Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst at Citigroup Inc.
Tyler Radke is a Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst at Citigroup Inc., specializing in technology sector research and coverage of major software and cloud infrastructure companies such as Teradata (TDC), Tableau (DATA), Cision (CISN), GTY Technology Holdings (GTYH), Cloudera (CLDR), Talend SA (TLND), and SolarWinds (SWI). He has made over 61 stock recommendations, maintaining a 49.49% success rate with a notable track record including a +195.10% return on his most profitable call and a 100% success rate on Tableau (DATA) with an average return of +41.58%. Radke began his career focusing on the technology sector and has established himself as a top-rated analyst on platforms like TipRanks, progressing to his current executive role at Citi. He holds professional credentials in equity research, with verified registration and securities licenses as required for senior research positions at major investment banks.
Tyler Radke asked about the pricing of Performance X, how it was received, and how to think about price times quantity heading into the next fiscal year.
CEO Shantanu Narayen clarified that the migration to Creative Cloud Pro did exceedingly well, and there was strength across the board, not just due to migration. David Wadhwani added that the strategy of value and associated pricing was validated.
Tyler Radke of Citigroup asked about the relationship between GenAI usage and monetization, noting that Firefly generations have been consistent, and questioned how far Adobe is in monetizing this high level of engagement.
Chairman & CEO Shantanu Narayen responded that AI-influenced revenue is already in the billions and serves as a tailwind for adoption across all products. He emphasized that direct AI monetization is still in its early stages, with a significant opportunity ahead. He pointed to the entire portfolio of new offerings—Acrobat AI Assistant, Firefly, Creative Cloud Pro, and GenStudio—as the key drivers for future monetization.
Tyler Radke asked about the Digital Experience segment, noting the strong RPO additions but a Q4 revenue guide that was lighter than consensus, and inquired about the underlying business dynamics heading into the fourth quarter.
President of Digital Experience Anil Chakravarthy answered the question. He highlighted the significant opportunity in 'personalization at scale' and Adobe's unique ability to integrate content, data, and journeys. He noted that in a scrutinized spending environment, customers see value in Adobe's platform for both growth and efficiency. Chakravarthy clarified that the company's focus is on the strongly performing subscription business, which is the core of the segment's growth.
Tyler Radke of Citigroup asked about the drivers of strength in the online store, including any new PLG motions, and questioned the timing of releasing the FY29 margin outlook ahead of the Analyst Day.
President and CEO Andrew Anagnost confirmed investment in the online store and PLG motions for products like Fusion to capture business from transactional partners. EVP & CFO Janesh Moorjani explained they released the margin target now because it's of high interest to investors and the company has now completed its internal long-term planning cycle. He also noted FCF and operating income should correlate highly in the long term.
Tyler Radke inquired about the performance and timing of Enterprise Business Agreements (EBAs) in the quarter and asked about the pricing philosophy for the maintenance-to-subscription cohort as their price-lock program ends.
CFO Janesh Moorjani noted that upfront revenue from EBAs was a positive contributor in Q1 but not outsized, and renewal rates and uplifts remain stable. CEO Andrew Anagnost stated that the maintenance-to-subscription price-lock program will sunset in the foreseeable future, after which price increases for that cohort will be consistent with value delivered, though it's too early for specifics.
Tyler Radke asked for specifics on efficiency opportunities from the new transaction model and inquired about the durability of the reacceleration in the Make segment, particularly in Construction Cloud.
CEO Andrew Anagnost identified self-service, automated upsell/cross-sell, and removing channel redundancies as key long-term efficiency drivers. Regarding the Make segment, he noted that while PIX contributed, the core Construction business shows consistent organic growth and inorganic acceleration from acquisitions like Payapps, driven by strong new customer additions.
Tyler Radke asked about the confidence level in the fiscal '26 free cash flow target and what cost optimizations are assumed. He also questioned if any one-time factors contributed to the strong 'make' revenue.
Interim CFO Betsy Rafael expressed confidence in the $2.05 billion fiscal '26 free cash flow target, citing major tailwinds from the largest multiyear contract cohort renewing, a large EBA cohort, and the mechanical benefit from the annual billing transition. CEO Andrew Anagnost addressed the 'make' revenue, stating that while the core momentum in Construction and Fusion is solid and consistent, the results also included a contribution from the recent acquisition of Payapps, which he declined to quantify.
Tyler Radke of Citigroup inquired about the specific use cases driving the increase in million-dollar AI customer additions and sought details on the recent price increase, particularly if the ~5% monthly cloud increase was consistent across other offerings.
CEO Ashutosh Kulkarni explained that customers are making more meaningful commitments as they embed Elastic's context engine into their core AI applications, driving consumption. He confirmed a price increase occurred across both cloud and self-managed offerings as part of the normal business practice of adding value and functionality, similar to a price change made in the prior year.
Tyler Radke sought clarification on the metric that 25% of million-dollar customers are using AI, asked about emerging agentic use cases, and requested more detail on the public sector headwinds seen in the quarter.
CEO Ashutosh Kulkarni clarified the metric means 25% of the total cohort of million-dollar customers are using Elastic for an AI workload, indicating adoption. He noted use cases are expanding beyond support to sales and legal automation. CFO Navam Welihinda stated the public sector pressure was a factor, but the business is well-diversified across verticals and geographies, which allowed for a strong Q4 overall. The pressure was primarily on the U.S. federal civilian side.
Tyler Radke from Citigroup Inc. asked for details on how GenAI use cases are unfolding, the go-to-market strategy for them, and clarification on whether strong large-customer consumption was a one-time event.
CEO Ashutosh Kulkarni explained that Elastic is pursuing a platform strategy for retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), with a sales motion focused on semantic search and vector database capabilities. CFO & COO Janesh Moorjani clarified that the strong consumption was broad-based and not a one-time event, reflecting momentum in GenAI and platform consolidation, but the company's guidance remains prudent as consumption rates can fluctuate.
Tyler Radke asked for more specifics on the deal shortfall, questioning if it was concentrated in large enterprise renewals and why cloud revenue guidance was cut if consumption was healthy. He also asked about the strategic significance of adding the AGPL open source license.
CFO and COO Janesh Moorjani clarified the impact was broad-based across enterprise and commercial segments, primarily affecting new workloads and logos rather than renewals, which remained strong. He explained that the lower volume of new commitments limits the future pool of consumption, necessitating the cloud revenue guidance cut. CEO Ashutosh Kulkarni described the AGPL license addition as a strategic move to be officially 'open source again,' aiming to boost developer adoption for vector search in GenAI applications and drive long-term growth.
Tyler Radke from Citigroup asked if the IQVIA partnership provides an immediate revenue unlock that contributes to the current year's forecast. He also requested details on the unique architectural differentiators of the Vault platform for AI compared to competitors.
CEO Peter Gassner clarified that any revenue from the IQVIA partnership would not be material for the current fiscal year. He explained that Vault's key AI advantage is its deep application integration, which provides agents with inherent knowledge of security, business rules, and transactional control—a structural advantage over toolkit-based or single-use-case AI solutions.
Tyler Radke of Citigroup asked for Veeva's perspective on the potential reshoring of pharmaceutical manufacturing as a possible tailwind. He also questioned if the updated full-year guidance incorporated any deterioration in assumptions like discount or close rates due to the macro environment.
CEO Peter Gassner opined that potential manufacturing reshoring is not a significant headwind or tailwind for Veeva, though it could theoretically delay other projects if it becomes an emergency priority for customers. CFO Brian Van Wagener clarified that the business velocity and close rates have not been impacted by the macro environment, and the guidance update reflects Q1 outperformance from Crossix and services timing.
Tyler Radke asked for a framework for thinking about FY26 growth and whether there have been any changes in the early stages of large deal cycles due to the macro environment.
CFO Brian Van Wagener deferred specific FY26 guidance until the next earnings call but highlighted that the current year's updated guidance reflects approximately 15% subscription growth, which aligns well with long-term targets. CEO Peter Gassner had previously noted that visibility into next year is marginally better than in prior years.
Tyler Radke questioned whether the quarter's strong performance indicated an improving macro environment and asked for details on the drivers behind the raised commercial guidance and the weakness in services.
CEO Peter Gassner attributed the strong results to 'strong execution' and some luck, stating the macro environment is unchanged. Interim CFO Tim Cabral specified that the commercial guidance raise was driven by outperformance in commercial content and Crossix, while services weakness was due to project delays and a few customers contracting directly with third-party SIs.
Tyler Radke from Citigroup asked about the competitive environment, including Databricks, Microsoft Fabric, and Palantir, and how large customers are differentiating between these platforms, and if this is leading to higher deal velocity for Snowflake.
CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy positioned Snowflake as the 'best AI data platform,' emphasizing its core strengths of simplicity, connectedness, and trusted governance. He expressed confidence in Snowflake's value proposition across both core analytics and emerging areas like AI and Postgres. He suggested that the market's recognition of these strengths is a key reason for the company's accelerating growth across all metrics.
Tyler Radke from Citigroup asked for more detail on the strength seen in technology sector customers and their consumption patterns. He also inquired about Snowflake's strategy for Unistore and its positioning against serverless Postgres databases.
CFO Michael Scarpelli confirmed that consumption from technology customers, including AI companies, was good but reiterated that no single AI company accounts for more than 1% of revenue. Regarding Unistore, CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy stated that the company has believed in transactional systems for a long time, the product is doing very well, and they will continue to invest in the area as a natural addition to the platform.
Tyler Radke asked for factors that might explain the smaller magnitude of the revenue beat in Q2 compared to Q1. He also inquired about cash flow dynamics, given lighter collections, and whether billings terms were changing.
CFO Mike Scarpelli characterized the beat as being within a normal range and emphasized the importance of the full-year guidance raise. He confirmed that billings terms are consistent (~80% annual in advance) and that Q2 collections were as planned. He maintained the 26% full-year free cash flow margin guidance, citing the typical seasonality of cash flow.
Tyler Radke sought to quantify how much AI-related use cases, such as vector search or the Voyage acquisition, are contributing to the current strength in Atlas growth. He also asked for an update on the application modernization opportunity, specifically regarding improvements in migration velocity or workload size.
President & CEO Dev Ittycheria stated that while many AI-native customers are being added, their contribution to the quarter's growth was not material, with the core business driving the results. On application modernization, he noted significant investment in new leadership and AI-powered tooling to automate the process, positioning it as a long-term growth driver that will be detailed further at the upcoming Investor Day.
Tyler Radke asked about the quality of new workload acquisition this year versus last and sought to understand the drivers behind the strength in the non-Atlas (EA) business, questioning if it was a one-off event.
CEO Dev Ittycheria noted that early results from changes to improve workload quality are positive. CFO Michael Gordon added that fiscal '24 cohorts continue to show slower growth. Regarding EA strength, Gordon attributed it to a few large multiyear deals contributing over $15 million in revenue versus the prior year's Q3. Ittycheria affirmed continued investment in EA to support their 'run anywhere' strategy.
Tyler Radke asked about a recent Postgres displacement, seeking details on the competitive environment and use cases. He also questioned what drove the better-than-planned Atlas consumption if it wasn't macro-related.
CEO Dev Ittycheria positioned MongoDB's advantages over Postgres as schema flexibility, horizontal scaling, and superior developer productivity. CFO Michael Gordon described the Atlas consumption beat as being within a typical range of outcomes, not a signal of macro change, and noted that while newer workload cohorts performed slightly better, they remain below original expectations.
Tyler Radke asked about the impact of LiveVox headwinds on Q3 and Q4 cloud growth and whether the 12% annual target is still achievable quarterly. He also inquired about the large deal pipeline and revenue ramp from recent wins.
CFO Beth Gaspich reiterated full confidence in achieving 12% cloud growth for the full year, clarifying that the LiveVox impact is already factored into results and primarily pressures their ability to outperform the 12% target. CEO Scott Russell confirmed a strong pipeline of large deals for H2 2025 and into 2026, noting that enterprise buyers are increasingly focused on integrated platforms with robust AI capabilities.
Tyler Radke questioned the impact of LiveVox headwinds on Q3 and Q4 cloud growth and asked about the large deal pipeline, sales cycles, and the revenue ramp from major contracts.
CFO Beth Gaspich reiterated confidence in achieving 12% cloud growth for the full year, noting this target is expected to be met in Q3, but acknowledged LiveVox's performance pressures the ability to outperform the 12% goal. CEO Scott Russell confirmed a strong pipeline of large deals, stating that customers are increasingly focused on integrated AI capabilities during their evaluation, which benefits NICE.
Tyler Radke of Citigroup sought details on the impact of LiveVox headwinds on Q3 and Q4 guidance and whether the 12% quarterly cloud growth target is still viable. He also asked about the large deal pipeline and the expected revenue ramp from major contracts.
CFO Beth Gaspich reiterated full confidence in achieving 12% cloud growth for the full year, noting the LiveVox headwind was already factored in and is a reason the company isn't outperforming the 12% target. CEO Scott Russell confirmed a strong pipeline of large deals for H2 2025 and into 2026, stating that buying decisions now heavily involve evaluating a platform's integrated AI capabilities, which plays to NICE's strengths.
Tyler Radke followed up on the LiveVox headwinds, asking about their impact on Q3 and Q4 and whether the 12% quarterly cloud growth target is still achievable. He also inquired about the large deal pipeline.
CFO Beth Gaspich reiterated full confidence in achieving 12% cloud growth for the full year, confirming it is expected for Q3. She clarified that the LiveVox headwind is already factored into results and is a primary reason the company may not significantly outperform the 12% target. CEO Scott Russell confirmed the large deal pipeline remains strong, noting that customer decisions are increasingly influenced by a platform's integrated AI capabilities, which is a key strength for NICE.
Tyler Radke from Citigroup asked for more detail on the one-time licensing dynamics, their frequency, and a quantification of their revenue impact, questioning the risk of it being a non-recurring stream.
Co-Founder & CEO Or Offer clarified these are not one-time deals but rather one-time fees for an evaluation phase that precedes long-term ARR contracts. CFO Jason Schwartz quantified the impact as 'a little over $1,000,000' in Q2 and reinforced confidence in durability by citing a prior customer who renewed with a multi-million dollar upsell and a multi-year term.
Tyler Radke inquired about the slowdown in current RPO bookings growth and whether to expect a reacceleration in the second half of the year. He also asked about the average deal size and profile of new customer additions given the new sales motion.
CFO Jason Schwartz attributed the current RPO trend to seasonality and lapping large deals signed in Q2 and Q3 of the prior year, expecting a rebound as those deals come up for renewal. He confirmed the new customer acquisition strategy focuses on a "land and expand" motion, with initial deal sizes being lower but noting that over 80% of their largest customers started with smaller contracts.
Tyler Radke asked for details on how AI-related deals are structured and how their average deal sizes compare to traditional Similarweb contracts.
CEO Or Offer outlined two types of AI deals. The first, for training LLMs with up-to-date digital data, involves selling different data streams and typically starts at six figures. The second, for brands monitoring their perception within chatbots, is priced by usage and region, starting at five figures. CFO Jason Schwartz added that the need for data freshness drives the recurring nature of these contracts.
Tyler Radke of Citigroup inquired about the timing of the significant CapEx and revenue ramp expected in Q4 and asked for specifics on the increased costs affecting the full-year operating income guidance.
CEO Michael Intrator outlined the deployment sequence: power availability, followed by CapEx spend, and then revenue generation. CFO Nitin Agrawal elaborated that costs such as data center leases are incurred before revenue begins, creating a temporary timing mismatch that impacts margins during periods of massive, unprecedented capacity expansion.
Tyler Radke asked about the timing of the significant CapEx ramp expected in Q4 and sought specifics on the increased costs that led to unchanged full-year operating income guidance despite a revenue raise.
CEO Michael Intrator explained the back-half ramp is a systematic process where power capacity comes online first, followed by CapEx deployment, and then revenue generation. CFO Nitin Agrawal specified that the increased costs are primarily from data center leases and related expenses that are incurred before the infrastructure begins generating revenue, creating a short-term margin impact due to the unprecedented scale of deployment.
Tyler Radke requested a more detailed explanation for the higher-than-expected interest expense in Q1 and the Q2 guidance, questioning why improved vendor payment terms didn't also translate to lower CapEx.
CFO Nitin Agrawal clarified that improved vendor terms shortened the period between payment and asset deployment, which reduced the amount of interest that could be capitalized and thus increased the recognized interest expense on the income statement. He noted this effect is expected to continue, but the company's overall cost of capital is decreasing.
Tyler Radke asked for more details on the record expansion deal's size and scope, inquired about usage trends among AI-native customers, and questioned the recent gross margin compression, asking where it might bottom out and when the related investments would monetize.
Founder, CEO & Director Spenser Skates described the record deal as a multi-million dollar expansion with a technology company making a big bet on Amplitude for a core part of its platform. He noted that AI-native customers are still a very small percentage of the overall base. CFO Andrew Casey addressed gross margins, explaining the compression is due to investments in professional services to build the partner ecosystem and higher data ingestion costs, which he views as a prelude to future revenue.
Ashley Kim, on for Tyler Radke, noted the softness in total customer ads despite strong growth in >$100k ARR customers and asked about any changes in top-of-funnel trends or dynamics among different customer segments.
CFO Andrew Casey clarified that the company is not focused on the total customer count metric, calling it 'a little deceptive' because it includes lower-value 'Plus' customers. He emphasized that the business is being built around the enterprise segment, which is why they highlight the growth in customers with over $100,000 in ARR as the key indicator of their strategic progress.
Speaking for Tyler Radke, an analyst asked about the momentum of Amplitude's newer products and the extent to which this is factored into the 2025 guidance. She also requested more color on the key accounts being watched for potential churn.
CFO Andrew Casey explained that the guidance reflects the total platform value and broader enterprise strategy, not any single new product, though new products are the "fuel" for growth. CEO Spenser Skates clarified the risk with key accounts is primarily "contraction" (reducing spend at renewal) rather than "churn" (leaving entirely). He stated this risk has significantly decreased as most large customers are now "right-sized."
Tyler Radke from Citigroup asked for the key drivers behind the improved outlook for net new customer additions and average subscription revenue per customer (ASRPC) for the second half of the year.
CFO Kate Bueker advised against overreacting to quarterly changes but noted that Q2 net additions were strong, driven by an uplift in free-to-starter conversions and a pricing promotion. She also cited consistent momentum in the Professional and Enterprise tiers. For the back half of the year, she guided for net additions to be at the high end of the 9,000-10,000 range and for ASRPC to be up about a point in constant currency, reflecting this steady performance.
Tyler Radke from Citigroup asked for the key drivers behind the improved outlook for new customer additions and ASRPC, questioning if it was due to a better macro view or organic improvements in lead generation.
CFO Kate Bueker advised against overreacting to quarterly changes but noted that Q2 net additions were strong due to an uplift in free-to-starter conversions and a pricing promotion. She stated the professional and enterprise tiers showed consistent momentum. The improved outlook reflects this solid performance, with expectations for net adds to be at the high end of the 9,000-10,000 range and ASRPC to be up about a point.
Tyler Radke noted that the full-year revenue guidance was raised by more than the Q3 beat, unlike in prior quarters, and asked if FX was a factor or what else was driving the increased confidence.
CFO Kathryn Bueker clarified that the guidance assumes the macro environment will remain consistent. She explained the math: the Q3 beat of $24 million was flowed through, and an additional $3 million was added to the full-year guidance to reflect incremental FX benefits expected in Q4. On a constant currency basis, the Q4 outlook remains unchanged from prior guidance.
Tyler Radke of Citigroup asked for more detail on the planned Q3 ramp in performance marketing spend, its drivers, and the ROI observed since the strategy shifted a year ago.
CFO Jeff Hoffmeister explained that the marketing investment is working, as evidenced by strong GMV and revenue growth. He noted that internal data models have improved, and the year-over-year spending increase is partly due to a lower base in Q3 of last year when they were testing. He clarified it's a broad-based investment supporting growth across geographies and products, not a catch-up in a specific segment.
Tyler Radke asked for details on the Q2 ARR outperformance, questioning if the deal pull-ins from Q3 were driven by customer demand or better sales execution and whether the deals were stronger than expected. He also questioned why profitability guidance wasn't raised more significantly despite cost optimizations.
President and CEO Steve McMillan attributed the strong Q2 deal execution to improved linearity and sales team performance, noting strong customer interest in Teradata's hybrid platform for both on-prem and cloud. CFO John Ederer explained that while there were cost optimizations, the company is reinvesting some savings into R&D to support its profitable growth strategy. He noted that maintaining operating margin guidance despite revenue headwinds is a significant achievement.
Speaking on behalf of Tyler Radke, an analyst asked for details on the pipeline mix (new logos vs. expansion) that underpins the 2025 growth forecast and questioned the expected impact from open table formats.
CFO Claire Bramley stated the pipeline is an approximate 50/50 mix of migrations and expansions, with new logos expected to be a small contributor in 2025. CEO Stephen McMillan added that innovations like the enterprise vector store represent significant upside potential that is not heavily factored into the 2025 outlook.
Tyler Radke asked for the underlying reasons behind the 'staged migrations,' questioning if it's a macro-driven decision and whether it's a broader trend. He also asked if the company still expects to reach $1 billion in cloud ARR by 2026.
CEO Stephen McMillan stated the shift is concentrated in a handful of very large deals where customers are taking a 'less risk' approach to their transformations, not a broader market trend. CFO Claire Bramley confirmed that Teradata still sees a path to its $1 billion cloud ARR target in 2026, noting that while some revenue is delayed, the customer commitment to migrate remains.
Tyler Radke from Citigroup inquired if upcoming Copilot renewals could serve as a catalyst to re-accelerate NRR and asked if the 20%+ growth in the Operations Hub represented an acceleration from the prior quarter.
CFO Graham O'Brien noted that early Copilot renewal cohorts are showing 'meaningfully better' outcomes, which could provide a tailwind to retention. He confirmed that the 20%+ growth for the Operations solutions was consistent with the prior quarter, with no signs of deceleration.
Tyler Radke from Citigroup questioned if upcoming Copilot renewals could serve as a catalyst to reaccelerate NRR and asked if the 20%+ growth in the Operations Hub accelerated from Q1.
CFO Graham O'Brien confirmed that early Copilot renewal cohorts showed 'meaningfully better' outcomes, which could provide an incremental tailwind to retention. He also noted that the 20%+ year-over-year growth for the Operations business was consistent with the prior quarter and had not shown signs of deceleration.
Asked for color on the drivers behind the sequential increase in customers spending over $100,000, including the mix of new versus expansion, and whether this pace is sustainable.
The growth in the $100k+ customer cohort was attributed to improvements across three areas: more success in acquiring new upmarket customers at that price point, renewed success in upselling existing customers past the $100k threshold, and reduced downsell pressure from customers in that cohort.
Tyler Radke from Citigroup requested more specifics on the emerging solution deals moving into production, asking about contract length and structure. He also inquired about the competitive threat from horizontal SaaS players like ServiceNow entering the insurance market.
CEO Githesh Ramamurthy confirmed these are multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts and that customers are already expanding volume beyond their initial commitments. Regarding competition, Ramamurthy expressed confidence in CCC's position, contrasting the 'extraordinary depth' of its vertical solutions and integrated network against the broad capabilities of horizontal providers. He emphasized that CCC's specialized AI and ecosystem are significant differentiators.
Tyler Radke inquired about the progress of PTC's go-to-market initiatives, specifically focusing on the evolution of verticalization and product packaging as the company heads into year-end planning.
President and CEO Neil Barua and Chief Revenue Officer Robert Dahdah expressed growing confidence in the go-to-market transformation. Mr. Barua highlighted progress in building a durable sales engine, noting improvements in win rates and rep productivity. Mr. Dahdah added that the company is building on foundational work with new vertical-specific, outcomes-based messaging that is being tested and will be a key part of planning for the next fiscal year.
Pierre, on behalf of Tyler Radke, asked if the heightened macro uncertainty was creating risk for a specific product line or vertical.
CEO Neil Barua clarified that the issue is not product-specific, as all of PTC's products are mission-critical for customers. The challenge stems from customers' uncertainty about their own business operations—including supply chains, input costs, and manufacturing locations—in light of the volatile macro and trade environment that emerged in early April. This uncertainty impacts their timing on broad investment decisions.
An analyst on behalf of Tyler Radke asked about the remaining opportunity for PLM seat expansion within existing customers, beyond core engineering teams.
CEO Neil Barua confirmed that expanding PLM usage across the enterprise is a significant growth opportunity and a "clear priority" for the company. He noted that many customers are still in the early stages of this expansion, and the new vertical go-to-market strategy is designed to accelerate this adoption by highlighting industry-specific use cases.
Tyler Radke from Citigroup asked about the confidence level in the second-half billings ramp, specifically what was assumed for early renewals and enterprise contributions. He also questioned if customers were contracting closer to their actual consumption due to the macro environment.
CEO Allan Thygesen stated that the second-half acceleration is driven by the scaling of the commercial business globally, not a dramatic assumption of enterprise acceleration. He also noted that customers contracting closer to consumption was a post-COVID trend that has already played out and was not a material factor in Q1. CFO Blake Grayson added that the forecast includes more room for timing variability on renewals.
Tyler Radke inquired about the biggest go-to-market opportunities under the new sales leadership for fiscal 2026, specifically regarding the ELA motion and IAM attach rate. He also asked about levers for margin improvement given incremental investments in IAM, AI, and compensation.
CEO Allan Thygesen highlighted that the near-term IAM opportunity is in the commercial segment, with a longer-term focus on building enterprise capabilities for departmental and eventually company-wide deployments. CFO Blake Grayson noted that while the company seeks efficiency, the biggest lever for long-term operating leverage is accelerating growth. He mentioned temporary margin pressures in FY26 from cloud transition costs and compensation structure changes but reiterated a focus on maintaining efficiency gains.
Tyler Radke from Citigroup asked about any observed impact on average ticket sizes from macro cycles and sought clarification on whether the Q2 guidance range was wider than usual.
CFO Dave Sherry stated that both job volume and average ticket size growth rates were stable in Q1, and the company is not embedding any acceleration in ticket size in its forecast. He confirmed that the Q2 guidance does factor in more variance, primarily due to the high dependency on weather patterns.
Tyler Radke from Citigroup asked about the macro impact on average ticket sizes and whether Q2 guidance includes a wider range due to macro or weather factors.
CFO Dave Sherry stated that key GTV inputs like job numbers and average ticket size were stable in Q1. He confirmed that the Q2 guidance range prudently factors in more variance, which is heavily dependent on weather, especially when compared to a hot prior-year period.
Asked for more specific details on the traction of new Pro products like Sales Pro and Contact Center Pro, and inquired about customer sentiment regarding potential impacts from the upcoming presidential administration.
The new Pro products are seeing strong early customer enthusiasm and are pacing well compared to previous launches, though it is still early. Regarding political changes, the company is not hearing concerns from customers and does not consider it a risk factor, as the trades industry is durable, non-discretionary, and relies on highly skilled labor.
Tyler Radke requested more detail on the early success of new Pro products like Sales Pro and Contact Center Pro, and also asked about customer sentiment regarding the political environment.
CEO Ara Mahdessian stated that while it's still early, the company is pleased with the customer enthusiasm and initial progress for its newest Pro products, which are pacing well compared to previous launches. On the political climate, he noted he is not hearing concerns from customers, emphasizing the non-discretionary and essential nature of the trades industry, and does not consider administrative changes a risk factor for the business.
Tyler Radke asked for a go-to-market update, including plans with the new CRO and traction in vertical markets like financial services. He also sought clarification on OfferFit's revenue impact and the level of conservatism in the new guidance.
CEO Bill Magnuson stated that go-to-market priorities remain consistent, focusing on the legacy replacement cycle and verticalization efforts, which are gaining traction. CFO Isabelle Winkels confirmed the OfferFit revenue contribution is guided at $11-12 million. She added that the updated full-year guidance incorporates the Q1 beat and has slightly more risk adjustment, making it a bit more conservative than the prior guide.
Tyler Radke of Citigroup asked for more detail on the comment that Braze 'did a little bit better on logo churn' in the quarter and requested an update on the general health of the SMB segment of the market.
CFO Isabelle Winkles explained that after several quarters of elevated churn, the company is starting to work through that headwind as many at-risk, smaller accounts have already been flushed out. She indicated that while some contract rightsizing may still occur for customers who remain, the most significant wave of churn from smaller, less healthy businesses is moderating.
Tyler Radke questioned how conversations around 'Agentic AI' are evolving and impacting Braze's competitive standing, and asked about the drivers behind the reacceleration in bookings and billings versus the Q4 guide.
CEO Bill Magnuson asserted that competitors' focus on agentic AI has led them to neglect their marketing cloud products, creating replacement opportunities for Braze. CFO Isabelle Winkles clarified that the Q3 billings reacceleration was influenced by a favorable year-over-year comparison in the timing of annual upfront contract signings, rather than a fundamental shift in business momentum.
Tyler Radke of Citigroup Inc. asked about the practical application of Generative AI in modernizing legacy codebases like COBOL and Guidewire's role in enabling this.
CEO Mike Rosenbaum explained that while direct legacy code conversion is a future possibility, current GenAI applications are focused on more discrete, high-impact tasks like building integrations and generating test cases. He emphasized that true modernization requires rethinking business processes, not just a 'magic button' code conversion.
Tyler Radke of Citigroup asked how customers are using Generative AI for modernizing legacy code and what Guidewire is doing to enable these capabilities.
CEO Mike Rosenbaum noted that while direct legacy code conversion is a future potential, the current practical applications of GenAI are in creating integration scaffolding, front-end code, and test cases. He emphasized that true modernization involves reinventing business processes, not just replicating old systems with a "magic button."
Tyler Radke sought details on the Q2 billings outlook, asking when the macro impacts on the enterprise business began to materialize during Q1 and how sensitive the online new customer acquisition motion is to the macroeconomic environment.
CFO Michelle Chang responded that while deal pausing and elongation in the enterprise segment were observed throughout Q1, they were most pronounced toward the end of the quarter. In contrast, she stated that the online business had a strong quarter for both new customers and churn, showing no signs of macro impact.
Tyler Radke of Citi asked about the path to long-term operating margins, given current levels are above the target, and inquired about the new CFO's philosophy on expense evaluation.
CFO Michelle Chang stated that the company will continue to invest in AI, emerging businesses, and the platform to drive top-line growth, clarifying the long-term margin guide is not an FY'26 target. Her philosophy is to ensure disciplined spending is aligned with strategic growth. CEO Eric Yuan added his confidence in the DevOps team's ability to optimize infrastructure costs over the long run.
Tyler Radke from Citi asked about the performance of the new business side of the Online segment, given the strong renewal rates and recent initiatives to drive improvements.
CFO Kelly Steckelberg acknowledged that while the team continues to add features to expand growth, the SMB and small business area has seen some headwinds consistent with peers, due to economic uncertainty. She clarified that this performance was roughly in line with the company's internal forecast for the year, which allowed them to maintain and raise overall guidance.
Tyler Radke asked about the impact of open table formats like Iceberg on Informatica's utilization and whether the updated guidance implies that stronger cloud growth from migrations is offsetting a faster decline in the self-managed business.
CEO Amit Walia stated it's early for open table formats but noted that customers require data preparation and quality to populate them, driving IPU consumption. CFO Mike McLaughlin clarified that full-year guidance was not changed, only Q4 guidance was established. He reiterated the full-year outlook for each segment (cloud growth >35%, self-managed decline ~13%, maintenance decline ~7%) and stated there were no major changes in the mix-shift assumptions.
Asked for color on the performance in Germany/Europe and for clarification on how the delayed China business and long-term targets reconcile.
The weak revenue growth in Germany was due to a tough ASC 606 accounting compare from an exceptionally strong Q3 2022; underlying ACV growth in the EMEA region was strong. The 2024 guidance and long-term targets have already factored in an ongoing net headwind from the China situation, and the company is confident in its ability to achieve them despite this.