In a prepared statement about the earnings results, N-able President and CEO John Pagliuca said:
“Our first quarter of 2022 came in above the high-end of our expectations, which is a testament not only to the hard work of our N-able team, but to expanding awareness of our brand and our growing reputation as the partner of choice for MSPs around the world. Our call-to-action in 2022 is ‘Earn More Fans,’ and to us that implies that we must execute well on every aspect of N-able’s value proposition. Our technology is being recognized as some of the top-rated offerings on the market as we continue to help our partners grow their businesses, and we are tuning our culture to ensure we are continuously improving to serve our mission.”
Still, the Q1 2022 financial results are preliminary and pending final review by the company and its external auditors.
N-able Rivals: Fierce MSP Software Market Competition
Meanwhile, competition remains fierce in the MSP software market, where some rivals are growing more rapidly than N-able.
For instance, Datto's total Q1 2022 revenue was $170.8 million, up 18% from Q1 of 2021. Kaseya’s pending $6.2 billion acquisition of Datto, funded by private equity firm Insight Partners, is expected to close in the second half of 2022. The deal will create a massive software provider that assists MSPs with business automation, IT management, security and data protection capabilities. For its part, Kaseya indicated 20%+ growth in 2021, ChannelE2E believes.
The other industry giant -- ConnectWise -- is generating double-digit percentage growth rates from what we've heard, though we don't have an official figure from the company. Looking ahead, ConnectWise is betting heavily on the Asio software code base and a new RMM build-out.
Also of note: NinjaOne is now a unicorn valued at more than $1 billion, ChannelE2E believes. Some Silicon Valley pundits put the figure at $1.5 billion, though we haven't heard for sure. NinjaOne, backed by 430 employees or so, has quietly but effectively built home-grown MSP and IT operations platform that supports more than 7,000 customers and 3 million end-points.
Elsewhere, startups to note include Atera, Syncro and SuperOps.ai -- each of which have cloud-based RMM/PSA platforms that are gaining traction with MSPs.
N-able: MSP Software Acquisitions Coming?
N-able spun off from SolarWinds in 2021. That move should allow N-able to more effectively target tuck-in acquisitions to further round out the company's MSP software catalog, ChannelE2E believes.
Both N-able and ConnectWise remain backed by private equity firm Thoma Bravo -- which continues to invest heavily across the MSP software market.
