A10 Networks (ATEN) 2026年第三季法說會：營收成長 22.6%，調升財測指引

重點摘要

• A10 Networks 公布 2026 年第三季營收達創紀錄的 9,150 萬美元，年增 22.6%。年初至今營收成長 17.4% 至 2.467 億美元。
• 產品營收達 5,850 萬美元，占總營收的 64%。以資安為核心的產品方案占產品營收的 65%。
• Non-GAAP 毛利率為 80%，Non-GAAP 營業利益率達 27.8%。Non-GAAP 稀釋每股盈餘由去年同期的 0.23 美元增至 0.31 美元。
• 管理階層將 2026 全年營收成長預估由此前的 12% 至 14% 上調至約 16%。公司預期 Non-GAAP 調整後 EBITDA 利潤率將超過 30%，稀釋每股盈餘介於 1.08 美元至 1.10 美元。
• 市場需求基礎廣泛：扣除 A10 最大客戶的營收呈現雙位數成長，同時歐洲、中東與非洲地區 (EMEA) 及亞太與日本地區 (APJ) 均錄得雙位數年增率。
• A10 設定 2029 財年自身營運目標為年營收達 5 億美元，且年度 Non-GAAP 每股盈餘達 2 美元。

核心財務數據

本季期間，A10 發放了 440 萬美元股利並買回 2,300 萬美元股票，向股東返還共計 2,740 萬美元。董事會核准每股 0.06 美元的季度股利，將於 2026 年 12 月 1 日發放給截至 11 月 16 日名列股東名冊的股東。該公司 7,500 萬美元的股票回購授權額度中，尚餘 3,010 萬美元。

業務與營運表現

企業客戶貢獻了第三季營收的 58%，以及過去 12 個月營收的約一半。管理階層表示，這反映了公司在營收結構多元化方面的進展。在 AI 基礎設施建置與企業需求推動下，美洲地區占全球營收的 64%。

A10 表示，AI 相關流量的不斷攀升，帶動了對次世代網路、DDoS 防護以及管控 AI 存取、路由與成本工具的需求。一家《財星》50 大金融服務公司正在約 800 個代理型 AI (Agentic AI) 應用程式中使用 A10 的 AI 防火牆，每天約有 50,000 個連線階段透過該解決方案進行路由。此外，一家全球資訊與分析供應商亦採用 A10 的 AI 紅隊演練能力，測試模型與應用程式的潛在漏洞。

管理階層強調，成長不僅與新建資料中心有關，也與流量增加、資安需求擴大以及推廣負責任的 AI 應用息息相關。該公司最大策略客戶的需求依然穩健，其餘業務亦維持雙位數成長。

管理階層財務指引

A10 將 2026 全年營收年增率預估由此前的 12% 至 14% 上調至約 16%。管理階層表示，該展望的前提是不計最大客戶的情況下，第四季各項業務將持續呈現年增長。

公司預期全年 Non-GAAP 調整後 EBITDA 利潤率將超過 30%。Non-GAAP 稀釋每股盈餘預估介於 1.08 美元至 1.10 美元，相當於 20% 至 22% 的成長率，並將超越預期的營收成長幅度。

全年自由現金流預計將達到 7,400 萬美元至 7,700 萬美元，高於前一年的約 6,400 萬美元。

針對 2029 財年，管理階層設定了自身營運目標：年營收達 5 億美元，且年度 Non-GAAP 每股盈餘達 2 美元。這些長期數據為公司設定的目標，而非已公布的財報結果。

風險與關注焦點

A10 正在因應全產業面臨的投入成本與交貨挑戰。管理階層亦指出，供應鏈限制可能使公司在未來四到六個季度內，必須權衡並排定客戶訂單履行的優先順序。

美洲服務供應商的支出已開始回歸正常化，但仍低於歷史水準。國際市場需求亦可能隨著亞洲、歐洲及美國服務供應商的資本支出週期而有所波動。

管理階層將第三季應收帳款週轉天數 (DSO) 降至 49 天歸因於現金入帳的時間點，並指出該季度的營運資金效益可能不具常態性。

分析師問答焦點

當被問及產品營收成長的可持續性時，管理階層表示，這反映了新業務的拓展、客戶對新解決方案的採用，以及在競爭中勝出贏得訂單，而非異常的設備更換週期。A10 在未來兩到三年內並不依賴大規模換機週期來支撐成長。

管理階層指出，不計最大客戶的業務足以支撐雙位數成長，儘管供應鏈限制可能會影響個別季度中交付客戶的優先順序。管理階層表示整體需求基礎廣泛，而非依賴單一客戶。

關於國際市場的表現，管理階層將其改善部分歸因於服務供應商需求的正常波動，以及公司在持續服務最大客戶的同時，具備履行其他訂單的能力。

法說會完整逐字稿

完整財報電話會議逐字稿

管理層陳述

Operator

Good afternoon, and welcome to the A10 Networks Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]

It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host, Tom Baumann. The floor is yours.

Tom Baumann

Thank you, and thank you all for joining us today. This call is being recorded and webcast live and may be accessed for at least 90 days via the A10 Networks website at a10networks.com.

Hosting the call today are Dhrupad Trivedi, A10's President and CEO; and CFO, Michelle Caron.

Before we begin, I would like to remind you that shortly after the market closed today, A10 Networks issued a press release announcing its third quarter 2026 financial results. Additionally, A10 published a presentation and supplemental trended financial statements. You may access the press release, presentation and trended financial statements on the Investor Relations section of the company's website.

During the course of today's call, management will make forward-looking statements, including statements regarding projections for future operating results, demand, industry and customer trends, macroeconomic factors, strategy, potential new products and solutions, our capital allocation strategy, profitability, expenses and investments, positioning and our dividend program. These statements are based on current expectations and beliefs as of today, November 5, 2026.

These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control, that could cause actual results to differ materially, and you should not rely on them as predictions of future events. A10 does not intend to update information containing these forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by law. For a more detailed description of these risks and uncertainties, please refer to our most recent 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q.

Please note that with the exception of revenue, financial measures discussed today are on a non-GAAP basis, unless otherwise noted, and may have been adjusted to exclude certain charges. The non-GAAP financial measures are not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for results prepared in accordance with GAAP and may be different from non-GAAP financial measures presented by other companies. A reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP measures can be found in the press release issued today and on the trended quarterly financial statements posted on the company's website at a10networks.com.

Now I would like to turn the call over to Dhrupad Trivedi, President and CEO of A10 Networks.

Dhrupad Trivedi

Thank you, Tom, and thank you all for joining us today. The third quarter was another record quarter for A10 with revenue up 22.6% and profitability that enabled us to consistently exceed our stated performance goals. We continue to win business and gain market share in our key growth markets of advanced network security and next-generation networking. Strong year-to-date results and sustained demand for our solutions gives us the confidence to raise our guidance for the second time this year.

A10 is well positioned at the intersection of advanced networking and security. The growth of AI is increasing the volume and complexity of network traffic, making our portfolio increasingly relevant. Customers need to distribute application requests and connect employees to external AI services reliably. Our next-generation networking solutions help them meet those needs. They also need to defend against DDoS and other attacks that could disrupt access to AI and other shared enterprise applications. Our A10 Defend portfolio helps protect the availability of these critical services with industry-leading performance.

We are also seeing demand for solutions that secure the use and development of AI and help enterprises manage AI access, routing and costs. A Fortune 50 financial services company with over 40,000 employees is using A10's AI firewall, both to help protect employees accessing public AI tools and to govern AI traffic in their internal and external-facing applications.

The deployment illustrates how leading enterprises are moving agentic AI into production at scale with approximately 800 enterprise agentic AI applications connected to our guardrail solution. These include internal and external-facing applications, with the largest application being external-facing. Roughly 50,000 sessions are routed through the solutions each day under unified customized policies.

In another example, a global information and analytics provider is using A10's AI red-teaming capability to test AI models and applications for vulnerabilities. By probing systems for potential weaknesses before deployment, the company can better assess AI-related risks and strengthen its security practices as it expands its use of AI.

These examples reflect how both A10's core portfolio and newer AI solutions can help customers meet mission-critical needs in an increasingly complex environment. Our growth is not solely predicated upon build-out of new data centers. It is in fact linked to growth in traffic, expansion of security and responsible use of AI.

Our deep partnership with our largest strategic customers continues to contribute to our growth. Through this relationship, A10's technology helps protect cloud infrastructure supporting enterprises across industries and geographies. That infrastructure enables AI applications alongside other mission-critical workloads, extending A10's role in helping keep the services businesses and consumers [ who ] rely on availability.

Demand across the rest of the business was broad-based and related to our core differentiation and increasing relevance to evolving needs for networking and security. EMEA and APJ revenue grew at double-digit levels on a year-over-year basis. Overall revenue, excluding our largest customer, grew at a double-digit rate in the quarter.

At the same time, we are converting demand into greater profitability and cash generation. Our goal is to sustain growth while investing in the capabilities this demand environment requires. We remain on track for non-GAAP earnings per share growth to outpace revenue growth.

I'd now like to turn the call over to Michelle Caron, our Chief Financial Officer, to discuss our financial results in greater detail.

Michelle Caron

Thank you, Dhrupad. As a reminder, with the exception of revenue, all of the metrics discussed on this call are on a non-GAAP basis, unless otherwise stated. A full reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP results are provided in our press release and on our website.

Let me now turn to the results. As Dhrupad noted, Q3 results reflect encouraging demand globally and our continued ability to convert growth into significant cash generation. We delivered revenue growth of 22.6% to a quarterly record of $91.5 million. Year-to-date, our revenue was $246.7 million, an increase of 17.4%.

Turning to mix, product revenue in the third quarter was $58.5 million or 64% of total revenue, while service revenue was $33 million or 36% of total revenue. From a product mix perspective, security-led revenue continues to drive product revenue growth and meet our long-term goals at 65% of total revenue. From a vertical perspective, enterprise customers represented 58% of Q3 revenue and approximately half of total revenue on a trailing 12-month basis. Stronger enterprise growth reflects progress toward our goal of diversifying our revenue mix.

Service provider spend in the Americas has begun to normalize, but remains below historical levels, representing an opportunity for incremental growth. We're confident that our service provider relationships around the world remain a strong foundation for continued growth, and we're not seeing our share of this market erode.

From a geographic perspective, our Americas region represented 64% of global revenue. This reflects our deliberate focus on the Americas as a growth region, driven by AI infrastructure build-outs and strength in the enterprise markets. We're also seeing improving results from international markets this quarter. Customer satisfaction and on-time delivery remain our top priorities as we navigate input cost and delivery challenges, like everyone else in the industry.

We delivered record non-GAAP gross profit of $73.3 million in Q3 and non-GAAP gross margin came in at 80% of revenue. Operating expenses were $47.8 million as we continue to prioritize investments in AI-facing innovation, next-gen networking and security. Operating margin was 27.8%, resulting in net income of $23.6 million or $0.33 per basic and $0.31 per diluted share, compared to $0.23 in the year-ago period. Our Q3 diluted weighted share count was 75.7 million shares.

We generated a quarterly record for free cash flow. And on a year-to-date basis, free cash flow was $57.5 million, an increase of 18% year-on-year. We continue to expect full year free cash flow to grow year-over-year in the range of $74 million to $77 million from approximately $64 million a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA was $29.5 million or 32% of revenue, consistent with our business model goals.

Turning to our balance sheet, cash and marketable securities were $360.4 million as of September 30 and deferred revenue was $157 million. During the quarter, we paid $4.4 million in cash dividends and repurchased $23 million worth of shares, returning a total of $27.4 million to shareholders. The Board has approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.06 per share, to be paid on December 1, 2026 to shareholders of record on November 16, 2026. The company has $30.1 million remaining on its $75 million share repurchase authorization.

I'll now turn the call back to Dhrupad for an update on our 2026 outlook and closing comments.

Dhrupad Trivedi

Thank you, Michelle. Our results reflect broad-based demand for A10's networking and security solutions as customers respond to rising traffic, expanding AI deployments and increasingly complex security needs. We are focused on supporting that demand while investing in our portfolio, strengthening profitability and generating cash.

Based on our year-to-date performance, demand visibility and the current supply environment, we are updating our full year 2026 outlook. We expect revenue growth of approximately 16% year-over-year, compared with our prior outlook of 12% to 14%. Note that this is roughly 400 to 500 basis points better than our largest competitor and our peer group. Demand from our largest customer remains healthy and stable. Our outlook also implies continued year-over-year growth in the fourth quarter across rest of the business.

We expect full year non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA margin to exceed 30% and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $1.08 to $1.10, representing a year-over-year growth of 20% to 22% and outpacing revenue growth, in line with our operating philosophy.

We also discussed in today's press release our longer-term organic target. Our progress, expanding global opportunity and continued execution give us confidence in setting a long-term target of $500 million in annual revenue through organic growth and $2 in annual non-GAAP EPS for fiscal year '29. We remain confident in our strategy and in our ability to capture customer demand while protecting the long-term earnings power of the business.

With that, I'll turn the call back to the operator to open the line for questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] First question from Gray Powell with U.S. Bank.

分析師問答

Gray Powell

Congratulations on the great results here. It was really nice to see. So I guess my main question is on product revenue. So growth has been excellent this year. In fact, I think it's the best product revenue growth you've seen in at least 8 years, maybe longer. My model doesn't quite go back that far. Just how should we think about the sustainability of that growth over the next 12 months, particularly as you face tougher comps? And the 14% organic commentary, that was really helpful. I'm just trying to make sure that we have building blocks correct as we think about next year.

Dhrupad Trivedi

Yes. So as we look at our product growth rate, I think that is really a good indicator of us being able to win new business as well as continue to replenish customers with new solutions. There is nothing unusual in the last 2 or 3 years where we draw some artificial refresh cycle or something like that, right? So it is a natural evolution of demand.

As we look on a long-term trend, you are correct, the product growth percentage reflects vitality in the products and customer acceptance of new solutions as well as competitive wins. So we feel pretty good that that is not based on a trend that is going to come and go. It's more broad-based. And if we can drive more of kind of a replacement cycle, that's great, but that is not [ what ] we are counting upon to get the next 2 to 3-year growth.

Gray Powell

Okay. Great. And then my follow-up question would be, so you called out, I think, double-digit growth excluding your largest customer. Just in ballpark terms, give or take, is that how we should think about that segment going forward?

Dhrupad Trivedi

So I would say that you should think of that as that segment can support that double-digit growth going forward. In the next 4 quarters or 6 quarters, we probably will have to balance and optimize, right, if there is supply constraints, on what we choose or prioritize.

But what that is meant to indicate is our growth is not a result of one company doing something, but it's more broad-based, and that we will obviously continue to prioritize customers and high-growth potential as we go through every quarter. But I think it's more meant to be an indicator that the demand is much more broad-based versus single customer based.

Operator

Next question comes from Hamed Khorsand with BWS Financial.

Hamed Khorsand

Could you just talk about the return of your international customers, if this was pent-up demand as far as what was in the pipeline before or if these are new projects that you're now being included in?

Dhrupad Trivedi

So I would say, Hamed, that there's 2 aspects to it. I would say one is, obviously, we are all living in a constrained environment in some ways. And it's not a big revenue impact for us, but obviously, we prioritize customers as we need to. So part of it was not pent-up demand, I would say, but sort of natural variation in demand. Because our historical customer base is service providers and there is a kind of CapEx cyclic variation in demand, whether it's in Asia or Europe and U.S. And so some of it was kind of being able to service that demand.

And second was balancing that fulfillment, right, while keeping our largest customers satisfied as well.

Hamed Khorsand

Okay. And then could you just talk about your accounts receivables declining in the quarter? That was great to see, but is that sustainable? And what's a good area for us to expect that the balance of the year?

Michelle Caron

Yes. So Hamed, our quarter benefited from the timing of cash receipts in that quarter. We're still on track to deliver the cash flow that I talked about a few minutes ago for the full year, between $75 million to $77 million -- or $74 million to $77 million in cash flow. So it was a timing related to this quarter bringing the DSO to 49 days.

Operator

Next question comes from Gian Conti with Deutsche Bank.

Gianmarco Conti

Congrats again on the quarter. Maybe just one on the guide, I'm not sure if you answered this. But what are the main drivers behind the $500 million revenue target? How much comes from your largest customer compared to the rest of the business? What depends on new wins? I'd love to really unpack that.

And then maybe a few thoughts on how did the business grow this quarter if you exclude your largest customer?

Dhrupad Trivedi

Okay. Yes. So we said it in the script, so business grew more than 10% excluding our largest customer. And our competitors and peers are growing 400 to 500 basis points lower than that. So that's the first answer to your question.

Second is, obviously, we expect this growth to be broadly based, which is why we are confident in that. If you look at our actuals and what we have done year-to-date, which is higher than 14%, we feel pretty confident that 14% is a good number for us.

And yes, I think, obviously, and we are highly aligned with a large customer who apparently is also the best positioned in terms of the backlog they have on AI receivables versus the cash they are generating, and they are the only cash flow positive like category in that world. So we feel pretty good about that. And if you look through the data, I think I probably -- we have addressed all your questions quantitatively in the earnings release.

Operator

That concludes our Q&A session. I will turn it back over to Dhrupad Trivedi for closing comments.

Dhrupad Trivedi

Thank you, and thank you to all of our employees around the world, customers and shareholders for joining us today and for your continued support. I remain confident in our strategic orientation with security and next-generation networking spending patterns. Thank you for your time and attention.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. You may disconnect your phone lines at this time, and have a wonderful day. Thank you for your participation.