Unity Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2024 Financial Results

Unity (NYSE: U), the leading platform to create and grow games and interactive experiences, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.

"The Company’s fourth quarter results meaningfully exceeded expectations on both revenue and profit, underscoring our progress in building a new Unity,” said Matt Bromberg, President and CEO of Unity.

“The successful launch of Unity 6, the appeal of our new pricing model, and the progress we’re making in AI for our advertising customers are providing a lot of optimism for the future,” Bromberg continued.

Fourth Quarter 2024 Results:

• Revenue was $457 million, compared to $609 million in the fourth quarter 2023.
• Revenue from our strategic portfolio was $442 million, compared to $423 million, up 4% year-over-year.
• Create Solutions revenue was $152 million, compared to $290 million in the fourth quarter 2023.
• Grow Solutions revenue was $305 million, compared to $319 million in the fourth quarter 2023.
• GAAP net loss was $123 million, with a margin of (27)%.
• Adjusted EBITDA was $106 million, with a margin of 23%.
• Net cash provided by operating activities was $112 million.
• Free Cash Flow was $106 million.

Full Year 2024 Results:

• Revenue was $1,813 million, compared to $2,187 million for the full year 2023.
• Revenue from our strategic portfolio was $1,723 million, compared to $1,733 million, down 1% year-over-year.
• Create Solutions revenue was $614 million, compared to $859 million for the full year 2023.
• Grow Solutions revenue was $1,199 million, compared to $1,328 million for the full year 2023.
• GAAP net loss was $664 million, with a margin of (37)%.
• Adjusted EBITDA was $390 million, with a margin of 21%.
• Net cash provided by operating activities was $316 million.
• Free Cash Flow was $286 million.

Fourth Quarter Results

Revenue

Revenue was $457 million, down 25% year-over-year driven by our portfolio reset.

Create Solutions revenue was $152 million, down 47% year-over-year. Excluding the impact of approximately $99 million of incremental revenue in the fourth quarter of 2023 from terminating an agreement with Wētā FX limited (the “Wētā FX termination”) revenue would have been down 20% year-over-year. The year-over-year decrease was driven by our portfolio reset, partially offset by 15% growth in subscription revenue, and 50% growth in Industry strategic revenue.

Grow Solutions revenue was $305 million, down 5% year-over-year. Excluding the impact of the return of customer incentives issued by ironSource prior to the merger (“customer credits”) for which we received approximately $21 million of revenue in the fourth quarter of 2023, Grow Solutions revenue would have been up 2% year-over-year. The change was driven by strong seasonal demand.

Basic and Diluted Net Loss per share

Basic and diluted net loss per share was $0.30, as compared to $0.66 for the same period in 2023.

Net Loss and Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities

Net loss for the quarter was $123 million, compared to $254 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Net loss margin was (27)%, compared to (42)% in the fourth quarter of 2023, due to decreases in our personnel-related costs.

Net cash provided by operating activities for the quarter was $112 million, compared to $72 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $106 million, with a margin of 23%, compared to $186 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, with a margin of 30%. Excluding the $102 million impact from the Wētā FX termination, and excluding $21 million in customer credits each in the fourth quarter of 2023, adjusted EBITDA would have been $63 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, with a margin of 13%. The better than expected adjusted EBITDA margin in the fourth quarter of 2024 was due to better cost control and higher than expected revenue.

Free Cash Flow for the quarter was $106 million, compared to $61 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Full Year 2024 Results

Revenue

Revenue was $1,813 million, down 17% year-over-year driven by our portfolio reset, the Wētā FX termination, and decreases in Grow Solutions revenue.

Create Solutions revenue was $614 million, down 29% year-over-year. Excluding the approximately $99 million impact of the Wētā FX termination, revenue would have been down 19% year-over-year. The year-over-year decrease was driven by our portfolio reset, and partially offset by 13% growth in our subscription revenues and 55% growth in industry strategic revenue.

Grow Solutions revenue was $1,199 million, down 10% year-over-year. Excluding the $72 million impact of the customer credits in 2023 and an immaterial amount of customer credits in 2024, Grow Solutions revenue would have been down 4% year-over-year.

Basic and Diluted Net Loss per share

Basic and diluted net loss per share was $1.68 compared to $2.16 in the previous year.

Net Loss and Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities

Net loss for the year was $664 million compared to $826 million in the full year 2023.

Net loss margin of (37)%, compared to (38)% in the full year 2023, due to decreases in our personnel-related costs, and the gain on repurchase of our convertible notes.

Net cash provided by operating activities for the year was $316 million, compared to $235 million in the full year 2023.

Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow

Adjusted EBITDA for the year was $390 million, with a margin of 21%, compared to $448 million in the full year 2023, with a margin of 20%. Excluding the $102 million impact from the Wētā FX termination, and excluding $72 million in customer credits in the full year 2023, adjusted EBITDA would have been $274 million in the full year 2023, with a margin of 14%. The better than expected adjusted EBITDA margin in the full year 2024 was due to better cost control.

Free Cash Flow for the year was $286 million, compared to $179 million in the full year 2023.

Liquidity

As of December 31, 2024, our cash and cash equivalents, and restricted cash was $1,528 million, and decreased by $76 million, as compared with $1,604 million as of December 31, 2023. This decrease was primarily driven by $316 million of net cash provided by our operating activities, offset by $338 million used in financing activities primarily for the repurchase of convertible notes, and $42 million used in investing activities.

Q1 2025 Guidance¹

• Revenue of $405 to $415 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $60 to $65 million.

About Unity

Unity [NYSE: U] offers a suite of tools to create, market and grow games and interactive experiences across all major platforms from mobile, PC, and console, to extended reality (XR). For more information, visit Unity.com.

About Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our consolidated financial statements prepared and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (GAAP) we use certain non-GAAP financial measures, as described below, to evaluate our ongoing operations and for internal planning and forecasting purposes. We believe the following non-GAAP measures are useful in evaluating our operating performance. We are presenting these non-GAAP financial measures because we believe, when taken collectively, they may be helpful to investors because they provide consistency and comparability with past financial performance.

However, non-GAAP financial measures have limitations in their usefulness to investors because they have no standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and are not prepared under any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. In addition, other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate similarly-titled non-GAAP financial measures differently or may use other measures to evaluate their performance, all of which could reduce the usefulness of our non-GAAP financial measures as tools for comparison. As a result, our non-GAAP financial measures are presented for supplemental informational purposes only and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for our consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with GAAP.

We define adjusted EBITDA as GAAP net income or loss excluding benefits or expenses associated with stock-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets, depreciation, acquisitions, restructurings and reorganizations, insurance reimbursement for legal expenses, interest, income tax, and other non-operating activities, which primarily consist of foreign exchange rate gains or losses. We define adjusted EBITDA margin as adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenue. We define adjusted gross profit as GAAP gross profit excluding expenses associated with stock-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets, depreciation, and restructurings and reorganizations. We define adjusted gross margin as adjusted gross profit as a percentage of revenue.

We define non-GAAP cost of revenue as GAAP cost of revenue, excluding expenses associated with stock-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets, depreciation, and restructurings and reorganizations. We define non-GAAP research and development expense as research and development expense, excluding expenses associated with stock-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets, depreciation, and restructurings and reorganizations. We define non-GAAP sales and marketing expense as GAAP sales and marketing expense, excluding expenses associated with stock-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets, depreciation, and restructurings and reorganizations. We define non-GAAP general and administrative expense as general and administrative expense excluding expenses associated with stock-based compensation, depreciation, acquisitions, restructurings and reorganizations, and insurance reimbursement for legal expenses. We define free cash flow as net cash provided by operating activities less cash used for purchases of property and equipment.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and the earnings call referencing this press release contain “forward-looking statements,” as that term is defined under federal securities laws, including, but not limited to, statements regarding Unity’s outlook and future financial performance, including: (i) Unity’s ability to further enhance its platform, accelerate product innovation and enhance financial performance; (ii) expectations regarding the release of Vector, including anticipated timing for the rollout on iOS and Android and the impact on financial results, as well as expectations regarding Vector’s improvements over time and Unity’s ability to mature the product and operate it at scale; (iii) plans to allocate R&D to the highest impact initiatives, complement revenue growth with ongoing margin expansion, drive growth and to be prudent stewards of shareholder capital; (iv) near term expected uses of capital; (v) plans to focus on per share returns and reduce shareholder dilution from stock-based compensation; (vi) expectations regarding revenue from non-strategic portfolio and stock-based compensation expense for 2025; (vii) Unity’s opportunity to gradually de-lever over the next several years; and (viii) Unity’s financial guidance for the first quarter 2025.

The words “aim,” “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “intend,” “expect,” “plan,” “project,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. If the risks materialize or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. Risks include, but are not limited to, those related to: (i) the impact of macroeconomic conditions, such as inflation, high interest rates, and limited credit availability which could further cause economic uncertainty and volatility; (ii) competition in the advertising market and Unity’s ability to compete effectively; (iii) ongoing restrictions related to the gaming industry in China; (iv) ongoing geopolitical instability, particularly in Israel, where a significant portion of the Grow operations is located; (v) Unity’s ability to recover or reengage its customers, or attract new customers; (vi) the impact of any decisions to change how Unity prices its products and services; (vii) Unity’s ability to achieve and sustain profitability; (viii) Unity’s ability to retain existing customers and expand the use of its platform; (ix) Unity’s ability to further expand into new industries and attract new customers; (x) the impact of any changes of terms of service, policies or technical requirements from operating system platform providers or application stores which may result in changes to Unity or its customers’ business practices; (xi) Unity’s ability to maintain favorable relationships with hardware, operating system, device, game console and other technology providers; (xii) breaches in its security measures, unauthorized access to its platform, data, or its customers’ or other users’ personal data; (xiii) Unity’s ability to manage growth effectively and manage costs effectively; (xiv) the rapidly changing and increasingly stringent laws, regulations, contractual obligations and industry standards that relate to privacy, data security and the protection of children; (xv) the effectiveness of the company reset; (xvi) Unity’s ability to successfully transition executive leadership and (xvii) the launch of Vector. Further information on these and additional risks that could affect our results is included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on February 21, 2025, and our future reports that we may file with the SEC from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are available on the Unity Investor Relations website. Statements herein speak only as of the date of this release, and Unity assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release except as required by law.

Source: Unity Software Inc.

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1</sup> These statements are forward-looking and actual results may differ materially. Refer to the “Forward-Looking Statements” safe harbor section below for information on the factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements.

We have not reconciled our estimates for non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP due to the uncertainty and potential variability of expenses that may be incurred in the future. As a result, a reconciliation is not available without unreasonable effort and we are unable to address the probable significance of the unavailable information. We have provided a reconciliation of other GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures in the financial statement tables for our third quarter non-GAAP results included in this shareholder letter.

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