cloudedjudgement.substack.com · 2021-07-16 · 1784d

Clouded Judgement

This weekly cloud software market update analyzes SaaS valuation multiples, operating metrics benchmarks, and cloud adoption trends based on Morgan Stanley CIO survey data. The article presents detailed comparisons of top 10 cloud companies by EV/NTM revenue multiple, growth rates, and profitability metrics, with median SaaS benchmarks for gross margin (74%), NRR (118%), and CAC payback (25 months).

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Metrics in this report

CAC Payback Period (GM-Adjusted)

25months

median

SaaS public companies

EV/NTM Revenue Multiple

39.4x

median

Top 10 SaaS companies by valuation multiple

EV/NTM Revenue Multiple

15.7x

median

Overall SaaS public company market

Free Cash Flow Margin

9%percent

median

SaaS public companies

G&A as % of Revenue

18%percent

median

SaaS public companies

Gross Margin

74%percent

median

SaaS public companies

High-Growth Revenue Multiple

26.4x

median

SaaS companies with >30% projected NTM growth

LTM Revenue Growth Rate

30%percent

median

SaaS public companies

Low-Growth Revenue Multiple

5.3x

median

SaaS companies with <15% projected NTM growth

Mid-Growth Revenue Multiple

13.7x

median

SaaS companies with 15-30% projected NTM growth

NTM Revenue Growth Rate

24%percent

median

SaaS public companies

Net Revenue Retention

118%percent

median

SaaS public companies

Operating Margin

-14%percent

median

SaaS public companies

Public Cloud Workload Penetration

23%percent

median

Current state of enterprise application workloads (Morgan Stanley CIO survey, US/EU)

Public Cloud Workload Penetration

23%percent

current

CIO estimate of application workloads running in public cloud (US and EU)

Public Cloud Workload Penetration

37%percent

target

Projected public cloud workload penetration by end of 2024 (US and EU)

Public Cloud Workload Penetration - 2024 Projection

37%percent

target

Projected by end of 2024 (Morgan Stanley CIO survey)

R&D as % of Revenue

25%percent

median

SaaS public companies

S&M as % of Revenue

44%percent

median

SaaS public companies

SaaS CAC Payback Period

25months

median

Public SaaS companies (gross margin-adjusted)

SaaS Enterprise Value / NTM Revenue Multiple - High Growth (>30%)

26.4x

median

SaaS companies with >30% projected NTM growth

SaaS Enterprise Value / NTM Revenue Multiple - Low Growth (<15%)

5.3x

median

SaaS companies with <15% projected NTM growth

SaaS Enterprise Value / NTM Revenue Multiple - Mid Growth (15-30%)

13.7x

median

SaaS companies with 15-30% projected NTM growth

SaaS Enterprise Value / NTM Revenue Multiple - Overall Median

15.7x

median

Public SaaS companies

SaaS Enterprise Value / NTM Revenue Multiple - Top 5

47.0x

median

Top 5 highest-valued SaaS companies

SaaS Free Cash Flow Margin

9%percent

median

Public SaaS companies

SaaS G&A Spend

18%percent of revenue

median

Public SaaS companies

SaaS Gross Margin

74%percent

median

Public SaaS companies

SaaS LTM Growth Rate - Median

30%percent

median

Public SaaS companies

SaaS NTM Growth Rate - Median

24%percent

median

Public SaaS companies

SaaS Net Revenue Retention

118%percent

median

Public SaaS companies

SaaS Operating Margin

-14%percent

median

Public SaaS companies

SaaS R&D Spend

25%percent of revenue

median

Public SaaS companies

SaaS Sales & Marketing Spend

44%percent of revenue

median

Public SaaS companies