CoreCivic (CXW) Q4 2023 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY23 revenue was $1.90B, net income $67.6M, diluted EPS $0.59, Adjusted Diluted EPS $0.61, Normalized FFO per diluted share $1.47 and Adjusted EBITDA $311.0M.

• Occupancy rose each quarter in 2023 to 74%, the highest quarterly level since Q2 2020; population gains spanned federal, state and local partners.

• Three new management contracts signed in Q4, while higher utilization and lower temporary labor costs supported year-over-year gains in adjusted earnings and EBITDA.

Financial highlights

• Q4 revenue was $491.2M, net income $26.5M, diluted EPS $0.23, Adjusted Diluted EPS $0.23, Normalized FFO per diluted share $0.45 and Adjusted EBITDA $90.0M.

• Q4 net income increased to $26.5M from $24.4M YoY; adjusted net income was $26.4M vs. $25.0M, and Adjusted Diluted EPS was $0.23 vs. $0.22.

• Q4 Adjusted EBITDA rose to $90.0M from $87.7M YoY; Normalized FFO increased to $51.3M from $49.1M, with per-share FFO up 7% to $0.45.

• FY23 net income was $67.6M and diluted EPS $0.59, compared with $122.3M and $1.03 in FY22; Adjusted Diluted EPS was $0.61 in FY23 vs. $0.57 in FY22.

Outlook and guidance

• FY24 guidance: net income $65M-$80M; diluted EPS $0.58-$0.72; FFO per diluted share $1.46-$1.61; EBITDA $300.3M-$313.3M.

• FY24 capital expenditure outlook is $69M-$75M: $30M-$31M real estate maintenance, $32M-$35M other assets and IT maintenance, and $7M-$9M other capital investments.

• Higher utilization of existing contracts and new contracts signed in 2023 are expected to support continued population gains and improved facility operating margins in 2024.

• Guidance incorporates the expected March 31, 2024 lease expiration at California City, which generated $31.1M rental revenue and $25.5M EBITDA in 2023.