First Advantage Reports First Quarter 2025 Results

Associated Press

08-05-2025

First Quarter 2025 Highlights1
Reaffirming Full Year 2025 Guidance
ATLANTA, May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Advantage Corporation (NASDAQ: FA), a leading provider of global software and data in the HR technology industry, today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025.
Key Financials
(Amounts in millions, except per share data and percentages)
1 Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share, and Adjusted Operating Cash Flows are non-GAAP measures. Please see the schedules accompanying this earnings release for a reconciliation of these measures to their most directly comparable respective GAAP measures.
'We are pleased that First Advantage delivered solid financial performance in the first quarter, exceeding our expectations. We are continuing to see strong traction through upsell, cross-sell, and new logos, with sequential quarterly improvement in the base business and continued high customer retention levels. Our focused vertical strategy, with a depth of expertise across a broad range of industries, is delivering results and providing balance in the current environment,' said Scott Staples, Chief Executive Officer.
'It has been approximately six months since we closed on our transformational Sterling acquisition. Our integration and synergy generation efforts are advancing ahead of schedule, and we have now actioned $37 million in run rate cost synergies, progressing well toward our objective of $60 million to $70 million. Our AI and automation efforts are allowing us to continue to deliver higher levels of efficiency as we grow the business, and we continue to receive positive feedback from our customers on our industry-leading software and data offerings. We look forward to sharing additional details about our updated FA 5.0 strategy and financial objectives during our investor day later this month,' Staples concluded.
Inaugural Investor Day to be Held on May 28, 2025
First Advantage will host its inaugural investor day in New York City and webcast live on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, with presentations beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET. Scott Staples, Chief Executive Officer, will be joined by other members of the executive management team to present a detailed overview of the Company's strategic vision, financial growth outlook, and key initiatives related to the Company's product and technology solutions, go-to-market excellence, and innovation. The event will also include Q&A sessions with executive leadership. (See press release issued on April 2, 2025.)
Reaffirming Full Year 2025 Guidance
'Considering our modest outperformance versus expectations in the first quarter and our latest view of the macroeconomic environment, we are reaffirming our full year 2025 guidance, which includes our increased scale with the acquisition of Sterling and the expected benefits of realized synergies,' commented Steven Marks, Chief Financial Officer. 'We remain focused on our integration plan execution, customer retention, synergy realization, and net leverage reduction.'
The following table summarizes our full year 2025 guidance.
2 A reconciliation of the foregoing guidance for the non-GAAP metrics of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income to GAAP net (loss) income and Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share to GAAP diluted net (loss) income per share cannot be provided without unreasonable effort because of the inherent difficulty of accurately forecasting the occurrence and financial impact of the various adjusting items necessary for such reconciliation that have not yet occurred, are out of our control, or cannot be reasonably predicted. For the same reasons, the Company is unable to assess the probable significance of the unavailable information, which could have a material impact on its future GAAP financial results.
Actual results may differ materially from First Advantage's full year 2025 guidance as a result of, among other things, the factors described under 'Forward-Looking Statements' below.
Conference Call and Webcast Information
First Advantage will host a conference call to review its first quarter 2025 results today, May 8, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. ET.
To participate in the conference call, please dial 800-267-6316 (domestic) or 203-518-9783 (international) approximately ten minutes before the 8:30 a.m. ET start. Please mention to the operator that you are dialing in for the First Advantage first quarter 2025 earnings call or provide the conference code FA1Q25. The call will also be webcast live on the Company's investor relations website at https://investors.fadv.com under the 'News & Events' and then 'Events & Presentations' section, where related presentation materials will be posted prior to the conference call.
Following the conference call, a replay of the webcast will be available on the Company's investor relations website, https://investors.fadv.com. Alternatively, the live webcast and subsequent replay will be available at https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/4908223/D9C5547C868BBA59C04DB0C76D18EE21.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to, among other things, our operations and financial performance. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements relate to matters such as our industry, business strategy, goals, and expectations concerning our market position, future operations, margins, profitability, capital expenditures, liquidity and capital resources, and other financial and operating information. In some cases, you can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as 'anticipate,' 'assume,' 'believe,' 'continue,' 'could,' 'estimate,' 'expect,' 'intend,' 'may,' 'plan,' 'potential,' 'predict,' 'project,' 'future,' 'will,' 'seek,' 'foreseeable,' 'target,' 'guidance,' the negative version of these words, or similar terms and phrases.
These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties, assumptions, or changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict or quantify. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following:
For additional information on these and other factors that could cause First Advantage's actual results to differ materially from expected results, please see our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC'), as such factors may be updated from time to time in our filings with the SEC, which are or will be accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this press release, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise, except as required by law.
Non-GAAP Financial Information
This press release contains 'non-GAAP financial measures' that are financial measures that either exclude or include amounts that are not excluded or included in the most directly comparable measures calculated and presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ('GAAP'). Specifically, we make use of the non-GAAP financial measures 'Adjusted EBITDA,' 'Adjusted EBITDA Margin,' 'Adjusted Net Income,' 'Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share,' and 'Adjusted Operating Cash Flow.'
Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Adjusted Net Income, and Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share have been presented in this press release as supplemental measures of financial performance that are not required by or presented in accordance with GAAP because we believe they assist investors and analysts in comparing our operating performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis by excluding items that we do not believe are indicative of our core operating performance. Management believes these non-GAAP measures are useful to investors in highlighting trends in our operating performance, while other measures can differ significantly depending on long-term strategic decisions regarding capital structure, the tax jurisdictions in which we operate, and capital investments. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Adjusted Net Income, and Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share to supplement GAAP measures of performance in the evaluation of the effectiveness of our business strategies, to make budgeting decisions, to establish discretionary annual incentive compensation, and to compare our performance against that of other peer companies using similar measures. Management supplements GAAP results with non-GAAP financial measures to provide a more complete understanding of the factors and trends affecting the business than GAAP results alone.
Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Adjusted Net Income, and Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share are not recognized terms under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to net income (loss) as a measure of financial performance or cash provided by (used in) operating activities as a measure of liquidity, or any other performance measure derived in accordance with GAAP.
We define Adjusted EBITDA as net (loss) income before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, and as further adjusted for loss on extinguishment of debt, share-based compensation, transaction and acquisition-related charges, integration and restructuring charges, and other non-cash charges. We define Adjusted EBITDA Margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by total revenues. We define Adjusted Net Income for a particular period as net (loss) income before taxes adjusted for debt-related costs, acquisition-related depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation, transaction and acquisition-related charges, integration and restructuring charges, and other non-cash charges, to which we then apply the related effective tax rate. We define Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share as Adjusted Net Income divided by adjusted weighted average number of shares outstanding—diluted.
Additionally, we use Adjusted Operating Cash Flow to review the liquidity of our operations. We define Adjusted Operating Cash Flow as cash flows from operating activities less cash costs directly associated with the Sterling acquisition and related integration. We believe Adjusted Operating Cash Flow is a useful supplemental financial measure for management and investors in assessing the Company's ability to pursue business opportunities and investments and to service its debt. Adjusted Operating Cash Flow is not a measure of our liquidity under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to cash flows from operating activities.
For reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures, see the reconciliations included at the end of this press release.
The presentations of these measures have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Because not all companies use identical calculations, the presentations of these measures may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies and can differ significantly from company to company.
Numerical figures included in the reconciliations have been subject to rounding adjustments. Accordingly, numerical figures shown as totals in various tables may not be arithmetic aggregations of the figures that precede them.
About First Advantage
First Advantage (NASDAQ: FA) is a leading provider of global software and data in the HR technology industry. Enabled by its proprietary technology and AI, First Advantage's platforms, data, and APIs power comprehensive employment background screening, digital identity solutions, and verification services. With a strong emphasis on innovation, automation, and customer success, First Advantage empowers 80,000 organizations to hire smarter and onboard faster. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, First Advantage serves customers in over 200 countries and territories, modernizing hiring and onboarding on a global scale. For more information, please visit our website at https://fadv.com/.
Investor Contact
Stephanie Gorman
Vice President, Investor Relations
Condensed Financial Statements
Reconciliation of Consolidated Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Reconciliation of Consolidated Non-GAAP Financial Measures (continued)