Q4'23 Stock Repurchases
In October 2023, we purchased approximately 1.0 million shares of our common stock at an average price of $190.56 per share through a $250.0 million Accelerated Share Repurchase* and, in November and December 2023, we purchased approximately 466 thousand shares of our common stock at an average price of $214.81 per share through $100.0 million open market repurchase, both under Align's current $1.0 billion stock repurchase program.
We have $650.0 million remaining available for repurchase of our common stock under this stock repurchase program.
*Contract was open, as of Dec. 31, 2023.
Fiscal 2024 Business Outlook
Turning to our outlook, assuming no circumstances occur beyond our control, we provide the following framework for Q1 and fiscal 2024:
First quarter 2024 outlook:
- For Q1’24, we expect our worldwide revenues to be in the range of $960M to $980M, up slightly from Q4’23.
- We expect clear aligner volume and ASPs to be up slightly sequentially.
- We expect systems and services revenue to be down slightly sequentially, although less than the historical seasonal decline given the launch of the iTero Lumina™ for ortho workflows in Q1’24.
- We expect our Q1’24 GAAP operating margin and non-GAAP operating margin to be slightly above Q1’23 GAAP operating margin and non-GAAP operating margin, respectively.
Full year 2024 outlook:
- We expect our 2024 total revenues to be up mid-single digits over 2023.
- We expect our 2024 clear aligner and systems and services revenues to grow year over year in the same approximate range as 2024 total revenues.
- We expect our 2024 clear aligner ASPs to be up slightly year-over-year, primarily due to price increases and favorable foreign exchange, partially offset by a higher mix of non-comprehensive products which have lower ASPs.
- We expect our full year 2024 GAAP operating margin and non-GAAP operating margin to be slightly above the 2023 GAAP operating margin and non-GAAP operating margin, respectively.
- For 2024, we expect investments in capital expenditures to be approximately $100M. Capital expenditures are expected to primarily relate to building construction and improvements as well as manufacturing capacity in support of our continued expansion.
Align Web Cast and Conference Call
We will host a conference call today, January 31, 2024, at 4:30 p.m. ET, 2:30 p.m. MT, to review our fourth quarter and full year 2023 results, discuss future operating trends, and our business outlook. The conference call will also be webcast live via the Internet. To access the webcast, go to the "Events & Presentations" section under Company Information on Align's Investor Relations website at http://investor.aligntech.com. To access the conference call, participants may register for the call by clicking here. Once registered, participants will receive an email with dial-in number and unique PIN number to access the live event. An archived audio webcast will be available 2 hours after the call's conclusion and will remain available for one month.
About Non-GAAP Financial Measures
To supplement our condensed consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"), we may provide investors with certain non-GAAP financial measures which may include constant currency net revenues, constant currency gross profit, constant currency gross margin, constant currency income from operations, constant currency operating margin, gross profit, gross margin, operating expenses, income from operations, operating margin, interest income and other income (expense), net, net income before provision for income taxes, provision for income taxes, effective tax rate, net income and/or diluted net income per share, which excludes certain items that may not be indicative of our fundamental operating performance including, foreign currency exchange rate impacts and discrete cash and non-cash charges or gains that are included in the most directly comparable GAAP measure. In Q4'22, we changed to a long-term non-GAAP effective tax rate in our computation of the non-GAAP income tax provision to provide better consistency across reporting periods. Our previous methodology for calculating our non-GAAP effective tax rate included certain non-recurring and period-specific items, that produced fluctuating effective tax rates that management does not believe are reflective of the Company's long-term effective tax rate. We have given effect to this new methodology effective January 1, 2022. Unless otherwise indicated, when we refer to non-GAAP financial measures they will exclude the effects of stock-based compensation, amortization of certain acquired intangibles, restructuring and other charges, acquisition-related costs, and associated tax impacts.
Our management believes that the use of certain non-GAAP financial measures provides meaningful supplemental information regarding our recurring core operating performance. We believe that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing our performance and when planning, forecasting, and analyzing future periods. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors both because (1) they allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision-making and (2) they are used by our institutional investors and the analyst community to help them analyze the performance of our business.
There are limitations to using non-GAAP financial measures as they are not prepared in accordance with GAAP and may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. The non-GAAP financial measures are limited in value because they exclude certain items that may have a material impact upon our reported financial results. In addition, they are subject to inherent limitations as they reflect the exercise of judgments by management about which charges are excluded from the non-GAAP financial measures. We compensate for these limitations by analyzing current and future results on a GAAP as well as a non-GAAP basis and also by providing GAAP measures in our public disclosures. The presentation of non-GAAP financial information is meant to be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for or in isolation from, the directly comparable financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. We urge investors to review the reconciliation of our GAAP financial measures to the comparable non-GAAP financial measures included herein and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business. For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see the tables captioned "Unaudited GAAP to Non-GAAP Reconciliation."
About Align Technology, Inc.
Align Technology designs and manufactures the Invisalign® system, the most advanced clear aligner system in the world, iTero™ intraoral scanners and services, and exocad™ CAD/CAM software. These technology building blocks enable enhanced digital orthodontic and restorative workflows to improve patient outcomes and practice efficiencies for over 256 thousand doctor customers and are key to accessing Align’s 600 million consumer market opportunity worldwide. Over the past 26 years, Align has helped doctors treat approximately 17 million patients with the Invisalign system and is driving the evolution in digital dentistry through the Align Digital Platform™, our integrated suite of unique, proprietary technologies and services delivered as a seamless, end-to-end solution for patients and consumers, orthodontists and GP dentists, and lab/partners. Visit www.aligntech.com for more information.
For additional information about the Invisalign system or to find an Invisalign doctor in your area, please visit www.invisalign.com. For additional information about the iTero digital scanning system, please visit www.itero.com. For additional information about exocad dental CAD/CAM offerings and a list of exocad reseller partners, please visit www.exocad.com.
Invisalign, iTero, exocad, Align, Align Digital Platform, iTero Element and iTero-exocad Connector are trademarks of Align Technology, Inc.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release, including the tables below, contains forward-looking statements, including statements of beliefs and expectations regarding anticipated capital expenditures, clear aligner volumes, clear aligner ASPs, iTero scanner and services revenue, total revenues and operating margin, customer and consumer demand trends and market opportunities, our ability to successfully control our business and operations and pursue our strategic growth drivers, our expectations regarding the timing and impact of new products and technologies, our beliefs for the impacts of our stock repurchase programs and our ability to generate cash flow, and our beliefs regarding the trajectory of our business. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release relating to expectations about future events or results are based upon information available to Align as of the date hereof. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements reflect our best judgments based on currently known facts and circumstances and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. As a result, actual results may differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statement.
