Revenue Growth and Scale
Total revenue $165.6M, up 25% year-over-year. SaaS revenue $102.9M, up 21% YoY. Subscription term license revenue $19.1M, up 111% YoY. Professional services revenue $38.7M, up 16% YoY.
Kinaxis Inc
· KXSCF
May 6th, 2026
Summary
- Earnings Call Date:
- 2026-05-06
- Change Since:
- +2.25%
Earnings Call Sentiment
PositiveThe call presented strong, broad-based operating and financial outperformance: double-digit revenue growth, record quarterly profit and adjusted EBITDA, accelerating ARR and RPO, large enterprise wins and meaningful traction for AI-driven products (Maestro Agents, ADF). Management reinforced commercial momentum while prudently maintaining full-year guidance because of macro/FX uncertainty and called out several operational items to manage (maintenance decline, future decline of term license tailwinds, partner enablement, token cost uncertainty and a CFO transition). On balance the positives (revenue/ARR acceleration, profitability, cash generation, large deals and product/AI momentum) materially outweigh the challenges and risks discussed.
Company Guidance
Kinaxis said it is maintaining all aspects of its FY2026 guidance despite a stronger-than-expected Q1, citing Q1 results that bolster confidence: total revenue $165.6M (+25% y/y), SaaS revenue $102.9M (+21%), ARR $447M (+20%) with $14M added in Q1, SaaS RPO $905M and total RPO $949M, adjusted EBITDA $53.6M (+62%) with a 32% margin, net profit $29.4M, gross profit $114M (69% margin), Q1 cash from operations $59.1M (+87%) and cash/short-term investments $327.6M; trailing 12‑month free cash flow margin was 24% (Q1 FCF margin 35%). Management noted subscription term license revenue of $19.1M (+111%), professional services $38.7M (+16%, though full‑year services growth is expected to be low single digits), maintenance & support $4.9M (‑11%, with slight sequential declines expected), and disclosed $62M of share repurchases (570,204 shares) under a repurchase program capped at ~2.8M shares (~10% of float); they cited political, economic and FX volatility for a prudent posture and will reassess guidance next quarter.
Record Profitability and Cash Generation
Adjusted EBITDA $53.6M, up 62% YoY, with adjusted EBITDA margin of 32% (up from 25%). GAAP profit of $29.4M versus $15.9M in Q1 2025 (≈+85%). Cash flow from operations $59.1M, up 87% YoY. Trailing 12-month free cash flow margin 24%; Q1 free cash flow margin 35%.
ARR, RPO and Contract Momentum
ARR reached $447M, up 20% YoY with $14M added in Q1 (record for Q1). SaaS RPO $905M and total RPO $949M, demonstrating strong visibility in recurring business despite seasonality.
Large Deal Wins and Expansion
Record Q1 for new business and expansions: average deal size more than doubled vs prior-year Q1; multiple $1M+ ACV wins including the largest initial customer contract ever. Just under half of new ARR came from new (primarily enterprise) customers across consumer products, chemicals, energy, life sciences and industrial manufacturing.
AI and Product Momentum (Maestro & Agents)
Maestro platform adoption accelerating; Maestro Agents paying customer count more than doubled in Q1. ADF and agentic AI cited as fastest-growing products. Internal R&D using AI delivered ~25% faster work on average and >90% of code-promote requests now include AI-assisted elements.
Improved Margins by Revenue Type
Gross profit $114M, up 32% YoY, with gross margin at 69% (up from 65%). Software margin 81% (from 80%). Professional services gross margin improved to 27% from 21%.
Strategic Partnerships and Ecosystem
Deeper ecosystem engagement: partnerships and integration work with hyperscalers (Google, Azure), NVIDIA (cuOpt/GPU optimization), Databricks (data fabric/ML pipelines) and LLM providers (OpenAI, Google Gemini, Anthropic).
Capital Allocation and Share Buyback
Repurchased 570,204 shares for approximately $62M during the quarter under a doubled NCIB (limit ~2.8M shares, ~10% of float), while cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaled $327.6M.
Product Commercialization & Pricing
Rolled out Maestro Activity Unit (MAU) consumption-based pricing for all new proposals and planned renewals starting July; telemetry and MAU metrics in place to monitor usage and monetization of agentic features.
Recognition and Market Position
Named a leader in Gartner Magic Quadrant for the 12th consecutive time (two MQs this cycle: discrete and process industries), reinforcing platform differentiation and market positioning.
Operator
Good morning, and welcome to the Kinaxis Inc. Fiscal 2026 First Quarter Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] I'd like to remind everyone that this call is being recorded today, Thursday, May 7, 2026. I'll now turn the call over to Rick Wadsworth, Vice President of Investor Relations at Kinaxis Inc. Please go ahead, Mr. Wadsworth.
Rick Wadsworth
Thanks, operator. Good morning, and welcome to the Kinaxis earnings call. Today, we will be discussing our first quarter results, which we issued after close of markets yesterday. With me on the call are Razat Gaurav, our Chief Executive Officer; and Blaine Fitzgerald, our Chief Financial Officer. Some of the information discussed on this call is based on information as of today, May 7, 2026, and contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those set out in such statements. For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, you should review the forward-looking statements disclosure in the earnings press release as well in our SEDAR+ filings. During this call, we will discuss IFRS results and non-IFRS financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA.
A reconciliation between adjusted EBITDA and the corresponding IFRS result is available in our earnings press release and MD&A, both of which can be found on the Investor Relations section of our website, kinaxis.com and on SEDAR+. The webcast is live and being recorded for playback purposes. An archive of the webcast will be made available on the Investor Relations section of our website. Neither this call nor the webcast ...
Subscribe to unlock transcripts
Get The Fly Pro 7 days for free