NICE (NICE) Company Report

NiCE's AI revenue, embedded in its cloud platforms, is soaring at more than 40% year-to-date, with the company consistently outperforming guidance and expecting 12% cloud revenue growth quarter after quarter.
The company reported a 13% year-over-year increase in cloud backlog in Q3 and plans to double cloud revenue over the next four years, targeting 17%-19% cloud revenue growth by 2028.
NiCE anticipates an additional spend of approximately $160 million in 2026, with further incremental investments through 2027 and 2028, primarily in cost of delivery, R&D (including Cognigy integration), and go-to-market strategies.
The recent acquisition, Cognigy, is expected to contribute significantly, with an anticipated $85 million in ARR by the end of 2026. AI and self-service ARR reached $268 million in Q3, growing 49% year-over-year (or 43% excluding Cognigy), and currently represents about 12% of cloud revenue.
NiCE is expanding its strategic partnerships with companies like Salesforce, ServiceNow, Snowflake, AWS, and RingCentral, with some expected to impact near-term growth, particularly through the AWS marketplace in early 2026, and others contributing to long-term growth by late 2026 into 2027.

Dec 10, 2025, 3:30 PM

Transcript

NICE Discusses AI-Driven Cloud Growth and Strategic Investments at Nasdaq Conference

NICE

Revenue Acceleration/Inflection

New Projects/Investments

M&A

NICE's AI revenue, embedded in its cloud platforms, is soaring at more than 40% year to date, serving as a key growth driver, amplified by the recent acquisition of Cognigy.
The company has consistently outperformed its guidance, with core cloud revenue expected to grow 12% quarter after quarter, and the year-over-year cloud backlog increasing to 13% in Q3.
NICE plans to double its cloud revenue over the next four years, targeting 17%-19% cloud revenue growth by 2028, capitalizing on the CCaaS market's 40% cloud penetration.
Strategic investments include an additional $160 million in 2026, with further incremental spend through 2027 and 2028, allocated to cost of delivery, R&D (Cognigy integration, new AI capabilities), and go-to-market strategies.
The profitable Financial Crimes and Compliance (FCC) business, representing approximately 15% of total revenue, continues to perform well and operates largely independently.

Dec 10, 2025, 3:30 PM

Transcript

NICE Discusses AI-Driven Cloud Growth and Strategic Investments

NICE

Revenue Acceleration/Inflection

New Projects/Investments

M&A

NICE's AI revenue embedded in its cloud platforms is soaring at more than 40% , with AI currently representing about 12% of cloud revenue. The company expects 12% cloud revenue growth quarter after quarter and aims to double cloud revenue over the next four years, reaching 17%-19% cloud revenue growth by 2028.
The company plans to invest an additional $160 million during 2026, with incremental spend through 2028, focusing on cost of delivery, R&D (including full integration of Cognigy), and go-to-market strategies. These investments are timed to capitalize on the 60% of the CCaaS market that has yet to shift to the cloud.
The recent acquisition of Cognigy, a leader in agentic AI, is expected to amplify growth, with Cognigy projected to exit 2026 with $85 million of ARR. This acquisition, along with other initiatives, is contributing to a Total Addressable Market (TAM) expansion from $31 billion to $72 billion by extending into mid/back office and outbound solutions.
New CEO Scott Russell is driving strategic initiatives, including building strong ecosystems and expanding partnerships with companies like Salesforce, ServiceNow, Snowflake, AWS, and RingCentral, to further accelerate growth.

Dec 10, 2025, 3:30 PM

Transcript

NICE Launches Local Dedicated CXone Mpower Instance in South Africa

NICE

Product Launch

New Projects/Investments

NiCE has officially launched and made generally available CXone Mpower on a dedicated, local instance in South Africa.
This AI-powered customer experience platform is hosted locally with redundant data centers in Cape Town and Johannesburg, ensuring full South African data residency for compliance with local data governance and regulatory requirements.
The platform is designed for financial institutions, regulated industries, and large enterprises, providing AI-enabled customer engagement ecosystems and a strategic foundation for growth across the broader African continent.
The launch brings NiCE’s agentic AI capabilities to the region, enabling both automated and agent-assisted conversations.

Dec 10, 2025, 1:00 PM

Press Release

NICE Discusses New CEO's Strategic Priorities, 2026 Investments, and Capital Allocation

NICE

CEO Change

New Projects/Investments

M&A

Scott Russell joined NICE as CEO in early 2025, focusing on driving the company's transformation by capitalizing on the migration from on-premise to cloud and the opportunity in agentic AI.
The company plans to invest approximately $160 million incrementally in 2026 across CX/AI and cloud delivery, go-to-market strategies, and product roadmap, with most of these investments unrelated to the Cognigy acquisition.
NICE reported 12% routine cloud growth for its core business throughout the year and a 15% year-over-year growth in its cloud backlog (or 13% excluding Cognigy), with AI and Salesforce capabilities growing 43% year-over-year in Q3.
The capital allocation strategy prioritizes continued investment (including potential tuck-in M&A after Cognigy integration), a $500 million share buyback program (with an 18% increase year-to-date through Q3), and maintaining a debt-free balance sheet.
NICE differentiates itself through its powerful, integrated CXone platform and its ability to offer sovereign cloud environments for large enterprises and governmental agencies, which is a significant competitive advantage.

Dec 2, 2025, 7:55 PM

Transcript

NICE Discusses Strategic Priorities, Growth, and Capital Allocation at UBS Tech Conference

NICE

CEO Change

Revenue Acceleration/Inflection

New Projects/Investments

NICE's new CEO, Scott Russell, who joined in early 2025, is focused on cloud transformation and accelerating growth by leveraging AI capabilities and the recent acquisition of Cognigy.
The company reported 12% cloud growth in its core business and a 15% year-over-year growth in its cloud backlog (13% excluding Cognigy). AI and Salesforce capabilities on the CXone platform saw 43% year-over-year growth in Q3.
NICE plans to make approximately $160 million in incremental investments during 2026 to drive long-term top-line growth, primarily in CX/AI/cloud delivery, go-to-market, and product roadmap.
Financially, NICE maintains a debt-free balance sheet and generated almost $700 million in cash flow over the last 12 months, supporting a $500 million share buyback program which saw an 18% increase year-to-date through Q3.

Dec 2, 2025, 7:55 PM

Transcript

NICE outlines 2025 strategic priorities and 2026 investment plans under new CEO

NICE

CEO Change

New Projects/Investments

M&A

NICE's new CEO, Scott Russell, who joined at the start of 2025, is focused on driving transformation through cloud migration and leveraging AI capabilities, a strategy further amplified by the recent Cognigy acquisition.
The company has seen 12% routine cloud growth in its core business throughout this year, with a 15% year-over-year growth in its cloud backlog (inclusive of Cognigy) and 13% growth excluding Cognigy. AI is a significant growth driver, showing 43% year-over-year growth in Q3 from its CXone platform.
NICE plans $160 million in incremental investments during 2026 across CX/AI and cloud delivery, go-to-market, and product roadmap to accelerate long-term top-line growth, with most of these investments being unrelated to the Cognigy acquisition.
The capital allocation strategy prioritizes continued investment, an ongoing $500 million share buyback program (with an 18% increase in buybacks year-to-date through Q3), and maintaining a debt-free balance sheet as of Q3.

Dec 2, 2025, 7:55 PM

Transcript

NICE Outlines Growth Strategy and Financial Outlook at Investor Day

NICE

Guidance Update

New Projects/Investments

Revenue Acceleration/Inflection

NICE announced the appointment of Arun Chandra as its new COO, effective December 1st, who previously held executive roles at Walt Disney Corporation, Meta, and HPE.
The company projects accelerated total revenue growth from high single digits in 2025 to 12-14% by 2028, driven by strategic investments and the CX AI platform.
NICE plans to make incremental investments of $160 million in 2026 across cloud and AI delivery, R&D (including Cognigy), and go-to-market expansion to fuel this growth.
These investments are expected to temporarily impact operating margin, which is projected to be 25-26% in 2026 (down from an estimated 31% in 2025), with a return to margin expansion in 2027 and rising margins in 2028.
NICE expects to achieve $1 billion in AI revenue by 2028, representing approximately 30% of its cloud revenue.

Nov 17, 2025, 2:00 PM

Transcript

NICE Highlights Strong Financial Performance and Market Leadership in Q3 2025 Investor Presentation

NICE

Earnings

New Projects/Investments

NICE reported $2.9 billion in total revenue, $2.2 billion in cloud revenue, $2.6 billion in recurring revenue, and $786 million in cash from operations for the last 12 months ended September 30, 2025.
The company positions itself as a cloud leader powering AI across its three specialized markets: Customer Experience, Financial Crime & Compliance, and Public Safety & Justice.
NICE's CXone is recognized as a Leader in the Forrester Wave for Contact-Center-As-A-Service Platforms (Q2 2025) and the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Contact Center as a Service (September 2025).
Its Actimize portfolio is recognized as a Leader in The Forrester Wave for Enterprise Fraud Management Solutions (Q2 2024) and a Technology Leader in The SPARK Matrix for Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) Solution (Q1 2024).
Evidencentral is highlighted as the world's #1 Public Safety & Justice AI Cloud Platform, with NICE recognized as a leader in this sector by IDC (2023) and American Security Today (2023).

Nov 17, 2025, 2:00 PM

Presentation

NICE Outlines Growth Strategy and Financial Outlook, Announces New COO

NICE

Guidance Update

New Projects/Investments

M&A

NICE announced Arun Chandra will join as the new COO on December 1st. The company also highlighted the strategic acquisition of Cognigy for nearly $1 billion in Q3, positioning it as a key driver for its AI strategy.
NICE demonstrated strong financial performance, with total revenue exceeding $2.7 billion in 2024 (a 13% CAGR since 2020) and operating income growing at a 16% CAGR over the same period, achieving over 31% operating margin. The company generated over $700 million in free cash flow in 2024 and ended Q3 with no debt.
The company projects total revenue growth to accelerate from 7-8% in 2025 to 7-9% in 2026, reaching 12-14% by 2028. Cloud revenue growth is expected to increase from 12-13% in 2025 to 17-19% by 2028, with AI revenue targeted to reach $1 billion by 2028.
NICE plans incremental strategic investments of $160 million in 2026, primarily in cloud/AI delivery, R&D, and go-to-market. These investments are expected to temporarily reduce the operating margin from 31% in 2025 to 25-26% in 2026, with recovery and expansion anticipated in 2027 and 2028.
NICE intends to return at least 50% or greater of its annual free cash flow to shareholders through buybacks, supported by a $500 million share buyback program.