CRA International (CRAI) 10-Q2024 Q1 Quarterly report

CRA International, Inc. (“CRA” or the “Company”) is a worldwide leading consulting services firm that applies advanced analytic techniques and in-depth industry knowledge to complex engagements for a broad range of clients. CRA offers services in two broad areas: litigation, regulatory, and financial consulting and management consulting. CRA operates in one business segment. CRA operates its business under its registered trade name, Charles River Associates.

The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of CRA International, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries (collectively the "Company") which require consolidation after the elimination of intercompany accounts and transactions. These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Accordingly, these financial statements do not include all the information and note disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for annual financial statements. Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation. These reclassifications had no effect on previously reported results of operations, financial position, or cash flows. In the opinion of management, these financial statements reflect all adjustments of a normal, recurring nature necessary for the fair presentation of CRA’s results of operations, financial position, cash flows, and shareholders’ equity for the interim periods presented in conformity with U.S. GAAP. Results of operations for the interim periods presented herein are not necessarily indicative of results of operations for a full year. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the fiscal year ended December 30, 2023 included in CRA’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 29, 2024 (the “2023 Form 10-K”).

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make significant estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, as well as the related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities, at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of consolidated revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Estimates in these condensed consolidated financial statements include, but are not limited to, allowances for accounts receivable and unbilled services, revenue recognition on fixed-price contracts, variable consideration to be included in the transaction price of revenue contracts, the useful life of long-lived assets, measurement of operating lease right-of-use assets and liabilities, share-based compensation, valuation of contingent consideration liabilities, valuation of acquired intangible assets, goodwill, accrued and deferred income taxes, valuation allowances on deferred tax assets, accrued incentive compensation, and certain other accrued expenses. These items are monitored and analyzed by CRA for changes in facts and circumstances, and material changes in these estimates could occur in the future. Changes in estimates are recorded in the period in which they become known. CRA bases its estimates on historical experience and various other assumptions that CRA believes to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from those estimates if CRA’s assumptions based on past experience or other assumptions do not turn out to be substantially accurate.

ASU 2023-07 is effective for CRA for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. CRA plans to adopt the amendments during the fourth fiscal quarter of 2024. CRA is in the process of evaluating the impact of adopting ASU 2023-07.

ASU 2023-09 is effective for CRA for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024. CRA plans to adopt the amendments during the annual reporting fiscal year of 2025. CRA is in the process of evaluating the impact of adopting ASU 2023-09.

The contracts CRA enters into and operates under specify whether the projects are billed on a time-and-materials or a fixed-price basis. Time-and-materials contracts are typically used for litigation, regulatory, and financial consulting projects while fixed-price contracts are principally used for management consulting projects. In general, project costs are classified in costs of services and are based on the direct salary of CRA’s employee consultants on the engagement, plus all direct expenses incurred to complete the project, including any amounts billed to CRA by its non-employee experts.

The following tables disaggregate CRA’s revenue by type of contract and geographic location (in thousands):

Revenues have been attributed to locations based on the location of the legal entity generating the revenues.

Revenues from CRA's consulting services are recorded at the net transaction price, which includes estimates of variable consideration for which reserves are established. Variable consideration reserves are based on specific price concessions and those expected to be extended to CRA customers estimated by CRA's historical realization rates. Reserves for variable consideration are recorded as a component of the allowances for accounts receivable and unbilled services on the condensed consolidated balance sheets. Adjustments to the reserves for variable consideration are included in revenues on the condensed consolidated statements of operations.

Revenues also include reimbursements for costs incurred by CRA in fulfilling its performance obligations, including travel and other out-of-pocket expenses, fees for outside consultants, and other reimbursable expenses. CRA recovers substantially all of these costs. The following expenses are subject to reimbursement (in thousands):

CRA defines contract assets as assets for which it has recorded revenue because it determines that it is probable that it will earn a performance-based or contingent fee, but is not yet entitled to receive a fee because certain events, such as completion of the measurement period or client approval, must occur. The contract assets balance was immaterial as of March 30, 2024 and December 30, 2023.

When consideration is received, or such consideration is unconditionally due from a customer prior to transferring consulting services to the customer under the terms of a contract, a contract liability is recorded. Contract liabilities are recognized as revenue after performance obligations have been satisfied and all revenue recognition criteria have been met. The following table presents the closing balances of CRA's contract liabilities (in thousands):

CRA recognized the following revenue that was included in the contract liabilities balance as of the opening of the respective period or for performance obligations satisfied in previous periods (in thousands):

The following table presents forgivable loan activity for the respective periods (in thousands):

The changes in the carrying amount of goodwill for the fiscal quarter ended March 30, 2024 are summarized as follows (in thousands):

Goodwill, net at March 30, 2024, is comprised of goodwill of $165.7 million and accumulated impairment of $71.9 million. There were no impairment losses related to goodwill during the fiscal quarter ended March 30, 2024 or during the fiscal year ended December 30, 2023.

Intangible assets that are separable from goodwill and have determinable useful lives are valued separately and amortized using the straight-line method over their expected useful lives. The components of acquired identifiable intangible assets are as follows (in thousands):

There were no impairment losses related to intangible assets during the fiscal quarter ended March 30, 2024 or during the fiscal year ended December 30, 2023. Amortization expense related to intangible assets was $0.3 million and $0.4 million for the fiscal quarters ended March 30, 2024 and April 1, 2023, respectively.

Accrued expenses consist of the following (in thousands):

CRA calculates basic earnings per share using the two-class method. CRA calculates diluted earnings per share using the more dilutive of either the two-class method or treasury stock method. The two-class method was more dilutive for the fiscal quarters ended March 30, 2024 and April 1, 2023.

Under the two-class method, net earnings are allocated to each class of common stock and participating security as if all the net earnings for the period had been distributed. CRA's participating securities consist of unvested share-based payment awards that contain a nonforfeitable right to receive dividends and therefore are considered to participate in undistributed earnings with common shareholders. Net earnings allocable to these participating securities were not material for the fiscal quarters ended March 30, 2024 and April 1, 2023.

The following table presents the calculation of basic and diluted net income per share (in thousands, except per share data):

For the fiscal quarter ended March 30, 2024, there were no anti-dilutive share-based awards that were excluded from the calculation of common stock equivalents for purposes of computing diluted weighted average outstanding shares. For the fiscal quarter ended April 1, 2023, the anti-dilutive share-based awards that were excluded from the calculation of common stock equivalents for purposes of computing diluted weighted average shares outstanding amounted to 196 shares.

The following tables show CRA's financial instruments recorded in the condensed consolidated financial statements which are measured at fair value on a recurring basis by level within the fair value hierarchy (in thousands):

The contingent consideration liability pertains to estimated future contingent consideration payments related to the acquisition of bioStrategies Group, Inc. during fiscal 2022. The following table summarizes the changes in the contingent consideration liability (in thousands):

CRA is party to a Credit Agreement, dated as of August 19, 2022 (the "Credit Agreement") with Bank of America, N.A., as swingline lender, a letter of credit issuing bank and administrative agent, and with Citizens Bank, N.A., as a letter of credit issuing bank. The Credit Agreement provides CRA with a $250.0 million revolving credit facility, which may be decreased at CRA's option to $200.0 million during the period from July 16 in a year through January 15 in the next year. Additionally, for the period from January 16 to July 15 of each calendar year, CRA may elect to not increase the revolving credit facility to $250.0 million. The revolving credit facility includes a $25.0 million sublimit for the issuance of letters of credit.

Under the Credit Agreement, CRA must comply with various financial and non-financial covenants. The primary financial covenants consist of a maximum consolidated net leverage ratio of 3.0 to 1 and a minimum consolidated interest coverage ratio of 2.5 to 1. The primary non-financial covenants include, but are not limited to, restrictions on CRA's ability to incur future indebtedness, engage in acquisitions or dispositions, pay dividends or repurchase capital stock, and enter into business combinations. Any indebtedness outstanding under the revolving credit facility may become immediately due upon the occurrence of stated events of default, including CRA's failure to pay principal, interest or fees, or upon the breach of any covenant. As of March 30, 2024, CRA was in compliance with the covenants of the Credit Agreement.

There were $70.0 million in borrowings outstanding under the revolving credit facility as of March 30, 2024 and no borrowings outstanding as of December 30, 2023. As of March 30, 2024, the amount available under the revolving credit facility was reduced by certain letters of credit outstanding, which amounted to $4.5 million.

As described in the previous note, CRA is party to standby letters of credit with its lenders in support of minimum future lease payments under certain operating leases for office space.

On May 2, 2024, CRA announced that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.42 per common share, payable on June 14, 2024 to shareholders of record as of May 28, 2024.

Except for historical facts, the statements in this quarterly report are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are merely our current predictions of future events. These statements are inherently uncertain, and actual events could differ materially from our predictions. Important factors that could cause actual events to vary from our predictions include those discussed below under the heading “Risk Factors.” We assume no obligation to update our forward-looking statements to reflect new information or developments. We urge readers to review carefully the risk factors described in the other documents that we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). You can read these documents at www.sec.gov.

Our principal Internet address is www.crai.com. Our website provides a link to a third-party website through which our annual, quarterly, and current reports, and amendments to those reports, are available free of charge. We do not maintain or provide any information directly to the third-party website, and we do not check its accuracy.

Our critical accounting policies involving the more significant estimates and judgments used in the preparation of our financial statements as of March 30, 2024 remain unchanged from December 30, 2023. Please refer to Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 30, 2023, filed with the SEC on February 29, 2024 (the “2023 Form 10-K”) for details on these critical accounting policies.

There are no recent accounting standards that impact the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.

The following table provides operating information as a percentage of revenues for the periods indicated:

Overall, revenues outside of the U.S. represented approximately 17% and 23% of net revenues for the first quarters of fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2023, respectively. Revenues derived from fixed-price projects remained unchanged at 18% of net revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2024 compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2023. The percentage of revenue derived from fixed-price projects depends largely on the proportion of our revenues derived from our management consulting business, which typically has a higher concentration of fixed-price service contracts.

We believe that our current cash, cash equivalents, cash generated from operations, and amounts available under our revolving credit facility will be sufficient to meet our anticipated working capital and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 12 months. As of March 30, 2024, we had $37.1 million of cash and cash equivalents and $175.5 million of borrowing capacity under our revolving credit facility.

At March 30, 2024, $9.0 million of our cash and cash equivalents was held within the U.S. We have sufficient sources of liquidity in the U.S., including cash flow from operations and availability on our revolving credit facility to fund U.S. operations for the next 12 months without the need to repatriate funds from our foreign subsidiaries.

Non-cash items included right-of-use amortization of $3.6 million, depreciation and amortization expense of $2.8 million, and share-based compensation expenses of $1.0 million.

During the fiscal quarter ended March 30, 2024, net cash used in investing activities was $0.7 million, which included capital expenditures, primarily related to purchases of computer equipment and leasehold improvements.

During the fiscal quarter ended March 30, 2024, net cash provided by financing activities was $56.1 million, primarily as a result of net borrowings under the revolving credit facility of $70.0 million. Offsetting this increase in cash provided by financing activities were repurchases of common stock of $9.2 million, payment of cash dividends of $3.1 million, and tax withholding payments reimbursed by restricted shares on vestings of $1.6 million.

We are a lessee under certain operating leases for office space and equipment. Certain of our operating leases have terms that impose asset retirement obligations due to office modifications or the periodic redecoration of the premises, which are included in other liabilities on our condensed consolidated balance sheets and are recorded at a value based on their estimated discounted cash flows. At March 30, 2024, we expect to incur asset retirement obligation or redecoration obligation costs over the next twelve months of $0.1 million. The remainder of our asset retirement obligations and redecoration obligations are approximately $2.7 million and are expected to be paid between fiscal year 2025 and fiscal year 2031 when the underlying leases terminate or when the respective lease agreement requires redecoration. We expect to satisfy these lease and related obligations as they become due from cash generated from operations.

CRA is party to a Credit Agreement, dated as of August 19, 2022 (the "Credit Agreement") with Bank of America, N.A., as swingline lender, a letter of credit issuing bank and administrative agent, and with Citizens Bank, N.A., as a letter of credit issuing bank. The Credit Agreement provides CRA with a $250.0 million revolving credit facility, which may be decreased at CRA's option to $200.0 million during the period from July 16 in a year through January 15 in the next year. Additionally, for the period from January 16 to July 15 of each calendar year, CRA may elect to not increase the revolving credit facility to $250.0 million. The revolving credit facility includes a $25.0 million sublimit for the issuance of letters of credit.

We may use the proceeds of the revolving credit loans under the Credit Agreement for general corporate purposes and may repay any borrowings under the revolving credit facility at any time, but any borrowings must be repaid no later than August 19, 2027. Borrowings under the revolving credit facility bear interest at a rate per annum equal to one of the following rates, at our election, plus an applicable margin as described below: (i) in the case of borrowings in U.S. dollars by us, the Base Rate (as defined in the Credit Agreement), (ii) in the case of borrowings in U.S. dollars, a rate based on Term SOFR (as defined in the Credit Agreement) for the applicable interest period, (iii) in the case of borrowings in Euros, EURIBOR (as defined in the Credit Agreement) for the applicable interest period, (iv) in the case of borrowings in Pounds Sterling, a daily rate based on SONIA (as defined in the Credit Agreement), (v) in the case of borrowings in Canadian Dollars, CDOR (as defined in the Credit Agreement) for the applicable interest period, (vi) in the case of borrowings in Swiss Francs, a daily rate based on SARON (as defined in the Credit Agreement), or (vii) in the case of borrowings in any other Alternate Currency (as defined in the Credit Agreement), the relevant daily or term rate determined as provided in the Credit Agreement. The applicable margin on borrowings based on the Base Rate varies within a range of 0.25% to 1.00% depending on our consolidated net leverage ratio, and the applicable margin on borrowings based on any of the other rates described above varies within a range of 1.25% to 2.00% depending on our consolidated net leverage ratio.

We are required to pay a fee on the amount available to be drawn under any letter of credit issued under the revolving credit facility at a rate per annum that varies between 1.25% and 2.00% depending on our consolidated net leverage ratio. In addition, we are required to pay a fee on the unused portion of the revolving credit facility at a rate per annum that varies between 0.175% and 0.250% depending on our consolidated net leverage ratio.

Under the Credit Agreement, CRA must comply with various financial and non-financial covenants. The primary financial covenants consist of a maximum consolidated net leverage ratio of 3.0 to 1 and a minimum consolidated interest coverage ratio of 2.5 to 1. The primary non-financial covenants include, but are not limited to, restrictions on CRA's ability to incur future indebtedness, engage in acquisitions or dispositions, pay dividends or repurchase capital stock, and enter into business combinations. Any indebtedness outstanding under the revolving credit facility may become immediately due upon the occurrence of stated events of default, including CRA's failure to pay principal, interest or fees, or upon the breach of any covenant. As of March 30, 2024, CRA was in compliance with the covenants of the Credit Agreement.

There was $70.0 million in borrowings outstanding under the revolving credit facility as of March 30, 2024 and no borrowings outstanding as of December 30, 2023. As of March 30, 2024, the amount available under the revolving credit facility was reduced by certain letters of credit outstanding, which amounted to $4.5 million.

In order to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, we may issue forgivable loans or term loans to employees and non-employee experts. A portion of these loans is collateralized by key person life insurance. The forgivable loans have terms that are generally between two and six years. The principal amount of forgivable loans and accrued interest is forgiven by us over the term of the loans, so long as the employee or non-employee expert continues employment or affiliation with us and complies with certain contractual requirements. The forgiveness of the principal amount of the loans is recorded as compensation over the service period, which is consistent with the term of the loans.

We have entered into compensation arrangements for the payment of performance awards to certain of our employees and non-employee experts that are payable if specific performance targets are met. The financial targets may include a measure of revenue generation, profitability, or both. The amounts of the awards to be paid under these compensation arrangements could fluctuate depending on future performance during the applicable measurement periods. Changes in the estimated awards are expensed prospectively over the remaining service period. We believe that we will have sufficient funds to satisfy any cash obligations related to the performance awards. We expect to fund any cash payments from existing cash resources, cash generated from operations, or borrowings available on our revolving credit facility.

Our Amended and Restated 2006 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended (the "2006 Equity Plan"), authorizes the grant of a variety of incentive and performance equity awards to our directors, employees and non-employee experts, including stock options, shares of restricted stock, restricted stock units, and other equity awards.

Our long-term incentive program, or "LTIP," is used as a framework for equity grants made under our 2006 equity incentive plan to our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders, and key revenue generators. The equity awards granted under the LTIP include stock options, time-vesting restricted stock units, and performance-vesting restricted stock units.

Our LTIP allows us to grant service- and performance-based cash awards in lieu of, or in addition to, equity awards to our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders, and key revenue generators. The compensation committee of our Board of Directors is responsible for approving all cash and equity awards under the LTIP. We expect to fund any cash payments from existing cash resources, cash generated from operations, or borrowings available under our revolving credit facility.

As part of our business, we regularly evaluate opportunities to acquire other consulting firms, practices or groups, or other businesses. In recent years, we have typically paid for acquisitions with cash, or a combination of cash and our common stock, and we may continue to do so in the future. To pay for an acquisition, we may use cash on hand, cash generated from our operations, borrowings available under our revolving credit facility, or we may pursue other forms of financing. Our ability to secure short-term and long-term debt or equity financing in the future, including our ability to refinance our credit agreement, will depend on several factors, including our future profitability, the levels of our debt and equity, restrictions under our existing revolving credit facility with our bank, and the overall credit and equity market environments.

In February 2024, we announced that our Board of Directors authorized an expansion of our existing share repurchase program of an additional $35.0 million of our common stock. We may repurchase shares under this program in open market purchases (including through any Rule 10b5-1 plan adopted by us) or in privately negotiated transactions in accordance with applicable insider trading and other securities laws and regulations.

During the fiscal quarter ended March 30, 2024, we repurchased and retired 65,882 shares under our share repurchase program at an average price per share of $140.29. During the fiscal quarter ended April 1, 2023, we repurchased and retired 180,881 shares under our share repurchase program at an average price per share of $113.76.

As of March 30, 2024, we had approximately $37.2 million available for future repurchases under our share repurchase program. We plan to finance future repurchases with available cash, cash from future operations, and borrowings available under our revolving credit facility. We expect to continue to repurchase shares under our share repurchase program.

We anticipate paying regular quarterly dividends each year. These dividends are anticipated to be funded through cash flow from operations, available cash on hand, and/or borrowings available under our revolving credit facility. Although we anticipate paying regular quarterly dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future, the declaration, timing and amounts of any such dividends remain subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors. During the fiscal quarter ended March 30, 2024, we paid dividends and dividend equivalents of $3.1 million. During the fiscal quarter ended April 1, 2023, we paid dividends and dividend equivalents of $2.7 million.

To date, inflation has not had a material impact on our financial results. There can be no assurance, however, that inflation will not adversely affect our financial results in the future.

We anticipate that our future capital and liquidity needs will principally consist of funds required for:

The hiring of individuals to replenish and expand our employee base is an essential part of our business operations and has historically been funded principally from operations. Many of the other above activities are discretionary in nature. For example, capital expenditures can be deferred, acquisitions can be forgone, and share repurchase programs and regular dividends can be suspended. As such, our operating model provides flexibility with respect to the deployment of cash flow from operations. Given this flexibility, we believe that our cash flows from operations, supplemented by cash on hand and borrowings under our revolving credit facility (as necessary), will provide adequate cash to fund our long-term cash needs from normal operations for at least the next twelve months.

Our conclusion that we will be able to fund our cash requirements by using existing capital resources and cash generated from operations does not take into account the impact of any future acquisition transactions or any unexpected significant changes in the number of employees or other expenditures that are currently not contemplated. The anticipated cash needs of our business could change significantly if we pursue and complete additional business acquisitions, if our business plans change, if economic conditions change from those currently prevailing or from those now anticipated, or if other unexpected circumstances arise that have a material effect on the cash flow or profitability of our business. Any of these events or circumstances, including any new business opportunities, could involve significant additional funding needs in excess of the identified currently available sources and could require us to raise additional debt or equity funding to meet those needs on terms that may be less favorable compared to our current sources of capital. Our ability to raise additional capital, if necessary, is subject to a variety of factors that we cannot predict with certainty, including:

Important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements we make in this report, as well as a description of material risks we face, are set forth below under the heading “Risk Factors” and included in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” of our 2023 Form 10-K. If any of these risks, or any risks not presently known to us or that we currently believe are not significant, develops into an actual event, then our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected.

There have been no material changes in our exposure to market risk during the fiscal quarter ended March 30, 2024. For information regarding our exposure to certain market risks, see Part II, Item 7A, "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk” of our 2023 Form 10-K.

Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our President and Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, we evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report. This is done in order to ensure that information we are required to disclose in the reports that are filed or submitted under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Based upon that evaluation, our President and Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of March 30, 2024.

Management has concluded that the condensed consolidated financial statements included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q present fairly, in all material aspects, our financial position at the end of, and the results of operations and cash flows for, the periods presented in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our President and Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, we evaluated whether there were any changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the first quarter of fiscal 2024. There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting identified in connection with the above evaluation that occurred during the first quarter of fiscal 2024 that have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect our internal control over financial reporting.

The effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and our internal control over financial reporting is subject to various inherent limitations, including judgments used in decision making, assumptions about the likelihood of future events, the soundness of our systems, the possibility of human error, and the risk of fraud. Moreover, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions and the risk that the degree of compliance with policies or procedures may deteriorate over time. Because of these limitations, there can be no assurance that any system of disclosure controls and procedures or internal control over financial reporting will be successful in preventing all errors or fraud or in making all material information known in a timely manner to the appropriate levels of management.

None.

There are many risks and uncertainties that can affect our future business, financial performance or results of operations. In addition to the other information set forth in this report, please review and consider the information regarding certain factors that could materially affect our business, financial condition or future results set forth under Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in our 2023 Form 10-K. There have been no material changes to these risk factors during the fiscal quarter ended March 30, 2024.

None.

None.

During the period ended March 30, 2024, no director or officer of the Company adopted or terminated a “Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement” or a “non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement” (in each case, as defined in Item 408 of Regulation S-K).

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.